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11/30/05: "I rode and owned ponies as a child but gave up in my teens to study and socialize. I’d like to take up riding again at 67 but I am so very nervous when riding. I’ve been told that Icelandics have a wonderful disposition for the senior rider. I would be grateful for any advice you are able to give me, as I enjoy horses so much and want a positive experience."

11/23/05: "I am having a difficult time deciding what bit to use on my horse. Why would you recommend your bit over the typical ones I find on the market? And how do the various sizes affect me and my horse?"

11/16/05: "Is it harder to get a very dominant horse to do Join-Up?"

11/9/05: "What do you do with a horse that will only allow one person to ride it?"

11/2/05: "My 14 year old horse, Wallach Nightflight, runs out of the trailer every time. I have owned him for over three years now and nothing has happened to him during this time concerning trailers. I know from the former owner that he once had the bar against his leg. I am sure that he still fears it will happen again when he has to get out of the trailer. How can I take away that fear completely and for ever? I would like him to enjoy the drive on the trailer without having him run like a rocket out of it."

Answers to November's Ask Monty Questions

Question: "I rode and owned ponies as a child but gave up in my teens to study and socialize. I’d like to take up riding again at 67 but I am so very nervous when riding. I’ve been told that Icelandics have a wonderful disposition for the senior rider. I would be grateful for any advice you are able to give me, as I enjoy horses so much and want a positive experience."

Answer: I think every breed has individuals that can fall into the category of being safe and "bomb proof". Having said that, every breed has its share of challenging individuals that might be less than safe and reliable.

The Icelandic horses that I have worked with certainly have had the capacity to become gentle, steady and sensible. The gate of the Icelandic is fine for a beginning rider. They are smooth and comfortable when properly trained.

It is likely that I have now worked with more than 500 Icelandic horses. This has given me a base of experience whereby I feel qualified to form the opinion that with proper schooling the Icelandic can become a very good choice for a horse person in their senior years.

- Monty

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Question: "I am having a difficult time deciding what bit to use on my horse. Why would you recommend your bit over the typical ones I find on the market? And how do the various sizes affect me and my horse?"

Answer: I have designed my bit to be made of black iron; it rusts. Bits that don’t rust are most often made of stainless steel. They look nice, they are easy to clean and they last well because they are simply harder and more durable during a process which includes spending a lot of time in a moist environment and also being chewed on by horse’s teeth.

I personally remember stainless steel coming to popularity right after the Second World War The bit makers referred to it as MONEL steel. I thought it was wonderful as I often had the assignment to clean the bits. It seemed like a logical answer to having a shiny, attractive bit that lasted a long time. The problem with the supposition is that nobody checked with the horses. By about 1960 I heard the top trainers suggesting that their horses seemed to be happier with the old black iron bits. I found myself digging out some of the older bits and reacquainting myself with the behavior of my horses, comparing the shiny bits to the rusty ones. Lo and behold, I concluded that these trainers were right. The horses much preferred the old style black iron. Virtually every trainer agrees that the presence of some copper in the mouth creates more natural moisture, thus, presenting the horse with a situation whereby the bit sits much more comfortably on lubricated tissue than if his mouth was dry.

You might ask why not make the whole mouthpiece copper and that actually has been done by some companies. A pure copper mouthpiece however is extra soft and suffers greatly from a durability standpoint. Horses will literally chew a pure copper mouthpiece, often creating an unusable bit in just a few months. Super racehorse trainer D. Wayne Lucas prefers pure copper mouthpieces and simply throws them away approximately every six months.

I have designed my bit so that it is made of the metallic combination that I feel addresses the issues most effectively. Black iron as a principle metal and copper inlaid in strips so that it is protected from the chewing by the stronger black iron. The presence of the copper creates the desired moisture. To address the look of the bit, I designed it so that the portions outside of the horse’s mouth are stainless steel; nice and shiny with the look people desire.

The portion of the bit just outside the lips is designed so that it is not simply a ring passing through the mouthpiece but that it is a barrel shaped tube which is far more comfortable when guiding the horse left or right. The name of this particular arrangement is “modified egg butt”. Some might call it a “modified D ring”. I believe that I have created a bit that has the overall look of a professional piece of equipment but the comfort and acceptance by the horse that we so desperately need if we are going to be successful trainers.

I am not a fan of thin gauged mouth pieces. They are far more severe than a large gauge when pressure is applied by the reins. The snaffle bit, by its very nature, rises off the tongue when contact occurs. As the center portion of the mouthpiece rises, the contact points become the sublingual bars of the horse’s mouth (gums) which travel on both the left and right sides of the horse’s mouth just at the margins. Horses fortunately have a gap in their dental structure right where we want the bit to go. The bars constitute those areas of the gums which are free of teeth. When the bit makes contact with those bars, the size of the mouthpiece itself is critical. A tiny, wire-like mouthpiece would tend to cut in and repeated scarring creates a hard-mouthed horse.

The protection of the precious soft tissue of the horses’ mouth is critical to the overall performance of the horse, no matter what use you intend. We all want a sensitive mouth, but we are responsible for creating that sensitivity or destroying it. The bit is our partner in that effort.

Because my work is global, I must address the issues of where extra large warmbloods are concerned and also the tiny heads of the Arabs that I work with. I have designed my bits so that there is a thick and thin gauged mouthpiece. The thick mouthpiece is naturally heavier and more appropriate for the large breeds. Conversely the thin should be used on sensitive Arabs, Quarter Horses and the lighter breeds. The length of the mouthpiece itself is longer or shorter to accommodate the width of the mouth on the various sizes of the horses’ mouths. The owner of an Arabian horse will obviously want the 5 inch bit while the owner of a show jumper will generally be looking at the 5.5 inch.

I often refer to one anecdote when discussing black iron as a preferred metal for bits. The largest snaffle bit competition in the world is the National Reined Cowhorse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity. It took approximately 20 years before all of the about 300 contestants turned up for the competition in black iron bits in the year 2004. Every competitor had a black iron mouthpiece.

- Monty

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Question: Is it harder to get a very dominant horse to do Join-Up?

Answer:

Yes, it’s a bit harder, but when I say a bit harder I mean just that. While it may be slightly more difficult, I recommend that the horseman not dwell on the negative. The toughest Join-Up is so much easier than the best of the traditional methods that you should look forward to having fun with the process. Do Join-Up and count your blessings.

- Monty

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Question: "What do you do with a horse that will only allow one person to ride it?"

Answer:

I find that a horse who tends to trust only one person generally has a good reason. Most often, it is because that one person has treated him in an acceptable manner, while others have been inappropriate in their treatment of him. I do not accept the premise to the question, however, because I believe I could deal with the horse, instruct the rider, and successfully cause anyone appropriate to ride him.

- Monty

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Question: "My 14 year old horse, Wallach Nightflight, runs out of the trailer every time. I have owned him for over three years now and nothing has happened to him during this time concerning trailers. I know from the former owner that he once had the bar against his leg. I am sure that he still fears it will happen again when he has to get out of the trailer. How can I take away that fear completely and for ever? I would like him to enjoy the drive on the trailer without having him run like a rocket out of it."

Answer: Flying out of the trailer backwards is a very dangerous behaviour that I must deal with very often. I recommend Join-Up® and then the use of the Dually halter until the horse knows very well how to move forward off the Dually. After you achieve complete cooperation schooling with the Dually, you can progress to the next step, which is to back the trailer close to a solid wall and begin to work so that the horse bumps the wall which is only about one metre behind the ramp. Schooling this way repeatedly will eventually stop this problem.

Turn and walk into the vehicle and expect the horse to follow. In extreme cases, should the animal refuse to come forward, you can place tension on the Dually halter, and wait for the slightest motion forward by the horse. If forward motion is observed, be quick to reward it with a rub between the eyes. If the horse flies backward, release the pressure, allowing the horse to reach the obstacle placed to the rear of the horse. Once the reversing has ceased, you should begin the pressure again on the Dually halter and wait to observe forward motion.

When the animal negotiates the ramp and enters the trailer, you should consider his work just beginning. The horse should be taken off the trailer and reloaded 10 to 15 times before making any changes. Once the horse is negotiating the loading process with adrenaline down and in complete comfort, you can begin to remove the influence of the wings and walls. You can also move the vehicle to lessen the effect of the assistance provided by these objects. You should continue the process until the horse loads with ease in a vehicle that is freestanding and without wings of any sort.

I believe that these loading procedures should take place on a day when there is no need for travel. Waiting until you must travel usually allows insufficient time to execute these procedures without anxiety. Each procedure described here should be conducted in a calm, cool and tranquil fashion. It should be your goal to achieve willing loading with the adrenaline level of the horse as low as possible. The horse should walk quietly with his head low and exhibit licking and chewing, which denotes relaxation.

If you follow these procedures to the letter, the results are usually incredibly good. You can create a loader that you can send into the trailer on his own with very little effort. I often accept a horse for a demonstration that has been extremely difficult to load for years, and he generally negotiates the loading process within a minute or two of the time that I actually ask him to load. Take the time, keep the adrenaline level low and always regard safety as the number-one priority. And remember; never tie your horse in a trailer while the back gate or ramp is open. This mistake causes about 90% of the problem we are discussing.

- Monty

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