Take some time to prepare young horses and colts to accept the rope, in order to prepare them to accept the bit later.
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Well, there are two options here: first classic answer is “You don’t, you just put your hand in the mouth, and it’s gonna open it, period!” The second option is slightly different, and consists in teaching different steps to your horse to make him want the bit and the bridle: lower the head, tip it inside, open the mouth, take the bit, and let the horseman or horsewoman put the headstall on.
Position of the horses head
Your horse is your partner, not a beast that you shall fight all the time. So, when you come with the bridle, your partner should anticipate what you want, and do the necessary to help you. The idea is to lower the head, and to tip it toward you. Both will be taught by using the simple method of pressure and release.
First, put your fingers right between the ears (if your horse is too tall for you, put your fingers as high as you can along the neck) and press. Just keep pressure on the same spot until the horse lowers the head. At first, lowering the head means yielding to pressure by only one or two millimetres maybe. Good! That’s enough to release pressure and to reward: pet him with all your heart.
Repeat the process several times, you will see how fast a horse can learn to lower his head on demand. Pretty soon, a light pressure between the ears or on the neck will be enough to lower the head to the right level. (Roughly below your armpit, we do not want to reach the grass when bridling, do we?)
Second, wrap your arm around your horse’s neck, same as if you were hugging him. Put your right hand on the side of his head, and push. Same as before, just keep pushing until your horse gives up and points his head toward you, one or two millimetres are enough at the beginning. Pretty soon, the feel of your hand on the side of his head will make your horse tip his head toward you. Remember that timing is the most important parameter here: release pressure too soon and you teach your horse to resist you; release too late and you fail to reward your horse, then what’s the point to lower the head or to tip inside?
Taking the bit
When preparing a horse to take the bit, it is good to use the leading rope _ it’s smoother and you will not hurt your horse when training him and yourself. You should wrap the rope around your horse’s neck and take the loose end in front of his mouth. Present the rope to his lips and wait. Leave some time to your horse to process that new cue. If you do not have the expected response, then you should put your thumb in the mouth, and shake gently your horse’s head: we want to make it uncomfortable, not to hurt him.
As soon as the horse opens the mouth, release all pressure and pet him. Pretty soon, you will not need to shake the head anymore, then the thumb will not be necessary neither. Finally, presenting the rope to your horse’s lips will be enough to make him open the mouth, then pull gently the rope inside the mouth, and let your horse chew it a little bit: it is a new feeling, and he needs to get used to it. After a few moments, let the horse spit the rope out, do not pull on it as you should be careful not to hurt the teeth, the tongue or the lips in the process.
CAUTION:
Be extremely careful with the youngsters. These foals, and young 2 to 4-year old horses still lose their baby teeth, and it can be pretty easy to hurt their mouth by pushing, pulling or hitting one of these weak teeth.