How do you get a 7yr old Belgian to drop his head to bridle? This may sound trivial but last year I had back surgery and it is difficult but not impossible to reach up to bridle him. He is 18h and approx 2100 lbs. At this time getting a smaller team is not a option.

Get a box to stand on. Put your finger tips on the poll and keep pressure on them. At the slightest effort to drop his head, releae the pressure.The first few times it may take 15-20 minutes befor he gives any.It takes a lot of time

Apply pressure to his poll with your thumb, fingers, or nuckles. He'll eventually drop his head in order to get away from the pressure. Only expect a little drop at first and then insist on lower and lower. He should eventually get to the place where all you will have to do is touch him and he'll comply.

I had a mare that had learned from a previous owner to throw her head up in the air to avoid being bridled. When I would bridle her, I would leave her halter on with the lead rope attached and would have to step on the lead rope to keep her held down so I could put on the bridle. Sometimes I would rub some molasses on the bit to encourage her to take the bit better. It worked as a quick fix but I eventually had to teach her to lower her head by applying pressure to her poll and it has made my life much easier!

If you throw the lead rope over his neck, you can then flip it up his neck till it's at the poll. Now you can apply downward pressure and "hold" until he gives ever so slightly, release immediately! You are not trying to “pull his head down,” you are teaching him to “lower his head.”

It’s the release of pressure that teaches the horse, so releasing the pressure the instant he gives encourages him to give more and more with each release. Also remember the difference between “holding” and “pulling;” a tree can hold, it can’t pull, you have to be like a tree.

Inch by inch, he will learn to lower his head. With time he will learn what his responsibility in the partnership is; to lower his head and wait to have the halter put on. It sounds like pie in the sky, but believe me, every horse can learn to be haltered (or bridled) while you’re standing next to him, or down on your knees.

Dave

I would like to add to the above excellent tips. Try to figure out if there is something that keeps the horse from dropping it's head, like bit clanking teeth, or bridle hitting the eye. If there is a problem with one of these parts of the bridle, do the training without it at first and add that step later when the head drop is well established. I also had a horse who raised his head cause he didn't like his ears being touched. So, you have to deal with that sensitivity before putting on the bridle.
You should also teach the animal to drop it's head to get the bridle and halter off. You can start with a halter. Give the cue to drop the head and put the halter/bridle on, then give the cue again and remove. At first it will be easier to get the horse to drop to get the halter off but eventually the horse will drop it's head to you cue easily for both manuevers.

wally b

Actually you can have a training session to speed up
the head lowering learning by doing what the others have posted in a small 15ft or so pen. Walk away then
turn and approach. Use voice command first and repeat it a couple times and couple this with some sort of
body language/hand signal, like talking to a deaf
person, something where the motion is down and taggets the head. A good one is pulling on mane if they have it and you can grab it. Ask first, then insist by putting pressure on head till they give in.

Then thank the animal and make a big deal out of it bridal/ unbridal or maby just halter/unhalter then walk to far side of pen with back facing animal and
turn and approach again and do it all over.

Good thing to do during winter.

You can repeat this training over and over and over in a small pen. Dont worry about doing it too many times, you cant.

You might get to the point where you turn to approach and the horse lowers head and gives you the look "just put the damn thing on and lets get to how wonderfull I am"

A lot of that high head business is from. Not saying that is the case here

I use treats. Works for getting them to lif their feet too.

does he load in a horse trailer If so lead him over and load him with halter rope around his neck, then just start to put halter on if he throughs his head up he will just bang the trailer. Or just put a feed pan on the ground with feed in it and put halter on before he gets any feed. Have done both took about 2 weeks before you could put halter on without the help. Good luck with your problem.

Need to get someone to show you how to put pressure on the poll to make him lower his head . Once you learn how , patience and kindness pays off .

I haves seen alot of severe injuries ,etc from horses banging thier heads on trailer tops.I can't see one good reason for making that happen.There are good training techniques available so abusive ones are not required, let alone the possible damage to trailers.

on put the bridle on a high head horse or one that
don't like ear touch i put a snap from the bit strap
set the bridle on the horse pull in mouth and snap it i put the snap on the inside of bridle have a good day marty

Lowell, I feel your pain. At 5'2" I had to teach my massive Percheron to lower his head bec I can barely reach his nose if he lifts it out of the way. All the tips abt teaching to give to pressure are worth following - you can stand next to him, rub top of his neck to poll, push down gently until he gives just a bit, then release and praise, maybe give a small treat. You'll be surprised how quickly he'll learn and start to cooperate. When you bridle, keep pressure on poll w/forearm between his ears while guiding bit into his mouth w/your left hand not pulling it into his mouth. Right ear under browband then left. You probably know all this stuff already but it might be helpful to someone w/less experience. You might think abt standing on a mounting block to give you a little more range. Just a thought, are his teeth ok, any pain around his mouth that he's trying to avoid?

Yep - couldn't agree more about the pressure/release suggestions! It took some work when I first got my two, but now my 4'9" daughter can walk out to the pen with the halter, call the horse, throw the lead around the neck, tug and she lowers her head into the halter. It's really cool to watch - that scrawny little stick of a thing getting those massive animals to lower their heads for halter and bridle. Time, repetition, patience, rewards. I did use treats at first, then phased them out. I also tell them "down" sometimes with a slight tug on halter (for bridling) or mane/lead rope (for haltering). I really like the rope halters - they respond so well to the poll pressure. Good luck!