Note: Joy Diamond was tragically killed in a bicycle accident in 1998. My condolences to her husband and family.

Question: I am just starting my 2 yr. old, and every time I try to put the bridle on him, it's a big fight. What should I do?

Well, there are several reasons for a horse to be reluctant to take the bit / bridle. My first guess would be that something is making him uncomfortable or hurting him. What type of bit are you using? Generally when starting a young horse, the bit of choice would be a jointed snaffle, and large in diameter (narrower bits are more severe, and can be painful for a very tender mouth), but in proportion to the horse's mouth. Does the bit fit him correctly? It should be about 1/8" wider than his mouth, any wider or narrower can be very uncomfortable. Is it sitting in the correct position in his mouth? The rule of thumb states that there should be 2 to 3 wrinkles at the corner of the horse's mouth when the bit is at the correct height, but when I am starting a young horse, I often leave it a little looser, to encourage him to mouth and play with the bit, and get used to the idea - you might want to try this for a time or two, and see if his behavior improves any.

Next I would have my vet check his mouth to see if there is a physical reason for the bit to cause pain - wolf teeth, if present, should be removed (and you probably won't find these on your own, they are *not* with the other teeth, but usually located higher up the gum wall, sometimes close to where the gum becomes the cheek of the horse's mouth). Sometimes the molars will need to be floated - if sharp edges are piercing the horse's cheek or tongue, he certainly will be resistant to having anything put into his mouth.

None of this is the problem? Okay, how are you approaching the bridling process? If you routinely grab your horse's nose, cram the headpiece over his ears, and stuff the bit into his mouth at the same time as fast as possible (for example!), perhaps he's objecting to your method. When I start a young horse, I always dip the bit in molasses for a few weeks, every time I bridle him. Then, instead of forcing the bridle on, I hold the headpiece in position, and wait for him to take the bit on his own - whereupon I praise him for being so good, while I gently ease the headpiece over his ears and into position. Any kind of resistance to being bridled at this point tells me I am going too fast with something (and not necessarily with the bridling - sometimes that's just a symptom of bigger problems!), and instead of escalating into a battle to get the bridle on, I just stop and wait until the horse is ready to take the bit on his own. It seems much easier to build the correct habits from the beginning and avoid the problems.

So you say you are gentle and considerate when bridling (and you always make sure to warm the bit in winter before asking him to take it!), and you have tried the molasses thing, and he still hates it, and even when you are patient and try to wait for him to take the bit, he still spends half an hour with his nose in the air, and you end up fighting at the beginning of every ride and it really wrecks both your moods? Okay, here's a suggestion - how about skipping the bit thing for a while? Give him a holiday - switch to a side-pull type bridle, or a bosal, or even a gentle hackamore-type bridle for a few weeks - build the habit of no-fuss bridling without fooling around with the bit for a while. Watch the eyes relax and the head come to you willingly to be bridled (what a nice feeling!). Once you have those good habits ingrained, start using the bit again once in a while, and gradually switch back to the bit full-time.

Something else you might want to think about is how you are handling his mouth while you ride. Some horses have very sensitive mouths, and enough intelligence to figure out that when you put the bit in, they are going to get hurt soon. Most two year olds are still in the process of having their mouths "made", and it takes soft, responsive hands to make a soft, responsive mouth...

For those few horses who still resist, even after all this - the bridling thing is likely tied into a larger issue, and you probably are also seeing other signs of sourness / resentment / unwillingness. I would then look to see what I could change in this horse's work schedule to let him de-stress for a while, or otherwise adjust in his overall management. Horses are great at communicating, sometimes we aren't so great at listening to what they are telling us, especially if the message is something we might not want to hear!