Educating the mouth

I've not been able to do anything with  the horses for a couple of days, and this morning it was heavy rain so we had a session inside.

Remy is becoming more and more focussed with the in-hand work and today he was concentrating and waiting for me to ask. He was very relaxed,  mouthing the bit and the flexions were very easy, leading to a lengthening and stretching over his neck into one or two strides of shoulder-in.

Anky's becoming less and less wary of the bit and is starting to relax and savour it much more. She's beginning to realise that she can be relaxed in her jaw, mobile in her mouth and  that it's a good thing to stretch and lower her head and neck. The more she does this, the better the flexions are and the more she's staying  relaxed  through her body with genuine bend.

Bonbon had a short session too. She's happy with the bridle, and with a light upward movement of the rein on the corners of the lips, she relaxes her jaw and mouths the bit.

It's a great feeling, walking away knowing that they're all 'getting it', and even moreso that I'm 'getting it' too and that the pieces are starting to come together.

Super Suber

I've gone back to basics and for the last few days I've been working with Anky in the stables, simply asking for a release and relaxation of the jaw from an upward, gently vibrating rein on the corners of her lips. She's guarded, and you can feel the tension in her lips, but we've been making some progress.
Today I took her up to the school and we had the same session in-hand. It seemed like suddenly it clicked, but I know that she's been mulling it over and coming round to it for the last few days and has now decided that it's ok and she can do it. She released, relaxed and stretched her head and neck down to the ground. A modest start, but I'm hoping that this will be the start of work with less tension and more relaxation mentally and physically. After this short session, I sat on, asked for the release down whilst onboard and then rode her back home down the lane and I don't think I imagined the lighter, more relaxed feel in the rein.
I tried the Suber Pad under the saddle and even though it looks bulky, it doesn't feel that way. In fact, it felt very good.
A short session with Remy on the yard, working on the same thing, relaxation of the jaw, followed by stretching the head and neck and taking the rein down. He's quite happy with it all and doesn't have any reservations like his mum. I just have to try to keep his attention as he's so easily distracted, but he's learning to listen and wait quietly for my signals. The swelling under his knee seems to have settled so I'll start taking him in the school again.
Another short session for Bonbon with the bridle, she's settled with it now, holds the bit nicely and relaxes her jaw when I lightly vibrate the ring.

Twilight Zone

It's been a funny weekend.  Yesterday was so hot it was unbearable outside (for me, anyway,). Today, I awoke to faint rumblings of thunder and a bright, luminous, really weird, almost green light shining into the bedroom. I went to bring the horses in and they were very edgy, expectant of the impending storm.  It started to rain just as we'd finished getting them into the stables.
The last few days I've been continuing my sessions with Anky, asking for a release to the bit. It takes lots (and I mean, lots) of patience and I do believe Anky is teaching me well. I think we're making progress though, we'll continue and we'll see.
The Suber Pad has arrived, so, hopefully tomorrow we'll have chance to test it out. I've tried it on Remy's back and the saddle seems to sit well.
We've also introduced Bonbon to the bridle over the last few days and, as expected, she accepted it with her usual grace. :-)
Couldn't stop Jim taking pics.

 He said he couldn't resist taking this one of the 'big fat arse' - Bonbon's I hope!

Thoughts partially unscrambled......

I've not blogged the last few days, I've lots of thoughts in my head but not been able to unscramble them.
I've had a busy time with Anky, stretching sessions, lungeing and ridden sessions. Our ridden work is very basic stuff. Anky has never been able to relax and her usual way of going is to throw her head up and go hollow. We work only at walk in the school and my prime objective is to get her to relax and lower her head. It's not as easy as it sounds and I'm not sure I'm doing it right, she's very inconsistent and if I give her a long rein, she doesn't want to stretch into it, bracing herself through her neck and in her mouth. She has muscle under her neck which has built up even though I've ridden her very little, this is how she carries herself at liberty.
The stretching exercises will help her, together with the lungeing, but my thoughts are that her main problem is with the mouth. She doesn't like the bit, the first thing she does when you put the bridle on is to hang onto the bit and hold it tight. Her jaw is rigid and I have to teach her that she can release and relax the jaw and trust that everything will be ok. We have done this before and we have made some progress, but it's not a 'real', consistent release of the TMJ, she doesn't trust the contact and therefore is very inconsistent.  Until we have this we can't progress, so I've gone back to the beginning, the asking for the release by a simple lifting of the bit on the corner of the mouth, we must have relaxation in the jaw if we're to have relaxation through her body. I find myself particularly focussed and determined, and the last couple of days I've had several sessions in the stable, simply asking for this release. She's determined also, but we have made a little progress and I'm hopeful that when we do get it, it will make a world of difference to her way of thinking and her way of going. I'm wondering if I should try her bitless, she may have no reason to tense up in the first place then?

I've not done anything in the school with Remy over the last few days as he has this little swelling under his knee. It doesn't seem to be getting any bigger and hopefully it won't be a problem. I've had a few short sessions in the stable concentrating on walk/halt transitions though.
After contacting the Suber Pad people, I'm now waiting for my new pad to arrive and when it does I can start to ride him.

Flexion of the Jaw

Well, Anky's had a few days off. She's had a little pain with her season this month, I'm putting it down to her Spring transitional seasons and hope she will improve over the summer.
I've had a little play with Remy with the bit which now has the reins attached and he's slowly getting used to the feeling.

Not had much to say really, but the other day I was trying to explain to someone what I meant by flexions and the whole thing regarding mobility of the jaw. Why I'm trying to train Anky this way and, of course, intend to train Remy the same way.
She actually said, "well, aren't you just messing with the mouth when you should be concentrating on the back end?"

Well, a few years ago, I might have said the same, but being quite a lot older and perhaps (hopefully) a little wiser, I've changed my opinion.

So, what is it?

Flexion (mobilisation, yielding, call it what you will) of the jaw is a flexion of the temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ), which is found about 2 inches behind the eye, under the base of the ear. Whilst the rider is concentrating on the bit and the mouth, the important thing happens in the head, far away from the bit.


Opening the jaw itself is not only what is looked for (although it's part of the process). The aim is to relax the TMJ, as the French say, 'decontracter', to prevent it from being contracted.

In the flexion of the jaw, the horse "lets go" of the bit. The tongue goes up and down, several times, and as Philippe Karl says "a behaviour similar to tasting a sugar, playing with the bit and swallowing, then salivating. Not chewing".
I really like his DVD's :-)



So she asked me how to get it. Well, I try to follow PK's method which I'll try to describe in my next post.