09/11/2026
Anyone who’s tried to get a horse that has been leveraged into a behind the bit submissiveness knows that it would have been so much easier to start with one that’s totally green.
There are various terms used to describe the way some horses roll under and do anything they can to avoid being hurt in their mouths, Some call it, as I just did, “behind” the bit. Some call it “over-flexed.”
Most trainers say that once a horse learns to avoid bit pressure by curling away from it that it’s really tricky to get the horse to trust rein connection enough to NOT evade any pressure,
This is why the better trainers avoid all the rigs and gadgets, avoid long shanked bits with tight curb chains and any bits designed to create pain, refuse to use anything that is designed to get a horse afraid of contact.
But many horses HAVE been forced into submission in the jaw, poll, mouth----Now what?
Can a horse that rolls behind the vertical at the first hint of pressure be trained to accept a calm connection, hand to rein to mouth, or is it a lost cause?
Can "good hands" undo the damage caused by rough, uneducated or unfeeling hands?
Thoughts?
