Craig Cameron Soft Loping Hackamore

Are you having problems with your soft horse becoming more and more stiff? Does your horse chew on the bit when he's nervous or annoyed? Does he hang on the bit when asked to flex? Does he just seem to ignore you sometimes? I had these same problems with my mare Velvet, and I figured out a very simple way to fix it.

When I first brought Velvet home, she was as soft as feather and would react to the slighted movement in my reins, hands, and legs. She was wonderful to ride. But as time went on, I started to notice that she was losing some of her softness, like chewing on the bit when she got nervous, resisting to flex (her head and entire body), and lazily collecting at the pole. I began thinking about the first horse I trained, and how exactly I taught him to be soft. When I was teaching him how to flex I only used a soft rope halter and a long leadrope, and for the first few rides that's all I used as well. I wanted to minimize the pressure on his face so that he learned to respond with little force. So I decided to take Velvet back to square one-- as if she had never been ridden before-- and get rid of the bit altogether.

Even though I always worked Velvet on the ground before riding her, I began working her more effectively. By teaching her to how to free lunge, essentially taking away all the pressure from her face and asking her to react to my body language alone, Velvet became much more sensitive to my movements again. We had finally taken the first step to solving the softness issue.

Then I started making a point to flex her with just a halter anytime I took her out of the pasture, so it became so ingrained in her mind that she would bring her head around as soon I touched the leadrope and stepped behind her shoulder. Once we had made huge progress on the ground, I began riding her with just a rope halter and leadrope. She was a different horse the first time I got on her again. Her softness was not only back, but even better than before. Since she had nothing to chew on, I could work her through any anxiousness or stress that she was feeling in any environment without compromising her softness.

After a few weeks of flexing and riding in just a halter, I wanted to find an alternative to Velvet's twisted wire snaffle. I thought about putting her on a larger, softer snaffle, but I knew that her nervous chewing habit and tendency to lean on the bit would not change no matter what bit I used. One day, I went over to a friend's farm and rode his horse in a Craig Cameron Soft Loping Hackamore. His father had just interned with the famous trainer, Craig Cameron, and brought home the hackamore as a gift. The horse I rode had a tendency to be full of energy, but he was completely under control in the hackamore because he was so soft. And bam, I had found my solution.

Instead of putting something in her mouth, why not continue to work her as if she's wearing a halter? I thought this idea was genuis. When I got the hackamore as an early birthday present from my parents, I was estatic because Velvet and I had a Cowboy Race the very next day. We were going to officially test out everything that we had been working towards in a competition---probably not the smartest plan.

On the day of the race, I tacked Velvet up and worked in the huge arena next to the obstacle course, fully expecting her to be nervous with so much commotion going on around us. To my delight, she never fought my reins, hands, or legs and loped the prettiest circles that I could've asked for. When it was our turn to race, I was worried that she might begin to resist my cues because of her adrenaline to move through the course quickly. Yet again, she amazed me with her softness and her desire to listen to what I was asking of her. We ended up placing 5th out of 16 riders.

Velvet Before, on a twisted wire snaffle bit:

Velvet After, with the Craig Cameron Soft Loping Hackamore:

For these reasons, I 100% recommend the Craig Cameron Soft Loping Hackamore to anyone looking for a simple solution to their horse's loss/lack of softness. No matter what discipline you ride, this bridle can be the solution to your issues. Instead of going back to the old cowboy way of "puttin' a bigger bit in his mouth and he'll stop," I went in the other direction. Sometimes taking the pressure away is all a horse needs, and wants. Going back to the basics is never something to be embarrassed or aggravated about, giving your horse the chance to think instead of constantly performing is key to making them more confident. And a more confident horse is a better performing horse and a better partner overall.

For more information or to purchase a Craig Cameron Soft Loping Hackamore, go to: http://www.craigcameronstore.com/product2.html