Re: [RC] [RC] energized horses/making them that way and then toning it down! - Barbara McCrary
I've been enjoying this discussion on bits and "race
brain." One horse that I still have, retired from endurance events, hated
the snaffle when I bought him as a 5-year-old. I borrowed a sidepull,
tried him with that, and that's what he competed in and rides in for the rest of
his life. I tried a snaffle on my present horse, and HE hated it,
too. I ride him in a cheap short-shanked hackamore bit that I'm sure has
little leverage, but he's happy with it. I ride two-handed, as if it were
a snaffle, but there's nothing in his mouth. I stop him with a "cavalry
stop" and that works well. He's a little inclined to fail turning corners
on tight switchbacks, so I have to steer him around those and use leg pressure,
but he's improving all the time. He's great on opening and closing gates
now. Direct rein, as one would use with a snaffle, really does teach them
a lot, but he just hated the mouthpiece. I always blamed myself for being
inept and heavy-handed. Whatever, we're doing just fine with the $19
hackamore bit, two-handed, direct rein and all. I'm a great believer in
using whatever works.
Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] energized
horses/making them that way and then toning it down!
I've found that some of my Arabs have small mouths that respond
badly to the joint itself in the snaffle. When pressure is brought on the
reins, that joint hits the roof of the mouth and I have a horse raising its
head to avoid the bit. When I give them a straight bit like a kimberwicke, the
pressure on the reins gets a very different reaction. But it's hard to say who
is going to hate the snaffle. My 21 yr old mare gave me the rides from hell
(and sometimes back) under the slightest provocation with snaffle, both
jointed and French link. First ride with the kimberwicke was a totally new
mare. Her first son is happy in his D-ring snaffle, but her second reacted
like her.
