Issues with the Bit & Contact - Solving Head Tossing

Behavioural Head Tossing
Is typically created when the horse feels confronted by pressure applied by the bit in their mouth. When presented with these cases I examine what triggers the head tossing. It is typically associated with riding, the bridle and picking up on the reins.
In this video I show a horse with serious head tossing behaviour at a clinic and describe how we solved the issues.
Please hit SUBSCRIBE to keep up to date with my regularly training insights.
Also, please visit my website calmwillingconfidenthorses.com.au so that you can discover more about my courses, books, coaching, blogs and more...
Comment below if you have any questions and feedback.

[@tessa_art]

Looks lovely! I'm going to try this with my mare. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge :)

[@cherjohnson5807]

I’ve been watching the King’s coronation the horses that come out and stand their heads are all over the place, I wondered what that was or why that was?

[@JorviksWitcher]

My horse doesn't toss his head he just holds himself like a giraffe. In trot & Canter ive tried so many things to make his head doen. Hes in a basic snaffle with rollers to play with. But i feel at a loss.

[@ApplewayFarm]

That’s a red flag 🚩 sign of a soundness issue. Good chance your horse has a physical problem that is causing that. A trip to an equine vet would be advisable.

[@ThatOnePersonWithAllTheMemes]

What if your horse ignore the pressure to put his head down, he doesnt raise it, but instead keeps it high no matter?

[@ApplewayFarm]

You need to break it down into something more simple. Get lateral flexion response better. Then pick up 2 reins but make sure your reins are not too short and let go of them as soon as he tries to follow them back. Start here.

[@ThatOnePersonWithAllTheMemes]

Thank you very much!@@ApplewayFarm

[@bethsmith825]

Our granddaughter got a new horse. Our granddaughter is 9 and has had lessons for 3 yrs. She is a calm horse but resists pressure to the bit. She responds well to leg pressure and likes her head low. The horse will head toss with contact from the bit. Should we go with the flow and use mostly leg pressure and little contact on the bit, or retrain as in this video?

[@kennedy3636]

⁠@@bethsmith825what kind of bit is she using? The horse may not like that particular bit?

[@ApplewayFarm]

@@bethsmith825, apologies for the delay, for some reason I don’t get notifications of comments. I would retrain. However, this can commonly happen when the rider inadvertently balances in the reins. I normally teach riders to walk, trot and canter on a loose rein to ensure they are not accidentally balancing themselves via the reins…then I retrain like this video. Hope that helps 🙂