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Re: [RC] Bitting for Control Question - heidiWell this is not the answer you will be looking for because it's not a *quick fix*. You control a horse through his mind NOT his mouth. Given the right stimulus a horse can and will run through anything you can think up to put in his mouth.....AND if you don't have control of him BEFORE you go to an exciting event like an endurance ride I can guarentee you sure as heck won't have control of him at the ride, no matter what kinda of bit or hack you are using on him...therefore, you are risking your safty as well as other innocent people around you and are a potential hazard. <snip> My personal take on the whole control issue is that if I feel I have to use more than a snaffle or frenchlink to control my horse than I need to go back to the pen/pasture and work on what building block my horse has missed in his/her training and I have no business even trying to ride in an endurance ride, ctr, horseshow, or any event I know my horse will get excited in. I know alot of successful endurance riders will disagree with me, but then I am a bit of a horse control freak <vbg> Actually, Penny, you are right on the mark here. Control is NOT about hardware in the mouth--it is about controling the horse's body, and as you said, his mind. You covered the mental part. I'd add that control is a matter of seat and legs, and knowing how to apply his body to whatever bit (or bitless device) you happen to have, even if it is just a thong in his jaw. When you know how to drive the hind end forwand and under with your seat and legs against a feather touch on the forehand, you can achieve a stop on a dime with virtually any headgear. I am admittedly not as good at this as I'd like to be, and my balance has gotten worse over the years (hence I have to rely on the trained mind more and more) but it is beautiful to watch my husband do this with even the greenest of horses. The main bit in our repertoire is indeed the French-link snaffle that Penny mentioned. All of our green horses are started in this, and it is all we need on any of them for "control." I do use a mild Hartwell pelham much like a western curb on the well-broke teenager I'm riding now--mostly because he had many years under saddle before we got him, most of it with children, and was used to a Kimberwicke. He works fine in the French link, but likes the pelham. He also was very fussy with a regular snaffle as have been some of our other horses--likely because it was impacting the roof of his mouth when engaged. We have used a mechanical hack on a couple of our horses over the years, but they were well-broke ones as well who certainly didn't need it as a "stopping device"--just happened to like it and go well in it, being a bit steadier on the long haul without a bit to fiddle with. My husband also sometimes uses a sidepull instead of a bit, particularly on ones who are being rowdy and who he suspects are doing so because they don't like the bit. But I see he hasn't used it for awhile since we discovered French links... (The one on which he used it quite a bit was our stallion Aur Bold Tribute--who at age 15 when we got him, after standing in a stall for 8 years and doing nothing but breed mares, was a bit of a handful. He was the one that originally made us try the French link, although hubby was doing fine with him in a sidepull.) Bottom line--make sure the bit fits, make sure you aren't impacting the roof of his mouth, and then train until you GET control!! Harsher hardware is not the solution. If need be, get thyself to a good dressage instructor, or check out some of the solutions that Penny offered. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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