15 Year old bay gelding

Question
Rick,
Thanks for all the advice you have been giving me on training my 15 year old half Arab half quarter he is coming along really well. But I tried to look up some info on the Internet about breast collars and roping collars or some people call them tripping collars. I need to know which one will best fit me when i am riding on trails I heard that roping collars can help make the horse not buck. And another question i had is how tight to make either one of them on his chest. He more than likely crow hops than he has ever bucked and when he does I will pull on one side of the rein to where his nose is almost touching his front shoulder I heard that is what your supposed to do but I would rather avoid the problem than to keep fixing it.

Answer
Hey Nate, glad he is coming along nice.  You don't want crow hops to turn into bucks, the more he does it the better he will get.  Don't pin his head to his shoulder, simple pop one rein and make his head tilt, and make it a correction fast and uncomfortable, but as soon as he quits bucking release and move on.  I make my guy run when he bucks.  A horse can't buck when running, so if he curls up and bucks, I snap one rein, tilt his head, tell him to QUIT, and then kiss (for canter) squeeze and get lively in the saddle and make him run, if he slows or tries to buck, we run some more.  When a horse is running, he cant ball up unless he slows and since they don't like to run, they soon associate bucking with running.  So if my horse bucks, he tells me he has a lot of energy and he wants to run, so he runs and I ride.  After he drops his head and forgets about bucking, I calm down, work on a nice downward transition and then stop him.  I may make him back a few steps (calmly), then we walk off.  If you make too big a deal about bucking, start circling him, yell at him continuously, make it personal and get caught up in showing him who is boss, it will become the focus and you don't want that, you want him to focus on you and respond to you, so go back to something he knows well and does well, then you both forget about the buck and go back to being partners.  Forward movement will stop most buckers, some will keep trying to buck, but if you can get them running, they are not too good at it.  I hope you have a bucking strap on your saddle, that really helps keep you in the saddle, I have pics on my horseman tips page.

As for breast collars, I use what is called a pulling collar.  It connects to the pommel on each side of the horn.  I got from Craig Cameron, he is a good old Texas boy who is a well know clinician, he sells them on his web site, I got one from him a few years ago at one of his clinics and love it.  The way it hangs it does not interfere with the shoulders of the horse and does not pull unless you put tension on the saddle.  Not sure what you mean by tripping collars??  As for bucking, anything can make a horse buck, but normally it is from fear or unknown pressure.  If you don't use one, put it on lose first, lounge him well, let him wear it while you work him on the ground, back him, change his directions, round pen him.  Then tighten it up a bit and do the same thing, let him get used to it.  Don't use in a long ride the first time.  Break him in on it slowly, so he starts ignoring it and it becomes part of the saddle.  I think a collar should be lose and only come into play if needed, like pulling something, going down hill or up hill or if the saddle starts to spin, it gets tight and helps the saddle from spinning.  The more you move him while wearing it, the more he will ignore it.

I sack my guys out all the time, I put the saddle on lose and then spin it to the side a little and then slide it back to center, then I don't tighten the cinch and I step in the stirrup as if I am going to get on, knowing the saddle will slide over to me, so I am ready to take my toe out of stirrup, and then I readjust the saddle.  All of this shows the horse, crazy things happen when he is with me and don't worry about it, he is safe with me and if he stands still, I will help him.  That is why I like hobble training a horse, it teaches him not to panic and to trust me.

http://craigcameron.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CCBC303&...

http://craigcameron.com/index.html


The above link it to the pulling collar, you may have to cut and paste, the top link is to collar, the second link it to craig's site, the collar is under his collection items.  A bit high price, but well worth it and you will last forever, good quality leather.

Back to collar, a little lose is better, since this is not a primary secure item, it is a secondary support item and will tighten when needed.

Hope this helps,

Rick