>>Somehow, people have
gotten the idea that a bit is a brake.
That idea doesn't sound so farfetched to me. I
don't haul on my horses mouth to stop, but if I'm not horribly mistaken all
disciplines allow some tightening of the reins to halt. Even
reining.
> So, is your vehicle equipped with the brakes attached
to the STEERING WHEEL?
Well.... Last time I tried locking down my brakes
without holding onto the steering wheel I ended up in the neighbors hay field, I
think they're all connected.
>A bit (or hackamore or bitless bridle) is a
signalling device.
Who said it wasn't?
>TRAINING is what stops a horse;
Training is fine and dandy as long as everything is
going your way, but when a horse is truly spooked *pain* is the only think that
will stop them. In my ten years I've only seen one horse truly terrified and she
got herself stuck on a RP before she stopped.
>Champion reiners stop from a dead run ON A LOOSE
REIN!!
What kind of bit is that "loose" rein attached to
and how much are your reins weighted? My old cutting horse wore a spade bit,
he'd stop with a very small hand movement, but I still CUED him with his bit and
my seat. Face it, it's pretty much the same pressure to the horse whether it's 1
lb on a 7" shanked curb or 7lbs on a snaffle. It just sounds good to say you can
stop on a loose rein.
>Almost all can stop their horses with NOTHING on the
horse's head.
Well... If "almost all" can stop their horses then
why was it a huge deal when the guys bridle broke in his reining pattern at
congress a few years back?
>You simply are not going to get a horse to stop
his FEET by pulling on his mouth/ head.
A horse will stop however he's trained, and how
he's trained is a personal choice. After becomine partially paralyzed and unable
to use my seat much my horse cues completely off reins and voice. I've not had
any problems.
>My advice is to look up a GOOD reining
trainer.
The guy I took lessons from was National Champion,
and he told us to take some on the reins in a curb and take pressure in a
snaffle... Hmmmmmmmm he must not have been good.
Reining isn't the answer to everything, and just as
much abuse goes on there with bits as anywhere else!
