On Sunday I did a little experimenting with his bridle -- I removed his noseband and flatted him around without it. I was honestly baffled that he wasn't running around like a giraffe with his head and nose in the air: he was AWESOME!! I all had to do to get him to lower his head was widen my hands and give a little half halt. Bam! Head down! Seeing as how well the flatwork went, I decided to get him going over a (pretty tricky) little pole course. He put his head up a few times when I pulled on him, but it wasn't bad at all! We were doing rollbacks, flying changes, bounces, and lines with ease!
Today I left the noseband off again, purely to see if it was a real reaction I was getting and not just a one-time thing. Sure thing, I got on, widened my hands, half-halted, and there! His head was down. He went around the rest of the day perfectly. Of course he to be spooky since it was EXTREMELY windy, but other than that he did everything I asked of him, no problem!
I find it funny how one little piece of tack can make such a difference in a horse's way of going, especially when it's something like a noseband that you wouldn't really even consider taking off! Without his noseband his jaw is unclenched, he is salivating more, his back is not stiff. I found that he's actually more sensitive to my aids without the noseband than with it, so that's a plus too.
I'll probably, eventually get Cheeky a running martingale, just because he needs one for jumping regardless of whether he has a noseband on or not. He's going so well right now, I can't wait to see what show season has in store for us. Very happy with my baby boy as always. <3
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