how do i keep my horses head down?

First take off the martingale. Its job is only to prevent his head from going to high not keep it down. Right now your horse is in his re training phase and needs to be tought without gadgets. If you do chose to keep the martingale for later(jumping) then make sure it is properly fitted. The straps shold reach all the way to his throat.

Before you ride next time take a moment to look at his topline. Starting at the backend. you want to see a nicely rounded rump and filled out hindquarters. his lumbar area should be raised and almost flat as it moves into the back which should have muscle along it all the way up to the withers. on each side of his withers he should be fairly filled out, not with fat but muscle. His neck should come straight out of his withers without dipping down. When you look at his neck there should be more muscle on the top of his neck then the bottom. there should be no break in the vertbrea closer to his poll but be smooth and full all the way to his ears. If he doesnt look like described above then you are working on building muscle so he can do the job correctly. Correct muscling will start to show in 3 months with proper work.

This is a horse who needs work on his his neck http://www.canterne.org/images-salehorses/DrCharli...

Now look at this horses neck http://www.losalamosdressage.com/images/sunata_con... much better

So the first thing you need to work on is relaxation. Without relaxation there is NO WAY you can begin to build and properly train your horse. Relaxtion is the building blocks. A horse must be relaxed in all of his muscles in order to properly carry them and relaxation CAN NOT BE FORCED. As a tb person myself i know how hard it is to get them to calm down. So before you ride dont be afraid to lunge him to get some of that excess energy out so he can focus better. Also it TAKES A HORSE 20MIN TO WARM UP-meaning you can not ask any thing out of them and expect perfection or totally relaxation till ~20min into the workout so lunging is a good way.

To acheive relaxation you must get your horse to start stretching out his topline and letting go of his tension.To get him to stertch you ask him to over bend to the inside, widen your hands just a little and encourage him to lower his head all the way to the ground. I know you said you were having problems getting your horses head down, got it! so to do this start by over bending. he will want to walk on a small circle because your inside hand will be out away from your body asking him to bend. but use your inside leg to keep the circle big. As he starts to drop his head even a little RELEASE THE REIN. he willmost likely pop his head up and walk away from the circle, so polielely ask again, and again and agian until he starts to reach lower and lower. Which may take minutes it may take days DONT GET UPSET IT TAKES TIME! Once he starts to reach down for longer periods sooner ask for a bigger walk, and he may pop back up so ask again.

Also start to anticpate him lifting and ask while his head is coming up for him to stretch back down.

eventuntually you will do it at walk and trot. this is a pic of it at trot. dont let him stickhis nose out,

http://www.martinsweb.org/molly/images/liberty%20f...

You may have to slow him down while he is first learning then as he gets better and is reaching is when you add the energy.

I got a OTTB 2 days off the track so i am well aware of how annoying and difficult they can be but keep trying.

Whether or not you ride dressage or jumpers or huntseat or western the basic training is all the same.

*STAY AWAY FROM DRAW REINS OR OTHER TRAINING AIDS AS THEY ARE OFTEN USED IN CORRECTLY AND WILL CAUSE EVEN MORE PROBLEMS.IE.pulling him onto the forehand, making him heavy in your hands and you will end up having to retrain again.

*AND THOSE OF YOU USING THE WORD COLLECTION ITS CONNECTION!!! She is a long way from collection!! collection is something completely different!!!

http://www.dressage-academy.com/dressage-training-... Read this website!! its great

*THIS PROCESS WILL TAKE MORE THAN JUST A FEW WEEKS-THERE IS NO MAGIC CURE BESIDES TIME AND PATIENTS.

Good Luck!!!

This is very typical behaviour of an ex race horse. It would be useful to know how long he has been off the track and what work he was doing prior to you buying him.

3 weeks of ownership is no time at all. If he hasn't been reschooled as a riding horse you need to go right back to the beginning and re start him. Basically this means working him from the ground and retraining him to carry himself correctly. You will need a lot of time and paitence but you will be rewarded with a horse that you know inside out.

The reason his head is held so high at the moment is he doesn't know how to balance himself and you correctly. With this in mind you can start showing him ways he will be more balanced by lunging, long reinging and schooling over poles. Either get the help of an experienced friend, an instructor or a book for some hints and tips but for the time being I would avoid trying to keep his head down by collection as this will more than likely confuse and annoy him rather than anything else

Alright, you said he was a racehorse so I'm going to go ahead and assume he's pretty fresh off the track. This means that your horse does not yet understand how to keep his head down, does not yet understand that you want him to keep his head down, and he certainly does not have the topline to carry his head and neck the way you would like him to. Meaning he will not be able to keep his head down 100% of the time because he simply doesn't have the strength.

What I would suggest is lunging with side reins, that is what I am doing with my mare who is five and pretty fresh off the track. It really helps them to build the topline muscles as well as to learn where to put their heads. Start off loose with the side reins and gradually tighten them so that way you can avoid any major panic attacks when he realizes that his head has been restricted.

Also remember to have some patience, you have a racehorse which means you are completely retraining him. Treat him exactly like you would a recently backed three year old, because that is pretty much what you've got. Racehorses aren't taught to properly carry themselves with their heads down, heck you're lucky if your horse has much for steering when they come straight off the track. You will start to see results, but it will take longer than two weeks.

You have some good answers in using the Running Martingale, however it may take a long time to get hi head down as he has been tough to hold it up. Stop seesawing in his mouth, put pressure on it a little at a time when he does what you want then release the pressure. In doing this you are teaching him to move away from pressure and soon will only have to touch him with a small amount of pressure on the reins to remind him.

Be patient! It took my friend 3 months to get her horse to walk on a hack, and not bolt off! Also, if he is an ex-racehorse, he has probably been trained to stretch his head up and out to make more chance of him winning. Racehorses are also trained so that the more you pull on the reins, the faster he goes. Maybe if you are keeping the reins very short, he takes this as a sign to go faster, but you won't let him, thus, the only way for his head to go, is up! If this is happening, maybe just loosen the reins, and he might relax more. Another point is, do you have what they call an 'electric seat'? Horses can feel any nervousness in the rider, and so maybe he becomes nervous and scared, and so throws his head up? One last point, if you have only had him a few weeks, he is bound to be nervous and wary of everything around him.

Keep going, and you'll get there!

It takes time, and should never be forced, your horse should collect as he engages his hindquarters and there should be unity in his movement. Youve only had him such a short time dont expect to much, focus on bonding with him as he might be nervous in his new environment. An instructor to watch over would really help, another eye might help pick up on things you dont realise youre doing. Just remember that getting a horse 'on the bit' shouldnt just come from your hands pulling his head down, a bit or a martingale..... and whipping a nervous horse (as someone else suggested) will make it worse and would be cruel and pointless.... be patient. Good luck.

:-D

p.s. being an ex racehorse will take more time if he is fresh off the track, he will still be learning that what you are expecting of him and wont be used to having to be collected - they tend to star gaze heaps!

A majority of horses can't just automatically keep their head in a perfect position, even if they know how to. They have to build the muscle and balance to be able to maintain a nice headset, which can take months.

You've only been working on this for a couple weeks; give your horse time, he doesn't have the muscles to do what you're asking of him. Just focus on getting him to bend at the poll and give to pressure. As soon as he gives, release your pressure. Eventually he'll be able to maintain it.

Are you the first one to be riding him since he left the track? If not what was his previous owner doing with him?

The first thing to do is to make sure his teeth have been done by a GOOD, very experienced dentist who knows how to use power tools and has been using them for many years (not just a vet who took a 2 week course in dentistry. Vets are NOT taught dentistry in vet school, except for a couple of short lessons). If he came off the track, he would have been having his teeth checked frequently (unless he had a really crappy trainer).

Another physical reason some horse carry their heads high, other than natural conformation (most TBs are well able to engage, round and carry their heads at an appropriate level) is due to back soreness. This is very common. You've only had him for 3 weeks - how fit is he? Asking for collection from a horse who isn't fit enough to carry himself is asking for back soreness issues. You need to go very slowly, working on large circles and figure 8s to start with, making sure he understands and responds to your seat and leg and light hands, softly. As he begins to bend throughout his body laterally, he will soften and become more flexible. You can eventually begin to ask for a couple of steps of engagement with a rounding of his entire spine as he engages his hq and steps more and more under himself. The circles and figure 8's and spiraling in and out of a circle are really the best way to start. But don't drill him on these, and don't ask for more than a few steps at a time. It takes many weeks for a horse to develop the back and abdomen muscles (and others) to carry himself in collection.

We run into many, many horses whom people were trying to "do dressage" with, who have very sore backs due to incorrect riding. The bit you're using is good, but ditch the martingale. You need to use your natural aids and a dressage whip only (to reinforce leg, if needed).

You horse is just testing you, my horse used to do exactly the same thing. When your horse lifts it's head up, you have to be strong with the horse by holding your hands as still as you can in the same place as they were when the horse was collected. Also use your voice commands and say "NO" or a word like that when you horse lifts it's head up.

If you are kicking your horse when your horse lifts the head up it won't do anything to solve the problem. You can also use a whip and give your horse a light tap when he lifts his head up.

Also if your horse has just started collection it will take a long time to get it perfect. It took me 2 years! So keep trying at it and just be firm with the horse.

Lessons will help as well so you get the right technique :)

It's hard to explain but i'm sure your horse will work out for you :)

Good luck

Have you had his teeth rasped? as I dought they would have been done while racing.

Also race horses learn to have there heads up for balance, to get his head lower, use a hanging cheek, or roller or ,losange bit as most racers are in single joints or french links that pinch the tongue, so they need a differnt mouthpiece thats kind to the tongue. So they will then lower as there more comfortable.

Then get lessons with a good instructer to go over long and low, schooling exercises, that will train him, to learn to stretch. Never forse his head down, either with a martengale, sawing hands or a bit, as its not just a head issue, his muscles in his whole body are trained to work in a racing shape, nose poking neck straight. So it'll take time as he needs to learn to completely change his way of going, to be able to strengthen himself, so he can carry his head lower. It will take months to change. but with good lessons, you should be able to see a difference in 4/6 weeks

Its so simple! Bit him up! Which means to tie the reins to the saddle to make their mouth softer. its simple ground work, There are 3 steps to doing it. and in the end you should be able to ask him to put his head down just but a gentle pull on the reins. i do this with all my horses. But its tricky and if not done correctly, or going through the steps to fast the horse could react by flipping over. Its easy to do once shown but im dont think explaining by writing would teach correctly, so

here is a couple of website that might help, i guess everyone one does a little differently but in the end it all should work the same

http://www.deehowe.net/8226bittingup.htm

http://www.adairmag.com/articles/archive/bitting_u...