Bits - need help and some advise.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by splash on January 11, 2010 at 10:53pm

Phew Sassy. I like your answer but I suspect it is falling on deaf ears. I suspect the original poster is looking for a quick fix. From your lips to God's ears.

"Bit up" is the answer to every impatient rider.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by A_Sassy_Temptation on January 12, 2010 at 9:52am

I dunno..I have 3 friends and I (I rehab old horses back into the riding world and then sell them or give them up) I have worked with a racing arab, and a racing quarter, both those horses are in lesson programs now, but when I got them they had no sense of "right from wrong"..Its all about the basics..*sigh* I write these big comments and I hope Coming Home Friday atleast reads them..

I tell ya every horse I have worked with I rode in a halter..no pressure halter nothing, just a yard halter..

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by x.comehomefriday.x on January 13, 2010 at 4:25pm

alright I UNDERSTAND where you guys are coming from!
and I have done stuff that you guys have suggested!
I am not riding my horse now for a little due to injections and an issue!
This is turning unreasonable, and attack at me calling me an impatient rider.
I do not appreciate it. Every horse is different and I just have to find what works for him!
some advise is appreciated but I don't need to be 'attacked' that I am not a patient rider or I am not listening to what your saying.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jackie Cochran on January 13, 2010 at 5:21pm

I have come to the conclusion that often the best bit for the horse is often the best bit for the rider's hands (I am not saying you have bad hands, my teacher says I have very good hands and I still find this is true.) I tend to use either a Dr. Bristol snaffle (you cannot put it on the bridle upside down like most people seem to and like I did at first!) or a Mullen mouth snaffle. Due to my MS my hands are not the most steady in the world, so I often have to search out a bit that agrees with both my hands and the horse I ride.
I have heard of a few horses that were only happy in a jointed Pelham.
Part of the reason that he might like this bit, is that (according to Tom Roberts in "Horse Control: The Bit") some horses have loose skin covering their bars, and unless the bit is prevented from coming backwards by a curb chain (Pelham or Kimberwick) the horse misbehaves due to having the skin of the bars caught between the bit and the molars.
Have you checked out the JP bits by Korsteel? I had excellent results with the D-ring Dr. Bristol, and pretty good results with the JP Full cheek regular snaffle mouth. The cannons of the bit are curved, and do not act on the same place on the bars as bits with straighter cannons. All in all I got better results from the JP bits that I did from the one Herm Sprenger bit I got, and the JP bits are a LOT cheaper.
I used to believe that horses misbehaved only because the rider's hands are not good enough. Now I know that if the horse is uncomfortable for ANY reason with a bit that it really does not matter how good the hands are, though of course the horse will perform better with good hands at the end of the reins while wearing a not so comfortable bit, just not as well as in a comfortable bit. By all means try different types of bits. If you are lucky your horse will tell you YES, THIS IS THE BIT I LIKE clearly.
It took SIX bits on one Arab I rode until I found ONE that he would keep contact with while carrying his head down (Mullen mouth snaffle), and later found the JP bits which he also liked (Dr. Bristol D ring). The first time I rode this horse he would invert unless my contact was so light that I felt like I was riding with reins made of cobwebs. I well remember the first ride on the Mullen mouth snaffle, it was the first time he willingly took good contact with his head down. The only problem with the Mullen mouth is that the horse can grab onto it real well when he wants to, which is why I change back and forth between the Dr. Bristol and the Mullen mouth. I will use a Kimberwick if I do not get good results from the other two types.
Another bit you might want to consider is the Cambridge mouthed Miracle snaffle, a loose ringed snaffle with a ported mouth like a Kimberwicke. I have never tried this bit but have heard some good things about it.
Hope this helps.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Pannell on January 13, 2010 at 5:15pm

stick with the pelham, if he goes well in that ,fine. 17hh is a big horse so you might just need the bit extra that the pelham gives you. happy and safe riding Cheers Geoffrey

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by x.comehomefriday.x on January 13, 2010 at 5:57pm

thank you, he is a very very strong horse I have tried him in many different bits that have different effects. He goes beautiful in a ported mullen I think im not 100% cant remember the name at this time but after the 2nd or 3rd ride he is to heavy and he will just pull!
I have soft hand but stern when need to be cause he is bad in that way.
I will be bringing him back slowly due to an injury that is being addressed and I will possibly use a snaffle to start.
I did use a kimberwick long time ago when I first got him and he loved it then after 5 months he wouldnt do anything hates it now.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by A_Sassy_Temptation on January 13, 2010 at 9:09pm

Interesting about what Jackie Cochran had to say.. I do agree with the fact of changing the bits ever so often..Coming Home Friday..Have you tried using the pelham, and then the kimberwick..when he gets "bored" switch 'em?

what kind of injections did he get in his hocks anyways? I am curious as I have a horse who just got injections.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Wawryk on January 14, 2010 at 11:40am

I know your pain, I have ridden OTTB and chargey horses. I too am always on a quest for the magic bit I have yet to find it. You have been given some good advice I would say going back to basics with a snaffle bit and slowing it down is a good place to start. I do a lot of one rein stops with horses like this. Do a lot of flexing to both sides and be consistant. This helps collect a horse and puts a good whoa on them.
I wrote a blog about this the other day
here's a link
http://horselife-steve.blogspot.com/2010/01/slowing-down-chargey-horse.html

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by x.comehomefriday.x on January 15, 2010 at 3:00pm

I do switch the pelham to a kimberwick but lately I havent had too.
He get hydrachloric acid??? Someting along the lines of that... and Quardazone.
he just got back from an appointment and well he had to get his siatica (spine) innjected due to remodeling of the joints. I am not riding him for a long time and h will probanlt be retired soon if this does not work.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by A_Sassy_Temptation on January 16, 2010 at 12:22am

oh yes hydrochloric acid is the same as cortizone..there are several different chemicals they can inject depending on the preferance of the vet..I saw a HUGE difference in my horse, he carried himself so much better, and didn't lean on the bit..I think you may have solved some of your problem with these injections. Its not uncommon either, and when i ride in a barn of 12 riders more than half of the horses were injected (2 were hunter jumpers, 1 was a barrel horse, 3 were western pleasure and hunter under saddle, and one was a lesson horse).

I didn't ride for 2 days..when I got his hocks done..but he has them done every 6 months, so it has more of a pain reliever than an irritant, he also didn't have the the spine injected..

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page