In between all the winter weather I just got to ride once this week. Debbie was worried about the ring being so wet, but since I was stiff from lying around the house I was perfectly happy just to walk. When we had finally groomed all the mud off of Mia, tacked her up and got to the ring I sort of groaned inside, lots and lots of big and bigger puddles. I was expecting having to coax Mia through each one.

I have been trying to get Mia completely comfortable with her bridle and bit for many months. During this process I have tried many different things. My first success was when I changed to the JP Hunter D-ring Dr. Bristol bit, one that I had sewn keepers on to keep the bit stable in the mouth. The next success was when I got my first Micklem Multi-Bridle, though I quickly found that I could not use the D-ring bit with the bit clips. Then I figured that William Micklem had developed the bridle to use with egg-butt snaffles so I bought a few so I could use the bit clips. The next thing I did was to get a pony sized Multi-Bridle as the horse sized nose-piece was WAY to big for her delicate Arab nose, and I ended up combining the horse sized head-piece with the pony sized nose-piece. This fits her better than the small-horse sized Multi-bridle that I tried on her later. Each time I got a little improvement in her responses. Mia was definitely happier, but I felt like something was still bothering her.

After much thought I decided to take the drop-noseband chin piece off the bridle and to count on the bit clips to keep the noseband down. This made Mia MUCH happier, she really did not like that chin piece! Something still was not right, so I removed the bit clips, and she got a little happier. After a few weeks though, she told me that everything was not completely right by not reaching for the bit as willingly. So I tried an eggbutt Mullen mouth snaffle on her. The first ride I thought I had finally gotten everything right, but the second ride in it she started to show disapproval of my contact after a few minutes of trotting. Debbie told me that my hands were steady, and that she did not see me doing anything to cause Mia's reaction. She would suddenly drop her head down to the left, arching her neck. Each time after a few minutes of riding on loose reins I asked for contact again and everything would go fine until after a few minutes of trotting. Since my left side has more neurological symptoms than my right side I figured that my contact HAD to be bothering her, and while the Mullen mouth bit is a gentle one since it has no joints inside the horse's mouth it can be irritating if both hands are not even.

So I sat down looking at my bits and bridles trying to figure out how to make Mia happier. I finally remembered the excellent results I got with the JP bit before I got the Multi-Bridle, and decided to try it again without bit clips and with the chin piece removed. This week was the first time I tried it, and since I would not be able to trot in the ring I was not expecting to find out if Mia liked it. I should not have worried, Mia is perfectly able to communicate no matter what gait we are in. We slogged into the ring, and the bright sunlight reflected off each and every puddle. Usually Mia tries to balk, she does not like those glinting lights. But on Wednesday she just walked through the puddles without any hesitation except for a request of "maybe we could go through the narrow part?" from her. When I told her to keep going straight there was no further hesitation as she splashed through the water. Only on loose reins would she get out of the puddles, on contact she softly accepted the bit and went wherever I directed her. Such a big change from her usual evasions! Going straight or weaving around the jumps, Mia kept good, even, soft contact. I was very pleased after my usual half hour. But Mia realized that she had not made her point.

After we went through the gate I wanted to ask Debbie something, so I halted and asked Mia to start to turn with my outside leg. To my amazement rather than her usual half-hearted draggy turn in place she gave me the first step of a turn on the hindquarters. Since she volunteered the movement I kept on asking with my leg and she did a 180 turn on completely loose reins. All the times I had trained her for a turn on the hind-quarters I had done it from a walk, using both leg and rein. This was the first time she had done it from a halt without a rein aid. I was thrilled and praised her to the skies.

Then Debbie asked me to trot her some back to the barn so she could check and see if Mia was bobbing her head at the trot. So, headed to the barn I asked for a sitting trot, and after several strides brought her gently back to the walk, halted, and turned back to Debbie. When I first started riding Mia she had always tried to RUSH back to the barn, and tended to be somewhat sour when asked to slow down, turn, or halt. This time her mouth was so soft and responsive, it was like she was just reading my mind and doing what I wanted exactly the moment I wanted it. I was amazed.

Then it hit me. Mia was rewarding me for finally hearing all her objections about the bridle and bits, just like she did when I went back to my old Jumping Cavesson Bridle. Like a lot of mares Mia is finicky, and since she is an arthritic Arab mare she tends to be even more finicky. Her perfect obedience and willingness to please is her way of praising me for listening to her! All these months Mia has been telling me about the four things she did not like about the Multi-Bridle (all the while preferring it to a regular bridle) and her bits. I kept on listening to her, I kept on trying to make her comfortable, I finally got it all fixed to her specifications and she was rewarding me for FINALLY getting it all right.

I know that there are horse people who think that a horse should accept whatever tack they put on and adapt to any bit. Who do the horses think they are protesting what their human or trainer thinks is proper for the horse? I think that horses are often resistant and disobedient because their tack either irritates them or, worse, hurts them. If riders and trainers would listen to their horse, and try to improve the horse's comfort, and keep on trying until everything is RIGHT their horses would reward them also. Don't give up and mutter under your breath about your pesky, uncooperative horse. Keep on trying, when you get it right resistances will disappear and the horse will often become obedient without much more work.

Comfort wins every time.

Have a nice ride.