Horse addict
Watch the Centaur Series lessons They should answer your question as well as give you a good basis for training a horse to accept the bit.

Cheers

Hi Horse addict,

Haha... that's funny. I just wached the Centaur lesson series to see wich one can give you an answer on your question. And there Dennis is with the same answer...
I watched the last one now no. 14 and it is very good to see what Monty is doing when the head go's up.

Good luck, May.

Hi again Horse addict,

I was wondering if this horse you were trying to get the bit on is your own horse?
I can remember that you told us in an other topic that you don't have your own horse. That's why I am asking this.

You say here that you took a horse riding lesson and if it is on a horse that will be ridden by different persons it could be possible that you are not doing something wrong, but that this horse is already not keen on putting him the bridle/bit on. Was it the first time you had this horse?

When I hear some stories of people who are riding in a ridingschool here in Holland there is nearly no time to brush the horse and saddle it before they go into the lesson. I don't say that all schools are the same here in Holland or somewhere else in the world!!!!
So it could be possible that people are in a hurry to brush and saddle their horses to go into the lesson, and than something can go wrong.

If it is right what I am saying about a ridingschool horse you have your lesson on, maybe you can ask around if this horse is doing this for a longer time. Then you know that maybe you are doing nothing wrong and is that behaviour already there.
If this behaviour is new, then you can sit down and ask yourself what did I do wrong and watch the Centaur lessons.
Otherwise..... it will take much longer to let the horse except the bit without putting her head up again when more people are riding this horse.

Cheers.

May, I don't own my own horse yet(Not sure when I will, but I have the confidence that someday I'll own my own horse). I just take lessons, at the beginning of each lesson, I groom and saddle the horse, sometimes a person will come over and help me if I'm having trouble such as putting the bit in the horse's mouth. I've bounced around to different riding stables and instructors, and I've worked with different horses.

Hi Horse addict,

I am sure one day you will have your own horse and that would be wonderfull!! Set your goal for that and go for it...you will see it will come to you, when it is the time.

In the centaur lesson no 14 Monty suggests a mounting block if you can't reach the head of the horse enough. Is that maybe the issue with you? Have you got that problem with the bridle/bit with every horse or was it just that particular one?

Otherwise tell us what you are doing when you put the bit in the mouth and what you think you are doing wrong.

Cheers, May.

Hi,
I too ride at a stable.
One little guy I use, Smokey, is so well behaved he opens his mouth for his bit!! Cleaver boy, he has helped me to get most of my balance back, after my brain trauma, and been a good companion.
I have to tack him myself and one of the stable hands lifts the huge saddle onto his back for me and I do the rest.
The owner of the stable makes sure everything is good and tight and helps me on the huge step-up mounting block. While I am riding she stays right beside me to make sure I do not fall off in case I have a seizure.
It's great fun and she has seen such an approvement in my balance, she said it would come back, like muscels that never forget.
I think Smoky is sweet and I wish I could have him as a companion for MY STAR.
She's offered him and a thoroughbred as well, I could affored it but too much right now.
I watched that video and thought Monty is talking about me, a shrimp, it makes a 5 feet 2-3 inch person into a 6 foot person, wouldn't that be great.
I'm going to use her bridge as a mounting block, it's nice and big and I won't fall off. I'll also start using it to put her halter on!!!
See how cleaver I'm getting from all of your suggestions.

Hi May, I've got some height on me, so that's not not problem. The problem is me trying to get the horse's mouth to open so I can slip the bit inside.

Hi horse addict,

Did you already watch GEORGIA'S PHOBIAS | Part 9 - Introducing the Bit with Bridle?
Hopefully you will/can see the difference what Monty is doing and what you are doing.

Good luck, May.

May, I've seen all the lessons here.

School horses have a lot of experience with different persons. They way how you put the bridle may remind the horse of a person who has caused pain. I have a personal experience with a school horse who did not accept Monty's way to put the bridle. On the other hand there was no problem at all fixing the head with the right hand and putting the bridle with the left hand (as most of the other persons did). From my experience some horses need a bit of time until they open the mouth, just waiting helps. Critical will be how the bridle is removed (as mentioned in the last lessons). In this situation again you may have to wait a little bit until the horse opens the mouth for the release of the bit.

Hi Rudi, the place that I'm riding has rescue horses that are school horses. Thanks for the advice!

Hi Horse Addict
.
Great advice from Rudi there :-)
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Sometimes when I have trouble getting my rescue horse to open his mouth, I poke my finger in the corner of his mouth. It seems to make him open his mouth and chew a little giving me the opportunity to get the bit in.
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You could put a little honey on the bit to make it taste nice - but I am not sure what the school owner would think of that... You would have to ask.
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It depends on how the horse has been trained with regard to getting his or her head down. A couple of my old-school trained quarter horses will lower their heads when I place a little pressure on the pole with the rein or my fingers. Then once the head is down, I can do as Rudi says and fix the head with my right hand while putting the bit in the horse's mouth with my left.
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You may not have been doing anything wrong as such, the horse may also be clever in that he knows how to stall a person trying to get the bridle on.
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If this is the case, you have to make the horse want to take the bit. So perhaps the honey on the bit would be a good option to try - especially if the horse does this on a regular basis.
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Good luck, with patience you will get there :-)
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Kind regards,
.
Gen

Thanks Gen!

Moral of my story MANY snaffle Bits Pinch... this and or Wolf teeth, rough hands, could be reasons for horse not wanting to accept a bit. Nobody is going to like this - it happened 20 years ago. I bought a 4 yr old green broke horse dirt cheep. (I knew this horses dam an sire to be level headed horses)- the previous owner the type that "knew it all" had been using a Tom Thumb that was on the bridle backwards!(I do not like Tom Thumbs some pinch even when properly attached) The horse started to refuse to take the bit and rear so the owner wanted to dump her -- DA no wonder -- I only bought this horse to turn a dollar, so I wanted to cure her fast. I first rode her in a side pull, she never tried to rear. I tried to put a no pinch D ring in her mouth she went bonkers, so to save time I stood her on a patch of Ice - I know it was dangerous - but she couldn't dance around she knew she would fall, I got the D ring in her mouth and rode her, with in minutes she realized the bit would not hurt and it only took a few more times putting in other non pinch bits (I didn't know what her new owner would use) she soon took bits willingly. She is still with same person I sold her to :)

@LonaFedne, did you ever see the lessons here Monty's taught about putting a bit in a horse's mouth?

There is nothing harder than trying to put the bridle on a horse that does not want to and you have to hurry because you don't want to be late for class. Monty says take a deep breath lower "Your" adrenaline and take the time. 15 minutes more may save you from ever having to fight about it in the future. I got to meet Georgia face to face, I would never had been able to figure out to get her to take the handling and the bridle without watching Monty work with her! Centaur took it to the next level.

Sometimes I am really surprised about questions posted in this forum. Do we really search for a better world for the horses, or do we just look for a short cut to achieve what we had in mind ? For me a better world for these animals start in changing first of all their surrounding were they live ( for me: no box, no isolation, enough space to move, enough food and water for 24 hours, a place were they can lie down, shade against sun, wind and rain, no shoes if possible), care for their health and regular hoof care. When they are happy and relaxed with all this, I start to think how do I fit in his world and how can he fit in mine, without taking away any of his needs. If the horse lives like this, he does not NEED me, so I can start to build a relationship based on RESPECT and TRUST on both sides. That means, no violence, no cheating. I can cheat the horse a few times, but he will get aware of it very soon. I can convince a horse to put the bit in his mouth, but when I am not able to control my hand while riding, he will soon return to his habit not to open the mouth and raise the head. I can put a pacifier on and use a giddy up rope to push him in the arena, but the work he dislikes or the things he is afraid off, are still there. So I should ask myself, not how to get the horse in a certain place, but why he refuses! This brings us to a totally different problem solving. We don't have to change the horse, but ourselves, and make the horse gain trust again.

tefthis chat started with a question about the bridle ... i have a 4 year old tht i have just started, he is more than willing to put bridle on put keeps putting his tongue over the bit, usually when i ask for left or right turn he will settle with it so long as i dont ask anything. any suggestions. as i dont want to start putting him on long lines or actually riding till we get him comfortable with the bit. i have used a black sweet iron D ring snaffle as recommmended by Monty

just a note to add to above he has had his teeth floated and there is no problem with his mouth.

Hi Viv,
Please check if the length of the bridle is correct, it might be too long.
When the bit is in place, there should be one or two wrinkles at the horse's mouthcorners, if it's too long, the horse feels it banging against the frontteeth and starts playing with it to keep it way from his teeth.
Hope this helps,
Miriam

Hi Viv
Basically the horse does not know that you don't want him to put the tongue over the bit. Watch him carefully, correct him immediatly with the Dually when he is doing it. This way he can learn doing what you expect of him.
Rudi