Once my 18yo Arab X gets fizzy he shakes his head a lot and bobs his head to his knees. He is not snatching the reins, but dips his head several times a minute. How do I stop him doing this without hauling on his mouth?
by 
romelang1
ANSWERS: 5
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You need to address why he headshakes like this. Does he have an ear problem, or is his tack correctly fitted? When you say "fizzy" do you mean overexcited from cantering around at high speed? If so pull and relax in turn with the reins instead of one solid pull, because one solid pull will make him more frustrated and wave his head about even more. Walk him round on a loose rein to settle him down and at a calm pace. You could use grass rein running from his bit to the saddle but loosen them when resting in walk. Arabs are naturally quite highly strung but have you considered cutting down on additives and too much starch in his diet, as these make horses hyper. Hope this helps :)
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Have you had his teeth check lately? Could be a dental problem. Meredith Barlow, EqDT http://www.equidentistry.com
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I agree with the last two comments. Have his teeth checked and probably floated. If his teeth are fine, use side reins when lounging to get him in the right postition without you on his back.
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How come you got neg points for this question?? +++ Anyway i agree with the top two people. Also if those dont work, you could try supplementing him with magnesium and B1, to settle his excitment.
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I think you'll be amused: When I first read this, not knowing anything about horses, I thought you were talking about your 18 year old middle eastern ex boyfriend when he was drunk. I thought the rest was slang I was not familiar with: "snatching the reins" and "hauling on his mouth." I thought perhaps snatching the reins was a little grabass and hauling on his mouth was smacking him one for the grabass. It seemed a strange question, but this is AB and a lot of strange questions show up.
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