At 00:19:39 on 02.03.10, chica wrote:
Ok so my horse jigs (or jogs)and tosses her head on the way but normally only in the winter not such much in the summer because we get out more for rides ,and lately she started doing little rear hops when i wont let her go as fast as she wants and it scares the crap out of me but i don't feel like i can talk to my instuctor since she would just tell me to get over it and toughen up :\ so does anyone have a way to stop the jigging and head tossing??? please help! i love my horse and i love riding so this needs to stop.i have tried spinning her in a circle every time she starts to jig and works for a couple of steps then she starts again.so i nned some more ideas please!

At 10:46:32 on 08.03.10, tayriggles wrote:
hey.. i know exactly how you feel. my horse used to do that too me everytime we went out for a ride on the way home and i couldnt control it so i ended up getting my riding instructor who is 1 year older then me to ride her in our arena type area with a different bit and i noticed a difference in the arena. however when i rode her out i stilll had trouble on the way home so i only rode her in the arena unless my riding instructor and i went out and id ride her horse and shed ride mine. we did this for roughly a month and i couldnt take just doing flatwork anymore so i changed my bit back and we still did arena work before and after we went out but while we were out she was a different horse she was so much more calm and relaxed. (my horse walks out at roughly 8km so she was calm when walking that fast) but she was only like that when i let her have her head and walk to the speed she wanted to walk at and she has started to become the perfect horse on the way home i let her go infront and let her walk out and as we go along the way i would stop her and turn her around for 100m or so and then let her walk back to the group before wed start again and eventually i started just walking off while the others were still walking and turning back around and let her continue to walk out. we would also just stop for no reason to make sure she would stop and if she didnt id turn her around to make her face the direction she had just come from and she stopped. until she realised that when i wanted to stop she had to stop. it got better over time and now she is sooo much better then what she was before that. and i am now even going out on my own along a busy road for 3 hours before i am back at home and she doesnt play up for me at all she takes everything in her stride and is still learning, even at the age of 17. hope these help. i know how it feels

At 13:35:34 on 23.03.10, katief wrote:
i know how you feel my mare is now 20 had her from day one and tried most things. she used to rear up jig jog. nothing seemed to work. but in the last 6wks she is calming down, i have bin doin half holts as soon as i feel her start, it knackers your armes but this is starting to pay off.plus i take all leg contact off an give her her head just keeping contact to do half holts. some horses when out dont like being held back so resist by jogging or shaking there heads.i find the calmer you can be, the horse calms as well. i hope you find a salution as it is so dam annoying and saddle sores arnt nice lol good luck :)

At 14:32:14 on 23.03.10, gimmeachance wrote:
i have just got a tb on loan and he does the head shake , but i am hoping that the more i ride him he will stop. will try the half halt and the turns. when i was learning they used to put something on the bridle which stopped the horse from being able to do this at all. but i dont know what it was anyone have any ideas. but before that i will try checking his bit is comfy too.

At 15:10:54 on 23.03.10, plodalong wrote:
hi Chica have you tried doing a circular ride then you horse doesnt realise he is on his way home,if this isnt possible try the Kelly Marks thing and get off at some point and walk the rest of the way, by doing this the stable or yard isnt the reward the reward is you getting off . dont dismount at the same place but vary it then he wont anticipate you dismounting, worth a try.

At 16:14:54 on 23.03.10, chica wrote:
the problem with getting off is my riding teacher will yell at me for walking her back instead of riding in and dealing with it :(Gimmeachance its called a martingale(standing or running) i have a standing and it stops most of the head tossing.not the jigging.

At 19:49:44 on 23.03.10, sophiewhiffin wrote:
Have u tryed riding in a martingale that will help with the hed tossing as my friends mare does the sam thing and the martingale stops that,u should try half halting everytime he starts joging or pull him to a halt n make him walk on nicely,if u do this enough the behavior will stop

At 20:35:06 on 23.03.10, Adore Appaloosas wrote:
This sounds exactly like what my horse does. It used to scare me too - he jogs, side steps, tosses his head, spins, does small rears (bunny hops)... But what i find with him is that you really have to try and not let it get to you. When you panic, it will go straight through to your horse and she will play up more so try and relax! i know it's harder than it sounds but that is the key thing to do. With my horse, if you spin him in circles it winds him up more so i stay away from doing that lol. Try not to get impatient with her either because that may get her more wound up too. To relax yourself; try and think of her as being excited and playful instead of thinking of her as being naughty. Hope this helps :)

At 21:07:55 on 23.03.10, MINNIENIC wrote:
try lunging her before you go out - then let your hosework a bit off steam off first before going out, as you say you ride more in summmer so it may just be the food she is on and not getting out as much, my minnie starts that and i relax and give her a big blast and let her blow the cob webs off - she then only starts wen we get home (only because she knows were home lol )

At 21:45:39 on 23.03.10, Yonina wrote:
My gelding (late gelded at 6 so still thinks he's a stallion) used to do a lot of jigging and head shaking, plus big plunges when starting to canter, trying to take off with me. It's hard to say what has changed him, but he was living in a stable when I first rode him, before I bought him, now he lives out 24/7, with company. He has also had his hard feed seriously reduced. I have also been working on me and the best ride out ever was after I did some yoga for equestrians, including planning and imagining your ride out - how you want it to be. My slightly out of control horse was perfect - he had plenty of energy but only used it as I asked him to. Now I am not trying to pretend that he is now always perfect, but when I work on me - remember to breathe in sync with the speed I want - he responds amazingly well.