Schooling the Gray in the Missing Link Snaffle

We've gotten some viewer questions lately about schooling older horses in our Missing Link Snaffle. We thought we'd take this opportunity to school one of our Baja horses and show you what it looks like. For more information, visit our website at www.thediscipli... . Please take a moment to hit the Like button, Subscribe to our Channel, and Share with your friends. Thank you for watching!

[@liamrooney5133]

I love your approach of giving the horse the benefit of the doubt, respecting their ability to figure things out.

[@joelhamilton6720]

You are the best. Funny , Honest, Talented Horseman .... I've seen a few after 30 years of farriery from mn

[@bobcollinge4292]

Wow, this was certainly food for thought. And yes there are clinicians that habitually stand and flex side to side..I even did it today..wish I seen this before. This video was helpful and logical. Thank you

[@Lynn-vt4id]

I'm not in his washing machine. OMG that was funny!! I now know my problem. My head is a washing machine...haha LOVE the music you put on the video Deb. Glad to see Pat's hip is on the mend. Good stuff.

[@canoetomah7781]

Liked this also. Stay out of the washing machine.

[@kidstuff44555]

Clinton Anderson sure has a lot to answer for with his constant drilling of that "lateral flexion"

[@roberthambly9926]

I sure wish I would have found you guys 40 years ago. Great video of course

[@carlBigSpoonjohnson]

Another great video thanks Pat & Deb!!

[@everettkemp2473]

Great video guys! Great to hear Pats take on the lateral flexion concept. Unfortunate to see this nice horse been given a bad habit.Thanks again.

[@matttaimuty5397]

That is a nice horse. Smart good looking level headed. Who could ask for more?

[@sarahposey7166]

That can't be much fun breaking in all those new saddles! I love your common sense and No Nonsense and horses are who they are even when they're better trained just like people are but they all have a gift and they all have something to teach it isn't the easy ones who teaches

[@marjoriephillips7440]

Thank you Pat. I so agree with those who pull the head around to their leg. Few would have any idea why. I rode a lovely Quarter Horse and he did that. The first time I mounted I was surprised when without the slightest ask bang bang on each side. I remember saying, you don't need to to this for me Nic. Soon he stopped doing it. Love your videos. Thank you for keeping them short. You are so clear we don't need and hour of talk and show. M

[@clayoreilly4553]

Thanks for another great video, Deb & Pat. That horse sure has a nice trot! "High tech training methods". I love it. (What kinda boots are those, anyway?)

[@meycoe]

it hurts my heart to see a very nice gelding struggling with this weird "bend your head" training that is so trendy right now. thanks for helping the poor guy, Pat!

[@kentsaeger8403]

Looks like he moves out real nice a fun ride thanks for sharing !! This is Kent from the land of 10000 lakes Minnesota

[@robertjauregui253]

thank you good advice.

[@JT-yp1bu]

It looks like he is reaching for a treat.

[@andrewcastillo9558]

I'm guessing this will be covered with chinaco but would pat ever cover more in depth with the hackamore? Thank you.

[@treynorth7269]

good advice, I heard an older man say one time " Just ride him, don't peck at him all the time."

[@tinoyb9294]

Bending the neck is a suppling exercise. A horse with a loose spine is also more relaxed. I used this to get a nervous trail horse to focus back on me but not over and over. I have no idea what you would have to do to a horse to make it "search" like this but I'm not sure it's from doing a suppling exercise unless the trainer just continuously drilled on it.

[@kidstuff44555]

Clinton is one very popular trainer who does this hundreds of times. He calls it lateral flexion. His horses constantly swing their heads to the riders knee as soon as a rein is touched

[@denniswiebe-qh2fr]

Exactly what I needed to see. Thankyou Ok so I ride with a bridle. Could I train him a bit with the missing link? Then back to bridle? Or keep the missing link on?

[@PatnDebPuckett]

I sometimes go back to the Missing Link Snaffle if I need to improve my lateral work. So yes, you can go back and forth.

[@TidalTreasures]

Nice music at the end!

[@lisafoster4468]

The neck movement without turning is to help get them more supple and responsive. I'd say it is mainly for neck-reiners, though. It shouldn't be repeated to the point where they do it without an ask.

[@PatnDebPuckett]

It may well have had some genuine purpose in the past but the way that most people do it now, it only makes for a confused, resentful horse getting banged in the mouth for no reason.

[@lisafoster4468]

@@PatnDebPuckett Yeah. Sadly, the majority of people today have no idea wtf they're doing...and the animals suffer for it. Thank you for all the work you do to educate us.

[@geo102094]

The reason I flex laterally without the feet moving at a stand still is so that when we "drive the horse through out seat and guide him b3 it a trot or a lope, he won't leak out or drop his shoulder every time we direct rein him but rather "stand up" and stay under himself and being mostly guided through legs/seat . I've also found that when you have a horse proficient laterally you get to where you pick up both reins at the same time and vertically happens on it's own. It's generally exaggerated because in all reality when you're in forward movement you'll never actually have to bend that much, but there is fluidity to where you know you'll always be able to shape ones ribcage. Not to say some reiners don't exaggerate it and just get to sawing on their mouth and get a horse thats feet arent connected to the bit in a straight line. I would say the point of lateral flexion is to later end up straight again but with a horse carrying itself. At the end of the day everyone is trying to do their best, but when we get into the conversation of clinicians unfortunately there is this belief that by being a consumer of a product you will become the person on the screen or on the mic. Rather we should be focusing on teaching people emotional self awareness and how they subconsciously navigate relationships as the foundation of horsemanship before instituting the mechanics. But not many people are willing to go on the journey of unpacking their own reality and character flaws.

[@PatnDebPuckett]

There's a difference in lateral flexion, which we teach our horses, and pulling a horse's head around without moving the feet. Our horses don't drop their shoulders and we don't need them to bend their necks in two. We just need to see the corner of the horse's eye. Then the seat and legs of the rider take over ask for whatever lateral movement we need. And we maintain the lightness in the horse's mouth because we haven't been sawing on him. So you may think you need to bend your horse's neck while he's standing still but you really don't. You just need to ride with less hand and more leg.

[@geo102094]

@@PatnDebPuckett Appreciate your reply on al old video, will defenitely allow myself to process your understanding. I could see how picking a horse up with an inside spur might keep one from diving when reining him L or R and keeping him "shoulders up". Then that would be a matter of them assuming responsibility over time to not immediately drop their shoulder in anticiption of you really picking them back up with your leg if they were to do so . Sounds like your approach has more of a sense of letting a horse "assume responsibility" vs a "get them before they get you" approach that can be see with a ton on parked lateral flexion. I def believe the more exaggerated bend you get in a neck the more the hindquarters tend to kick out resulting a horse not himself efficiently, kinda the fad in the modern day reining spin.

[@PatnDebPuckett]

@@geo102094 You have just picked out the precise thing that makes our horses different than many performance horses. Namely we want our horses to be responsible for maintaining whatever movement, gait, level of collection, etc., without having to be held in that movement. Maybe we're just lazy. But we want to be able to focus on the job at hand and let the horse take care of his part.

[@geo102094]

@@PatnDebPuckett So I had a light bulb moment I wanted to share. Had a convo with a horse trainer from multiple disciplines in the aqha circuits and it basically solidified my understanding. In other words I no longer do the "washing machine"🤣. He said that by over flexing a horse all the way to your boot may give you the impression that you are teaching your horse to be overly supple even if you never expect him to travel that way... you are actually unintentionally teaching his topline and underline to fall out of frame aswell as use muscles improperly in anticipation of you overflexing him. That made a ton of sense, seeing that even if we believe we are seeing everything we do, if we hyperfocus we're liable to miss something. So now I find myself teaching lateral flexion within its "using" parameters. This is an area that I didn't know I needed to reconstruct so I'm excited for future results. Thanks again for offering insight!

[@PatnDebPuckett]

@@geo102094 you are a true student of horsemanship. You are willing to keep your mind open to learn new perspectives. This will serve you well on your journey. Congratulations!

[@toddfontaine3943]

i wonder why ray hunt laterally flexed his horse so much

[@markvelarde321]

Lateral flexion creates softness and giving. Ive never seen it create bad habits or irritation like Pat mentioned.

[@conniekempf4050]

I had a horse that, if she thought for a second that the rider didn't have her back, (teehee, see what I did there?😆) would run...fast. Away, anywhere away. I was able to use lateral flexion to change her focus back to me. The idea was not that I wanted her nose on my toe. By bending her head around and waiting for her ear to flick back to me and then release...helped her remember that I was going to take care of her, she didn't have to leave to be safe. That being said, we never sat and flexed a million times simply for the fun of it. By the time she left me (man, I miss her!!) she could keep her mind in the game and I loved her.

[@PatnDebPuckett]

I think the better choice would have been a one rein stop when you felt like she was about to fall into sin.

[@michaelschulze6545]

The bending you describe could be caused by the owner trying to improve his head posture. There are people who say an improved vertical head position can be attained by horizontally bending of the head. If this is overdone, the horse tends to flex his head horizontally when he is supposed to stand still. This is only a supposition. It doesn't mean I really know. Love your riding lessons.

[@epona9166]

I don't follow CA, but that looks like his doing for sure. He does that bending the head around an obscene amount. If the horse softly and consistently gives to pressure, you can always bend him around if you have to -- to slow him or stop him. I've read that if you do that to excess with a horse, he learns -- not so much mentally but physically -- to break (bend) in the wrong place. Instead of bending his whole body in a smooth arc, he tends to fold at the base of the neck.

[@garrettcable4946]

if you have to bend your horses neck to slow them down or stop them.. you have done something very wrong in training. plus doing that may cause your horse to lose its feet and flip.

[@epona9166]

@@garrettcable4946 I don't disagree. And I'm well aware of the danger of doing a hard bend at speed. Not the best choice of words. How about "if you choose to". That wasn't really the point of my comment tho.

[@sheripietro8388]

Do you have a source for the Sleister bit you mention?

[@jenepete2311]

Ebay They are not made any more

[@Livefreejeeper]

Still working working on myself I realize I was giving my horse mixed signals. Trying to keep his head straight.

[@Upunda]

So you want them rolling the cricket? Does that mean their mind is in a good space?

[@epona9166]

I have the same question. My understanding is that if they're rolling the cricket intermittently (not constantly) it means they're in a good space -- not nervous or upset. I have the missing link and my horse rolls it off and on a fair amount. I don't mind it on the trail but if I'm doing a lesson, it feels like when he's doing that he's not paying as much attention to me as he should. Or it could be a coincidence and I'm doing something wrong. Idk. He's 16 and not a stressed out (or dull) horse and not a horse that's ultimately going into a Sliester/half breed/spade. In other words, not the type of horse situation Pat invented the bit for.

[@hickoryhollowhomestead4734]

Do y’all know what breed he is? I have one that looks almost exactly like him and don’t know what he is, looks kinda Arab, kinda quarter, kinda TB

[@p4ranch06]

What would you do if you were doing this on grass and the horse put his head down to start eating grass?

[@PatnDebPuckett]

Not allow it. Either bump him with the reins if you’re moving or hook the reins over the horn if you’re standing still and he’s persistent:

[@davidellis4416]

Thanks for the video mate, yeh I hate also people who continue this over flexing garbage, a hotse can already scratch his ear with a hint foot, I am from Bethungra Australia

[@dnulsrot]

Why people do bend their horses head to their feet, I don't know why they do. But I know why I do that. Can't explain that in English but it has a purpose. Our horses are schooled beyond GP moves. And rides in one hand, spade or some other bit. They do without any kind of bridle. Rein contact, is no more then weight of rein, could hang in a horsehair straw. No more then what weight a romal rein does. Bending, softening, body control is a key. In time the horse do everything on riders thought only restricted by his physical limits. Snaffle, I suggest, start with a sidepull. It beats all other tools ones you find out how it works. I have gone the long way and work across all equipments and sidepull does it all. And again, Pat you are absolute one of the best on YT. I stay always and listens what you say. What you say is important, not how it's done.

[@lindatruitt7858]

Where do you get good side pulls?

[@dnulsrot]

@@lindatruitt7858 I bought my for 30 years ago, Mclellan made. Have not find any better. It's how they do the knots.

[@tatonkaowner]

From what I've been told and have heard this bending the head back and forth is flexing so you can do an emergency stop . So "horse trainers" teach this incase the horse needs to be shut down quickly but if they would learn something different this wouldn't be something you would be dealing with now with this beautiful boy. I absolutely love your videos thank you.

[@judymiller5154]

I've seen that, even practiced it...but it can make a horse "rubber-necked", where it's feet aren't connected: it can move straight ahead with its nose pulled to your stirrup! Why not just train the horse to stop when you ask, even with a loose rein, Monte Foreman style?

[@ry8322]

Lisa, you're actually making an argument against gratuitous bending. If you teach lateral flexion for the sake of flexion alone you take away the one rein stop. You teach the horse to run straight with his neck bent all the way around. The one rein stop only works if the rein is connected to the feet.

[@celardoorhorse]

I still think lateral flexibility is good but everything in moderation. It's quite obvious this poor guy was flexed silly as long as they get the point then mission accomplished move to the next task.

[@robertlock1328]

Deb if you would please would you tell me where to buy a quality reata ,Bob lock

[@PatnDebPuckett]

Email me your phone number: [e-mail]

[@dellefairclough5309]

Your fence is coming:)

[@randyweeks9316]

Good tip on not trying to correct him by pulling on his head when he keeps bending his neck

[@gonzalezventuradaironvadim1319]

❤️❤️❤️🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🐴🐎También tenemos vaqueros y no esta por demás saber, de los weros ❤️

[@marjoriephillips7440]

I meant I disagree. I better read what I write before I click, post. M