Re: RC: RE: big mean bits

[SoulsSerenade@aol.com]

In a message dated 06/25/2000 1:28:27 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
SoulsSerenade@aol.com writes:

when I posted this, I forgot to say who it was from 
(dummy!!!)....sorrrrrrrrrryyyyyyy... 

Renee
Renee (I guess I should do it twice to make up for forgetting before) :-)

<< Hmmm.....this is definitey one of those topics that EVERYONE has an 
opinion 
 about....beware....it could start some big Ridecamp war....
 I ride my horse in a regular ol' d-ring snaffle bit.  Not because she's just 
 some slow lazy dog, but because she goes best in it and it's easiest to 
 control her in it....well, actually, she IS pretty laid back...but that's 
not 
 the point...
 I have many friends who, I swear, must be making a large dent in their 
 retirement savings, trying to find the perfect bit for their horse.  Some of 
 them even say they're in the "Bit of the week" club.  One of these people 
has 
 a horse that had this nasty habit of grabbing the bit and bolting....not 
 fun....so, her owner tried one of those pelham bits(not the kind with a 
 broken mouth...the other kind....can you tell I know what I'm talking about? 
 >bg<).  It did the trick......she popped that bit in and the horse wouldn't 
 even think about bolting.  (oh, I should say she used a nylon curb 
 strap....not a chain).  After a while, the horse got used to her bit and 
 gradually went back to her old ways.  So, her owner tried a tom thumb....not 
 much difference....same old bad horsey behavior.  THEN....she tried a 
snaffle 
 bit with a running martingale.  VOILA!!!!!! everyone is happy!!! 
 Okay....next situation....Another friend has a MANIAC horse.  He's very 
 talented and is going to be a great horse...if she can only get him to 
settle 
 down.  She can take him out by himself and he's perfect...
 but she gets him in a group...and well....he's nuts...
 she tried riding him in a kimberwicke (again, not the kind that is broken in 
 the middle, the other kind...the one that is straight and has a bump in the 
 middle...sorry, I know I sound intelligent) :-)...
 Well, THAT didn't work...he was jumpy and when she'd make him stand, he'd 
try 
 to rear and bounce around when she'd pull back just a teeeeeny bit....
 just when she was starting to realize that this wasn't very fun and that she 
 was getting a better workout than the horse, a friend told her to try a 
 twisted wire snaffle...she did...TALK ABOUT A WHOLE NEW HORSE....he's 
 waaaaaaaay better.  She can't be as light with her hands as she HAD to be 
 with the kimberwicke (the more she pulled with that, the worse he was), but 
 he responds in a more positive way.....
 Both these people are very good riders....its not like they don't know what 
 they're doing so they try bigger, meaner bits....I guess it just never 
 occured to them that, when it comes to bits, sometimes, less can be much 
 more.   >>