On Whoozits and Whatsits (Correction Tools) for Training Your Horse

I’m no expert when it come to horse training – or even in all elements of riding for that matter. I’m your average horse woman who grew up in the saddle, taking lessons, and is now an adult noodling around with a horse of her own. I am however a reader, researcher, and listener and love to soak in all that I can from great trainers and different schools of thought.

One of the areas I’ve really been struggling over lately is the usefulness (and ethics) of using correction tools in training.

I’m talking things like spurs, draw reins, side reins, gag bits – anything outside of your basic saddle and bridle with a gentle snaffle. I think there are three general camps that we fall into as horse men and women:

1. These tools should never be used any under circumstances.
2. When used judiciously, these can be useful training tools.
3. Always use these tools to get training done quickly or to mitigate issues.

I am not a believer in quick fixes. Training a horse to be a successful partner long-term takes patience, kindness, firmness, and consistency. I also think the goal of solid training is to teach your horse to require as little cue as it takes to get the desired result. The slightest closing of the leg sends him forward. Quieting the seat slows him down. The slightest squeeze on a rein increases the bend or straightens the neck. And eventually, with time and patience and consistency, we should be able to do this without spurs, whips, or correction bits.

However, when your horse is just learning (and sometimes later if he forgets) it will take more than the lightest squeeze to elicit a response. Sometimes he ignores the light bump of your outside leg that keeps him from overbending as he drags you into the wall and a bigger kick (or even a little spur) is necessary to get his attention.

Lately Ace, who has been very nicely light in the mouth from day one, has started leaning on the bit. He’s not really using it for balance and he’s still responding and moving nicely – he’s just heavy. If I give him more rein he just bears down until he’s trotting with his nose at his ankles (literally). Sending him forward doesn’t help, and light jiggles of the reins to remind him not to lean only help temporarily.

So when my mom offered me an elevator bit on loan to see if the leverage would help him learn to quit the lean, I gave it a shot.

It’s a single jointed Happy Mouth elevator, sometimes referred to as a bubble bit. I could attach two reins – one as the regular snaffle rein, and one on a lower ring to add the upwards leverage as needed. Ace loved it. And so far – just two rides in it did the trick. I kept my hands light, and if he started to get heavy would gently activate the lower rein until he lifted up again. It only took two or three times for Ace to “get it.” He was happy, light, forward, ears perked, soft in the poll, and gentle in the contact.

Next ride we went back to him normal loose-ring Myler bit, and he was still happy, light, forward, soft in the poll, and gentle in the contact.

For Ace, one ride in a judiciously used correction bit solved more issues than the nagging and constantly reminding him with leg and reins to lighten up. Used this way, I’d say it’s a very useful training tool – and one that was much kinder on my horse.

What are your thoughts on tools like spurs, correction bits, draw reins, etc?

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