studebaker
Posted : 2/21/2015 11:04:59 PM
I find jumping to conclusions leaves one falling into pits. That said, I have met far more thirteen-year-olds who thought they were brilliant than actually have been.
Bits and Bitting are one of the most basic of skills a trainer possesses. There's a very delicate balance between under and over bitting any horse. If you have a horse pushing through or completely ignoring a bit, then it's time to consider replacing the bit. Severe is rarely the answer. Often I find that one should step sideways to another mouth-piece rather than a stronger bit.
As an example; I had a Hackney pony that was tossing his head about and refusing to listen to the bit. I switched him from a French-Link Snaffle to a Mullen-mouthed Liverpool (cheek setting), smooth mouthed. He went from a stronger to a milder bit and it resulted in more control and the end of the head tossing (in this case it was a comfort issue).
I had another fellow who was going along reasonably well in a half-cheek Snaffle, though bulling through it from time-to-time. So, I changed him to another Liverpool, with a straight mouthpiece and put him on middle-bar (leverage-setting). That cured the bulling-through, however the head-carriage issues were solved by another appliance.
I used to train half-Arabs myself and am really fond of them. Their intelligence and willingness are a delight to work with. What kind of ground work have you done with Wolfe? Ground-Driving is often not a favourite past-time of most horse-people, however it is very useful in dealing with disobedient horses. It teaches stop and 'listen to me please.' Free longing will not help with your bolting issue. You must have control of the horse to deal effectively with this issue. At the very least, you must longe her on a line. Put the chain under her chin and clip the line to the interconnected ends. That way you can change directions without stopping and re-configuring everything (she turns in towards you). Also, it is useful to start longing in a sturdy square pen, if possible. That way when she doesn't want to stop, you just run her into a corner and when she hits the fence, you yell HO, blocking her from continuing. A very effective cure to the disobedient horse, actually.
On the line, you are going to be working with Wolfe's speed control (walk, trot, STOP), and obedience. The most important thing you can teach her is obedience, followed by stop. Without the former you don't have the latter. By the by, no cantering or loping on the line at this point.
That should be sufficient to be getting along with. Try it and let me know how the progress goes.