Re: RC: Bitting Question - Trail vs Dressage Usage

[Abby Bloxsom <goneriding@snet.net>]

Ruth Abair wrote:
> I have tried a full cheek "mullen" - solid mouth - for ring work 

Just a point of terminology here, not that it has anything to do with
the question at hand, but for clarification:

A mullen mouth has some curve to it, so provides tongue relief while
applying pressure to the bars as well.  A straight bar is different, and
acts mainly on the tongue.  The straight bar snaffle has really fallen
out of use in recent decades (mostly an old-timey draft horse bit) and
has generally been replaced by the mullen mouth bit.  Most "straight"
pelhams and kimberwickes are mullen mouthed, but many ported bits (with
a bump in the middle of the mouthpiece) are straight.  In that case,
tongue relief is provided by the port, theoretically.

>If I
> had a preference; I would choose a french link over the mullen mouth for trail
> riding.

Sounds great.  Is there a reason the french link is not enough on the
trail and that you need a kimberwicke?  Oftentimes that can be repaired
just by doing about a thousand and four transitions up & down, in your
case from halt to walk & back, and from walk to running walk & back,
during each one striving for a clean transition at a specific time,
without a lot of repeating of the aids.

OTOH, if you can get that in the ring and on trail alone, but just need
"a little something" to cut through the fog when he's in a group,
sometimes the kimberwicke is a great choice.
> 
> Kimberwicke has come out with something brand new - it looks like the uxeter
> "upside down" - with a french link - and gives you the option of switching
> between leverage or no leverage. Has anyone seen this configuration? If so; do
> you think it would be a candidate for the "best of both worlds?"

Not really, I think I'd just as soon change bits, and I'm not really in
favor of adding leverage to a jointed bit - does all kinds of weird
things to both the leverage action and the direct action, but I do think
the Baucher is a nice "best of both worlds" kind of thing.  It's also
called a "half-elevator", which is a sort of good description.  It lifts
the bit slightly in the mouth when you apply more than a light contact,
and applies a little poll pressure but doesn't have a curb.  It also
doesn't multiply the amount of pressure you use on the rein - what you
feel is what the horse feels.

-A

-- 
* * *
Abby Bloxsom
ARICP Certified Instructor
Level III Recreational and Distance Riding
Colebrook, CT USA
dearab@horsecom.net
goneriding@snet.net