Taking The Bit

[1 morejump]

My gelding, Lance, was badly started with the bit and is very adverse to taking it willingly.  I have been trying desperatly to get him to accept it but nothing seems to be working!  :(  I have had to cancle rides because of this!  Currently I am trying the method where you get a gooey food he likes and smear it on the bit as a way to desensitise him to it.  

Its kind of working but I need a method that can really get him with it.  Has anyone used clicker training for this?  We are starting 60 days of training this summer and would really like it if the trainer can ride him and not fuss over bitting.  I am new to clicker training and thought I would ask around first.  

[Becky holden]

Hi 1 more jump.

Clicker training will certainly help with this problem.
Whatever we decide to teach or improve the main thing to remember is break the end result up into as many stages as possible, its hard to say how far you would break it down with Lance without seeing him.
First of all you need to condition the noise once you've done this I would start by teaching him to lower his head so his ears are level with your eyes, then I would take the bit off your bridle and practise putting it on and off with his head lowered.
Then as a separate exercise I would do some work with bit with the horse in just a head collar, use the bit as a target clicking and treating each time he touches it or even looks at it! Build up the stages until you can hold the bit near his mouth C/T, and so on until you can place in the mouth. The first time you manage to get the bit in his mouth remove after a couple of seconds and repeat increasing the time.
It may sound like this process will take forever!!  But it wont!!!  
Choose a time when you have a couple of days where you can do 3 or 4 sessions in a day making each session short and sweet.

Is Lance ok with the bit once he is being ridden? I expect you have had his teeth checked?

Hope this helps

Becky    

[1 morejump]

Thanks for the reply!  Well this sounds like it should help a lot.  He is fine once you get it in his mouth, you can ride him fine, its just the getting it in his mouth that is the problem.  I suspect that when his former owner was teaching him to take the bit it was banged against his teeth and now it is an absolute war to get him to take it.  

I am going to have his teeth checked this spring when he gets his shots done.  I Don't think they are too long or sharp, since he is only 4.  I know he has some adult teeth that just finished coming in on the bottom so he is a little sore.  :(   However, when he was younger, before the teeth started coming in he had problems with it.

[Becky holden]

What’s his reaction to you putting your fingers in his mouth? Does he open his mouth or clamp it shut the same as trying to put the bit in? If the latter again you can work with the clicker, I would also use key words such as "open". It shouldn't be long before he will take the bit nicely!
Keep us posted!!

Becky  

[1 morejump]

If you put your finger in his mouth he opens it and kinda flicks his toung around.  What do you mean by "condition the noise"?  Is that like getting him used to its sound?  

[1 morejump]

Okay, so I went out and got a movie about clicking and a clicker.  We did our first session and I have to say that it went very well!  He is really getting the hang of it.  Tommrow we are going to continue with standing at eye level and then move on to putting the bridle on and off.    

[Becky holden]

Thats great news!!
By condition the noise i mean for the horse to realise that a treat comes afterwards. It then becomes a sound that has been condition as something worth hearing. Then the click becomes a marker signal for behaviour we want more of.

Becky  

[Anna]

When I first bought Merlin he was scared of the bit - bridling, taking the bridle off as well as being very worried about his mouth when riding!   Sometimes he would put his head in the corner of the stable to try to hide when hearing me approach with the bridle...anyway, clicker training soon solved it - nowadays he comes up to me when I show him the bridle and tries to eat the bit!  :lol:  

[Bebe1]

I used clicker training for this very thing and it worked wonderfully. I initially started by asking my mare to lower her head (as she'd raise it sky high as soon as the bit went anywhere near her).  Once she was doing this consistently it wasn't a huge step to introduce the bit and rewarding her with a click/treat when she kept her head down with the bit next to it.  From there I went to putting the bit against her lips to start with, then asking her to take the bit.  It didn't really take very long, probably a handful of 5-10 minute sessions over a week or so.

She practically bridles herself now, though I still give her a treat when she takes the bit and also when I remove it.  

The last time she was out of work for a while I hung the bridle over her stable door to clean it and she kept reaching over and trying to put the bit in her mouth whilst it was on the door, bless her!

[1 morejump]

We are making progress, fast!   So here is an up-date:  

I started on Tuesday just getting him to keep his head out of the treat bucket.  I clicked/rewarded him when he looked the other way.
Since he took all that in so well, on Wedsnesday, we moved on to getting him better with my fingers in his mouth.  I put my finger in his mouth and at first he jerked his head away but after a few clicks and treats he got the idea.
Yesterday I brought the bit into the picture.  Since he is used to there being peanut butter on it I used the bit as a target.  Holding the bridle (sans the noseband, I thought that was too much leather for training) and clicker in one hand I said, "target" and waited until he touched it with his nose.  He caught onto that really fast so in a later session that day(I do about 3 a day) I held the bridle at chest level facing me, like it would if the horse were in it and facing me, that way he could stick his head right into it.

We played the target game that way too and gradually he began to get more and more determined to get the treats so he started taking more and more of the bit in his lips.  Today, I did that same thing and he picked the bit up in his teeth!    I am so happy!  Now he gets a click when I hear/see him pick up the bit and if it touches his teeth.  

He is a really smart boy so I'm not that surprised that he is doing so well but should I slow it down or keep going at his pace?