Hi all,
I recently got a black dually halter and it fits my pony perfectly but the training ropes are too long! When riding in it (I do alot of tackless riding using only a headcollar/dually) as i attach a rein to each training ring the rope can fall down onto the soft fleshy part of the nose restricting the air passage. Am i not using the dually correctly? I know that alot of people ride in them now as an alternative bridle but what can i do to stop the rope from slipping down her nose?
Also when i was using it to eltablish the 'sweet spot' when leading in hand my pony just stood there and refused to move! I would pull on the long line and she would just raise her head and pull faces at me and flatten her ears! Eventually i lost the tug of war and i walked her in a circle and carried on as normal (normal being leading her around without resistance) but now that she knows that she can get her own way and win a tug of war with me she has started doing it more regularly. I'm finding that i have to toss the lead rope or longline at her quarters to get her to move!
Anyone got any suggestions?
Thanks,
Abi
The rope over the nose is always long, I kind of wish Monty would address it and make it a little shorter, but I'm sure you're using it correctly. As for the tug of war, the correct way to use the dually is to ask for her to move not force her to move by tugging or pulling on the dually. Remember, horses are into pressure which means if you pull she'll pull, if you push she'll push back. What you want to do instead is ask her to come forward not demand, if she pulls back allow her to pull back but don't move your feet, keep the line tight until she comes up off of it. As soon as she does she'll reward herself with comfort. NEVER let the pressure off before she comes off of it for the very reasons you just stated, because now she's balking about moving forward. It is the same type of principle as a pull back horse, if they can pull back just one time and break free they'll pull back every time they're tied up, but if they pull back and can't break free then they probably won't pull back again, (no guarantees) but you understand what I'm saying.
I hope this helps
Kleinne
Hi Abi and Kleinne,
If the Dually sits high enough, the trainingrings should not bother the horse. So I suggest, you check if the cheekpiece is directly under the cheekbones and if you have the same number of holes in the noseband and the one under the jaw.
If you give a sidepull, when asking your horse to come off the Dually, she is likely to lose her balance and take a step towards you. So in retraining, don't ask her to come forward, but sidewards. Mostly this solves the problem.
Have fun!
Miriam
Totally agree with the good advice Klienne and Miriam have given you. My query is whether the black dually does fit your pony perfectly. Depends on the definition of a pony. I think of a pony as being a horse that is less than 14 hands high and unless it has an unusually large head then I feel that the black dually may be too big and hence your problems with the training strap. I use the black dually on all my horses which are around or over 15 hands high. It even fits an ex race horse that I am helping to train and he is about 17 hands high but has a small head. The red dually tends to be the one for ponies over 12 hands high and I think you would find it fitted your pony better than the black one. The red dually just fits my 15 hand horses but the training band does NOT have enough give in it as it is only slightly larger than the nose band when fitted and therefore is not as effective. However the training band on the red dually is too long for my shetland (only 9 hands) and again it makes the daully halter less effective for him as I have the same problems as you seem to have with the black dually on your pony. From this experimenting it seems that you need between 2 to 4.5 inches of play on the training band i.e. the taining band should be approximately this much longer than the nose band on the dually when fitted if it is to be totally effectvie. These are only my calculations based on trial and error so someone else may be able to correct me. I couldn't find any specifications on this in Monty's books but it may be in the dually video. As the others have indicated if the dually is not working then it is likely that it is either not fitted correctly, it is the wrong dually for your pony or you are not using it correctly. Check out the many videos on the use of the dually both on the uni site and on the 'horseandcountry tv."- horsemanship essentials with Kelly Marks and Monty - UK series. Then practice with the aid of these videos until you get it perfected.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Hi Maggie, just to let you know that two years ago I asked Debbie and team to make a mini Dually for our native little ponies and they have which is wonderful. It's a green one for ordering size its called mini dually, available on Montys site and Kelly Marks site for UK/Europe
Thanks so much Viccihh - I noticed it was out from the shop and guessed that it would be perfect for Chester. Well done for instigating it. I have been temped to buy it but have held off as it seems a bit expensive to get it too and the red one is better than the rope halter just not as effective as it would be if it fitted correctly. The only time Chester really needs it is when I am doing his hooves - I guess they are tender after his episodes of founder and he is quite naughty about having them trimmed.