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You don't want a more "severe bit", but you are looking at different types
of equipment that some feel is severe. The Kineton noseband is an
interesting device, that some feel is severe, and harsh, and others don't
label it as such. What I don't like about it, is you are transferring some
of the "pull" on to the nose, which, if the horse continues to pull, you can
be cutting off some of the airflow, as these nosebands seem to adjust lower
than where a hackamore type bridle would lay, and can be pulling into the
soft area, below the bone. Also, some have ended up with rubs at the corners
of the mouth where the noseband and bit meet.

I don't understand why so many people insist on riding in a snaffle with a
horse that pulls hard, and they have little control. You are doing MORE
damage to the horses mouth by having them pull all day, than you would be if
you changed to a bit that you found more control with, and the horse was
lighter in your hands. While ideally we could work with all horses to not
have "race brain", some are very difficult to work out of that, especially
if they were allowed in the beginning of their endurance career to go fast.
Much easier to teach horses new to the sport to go slow, and ask for speed
later, than slow down one that has been raced. So, if all the training has
not worked, then why not look for a bit that the horse respects more? Just
because a horse is seen in a bit that many would feel is severe, does not
mean it is hurting the horse. I still love to bring up that Becky Hart used
to ride Rio in a shanked western bit (Linda Tellington-Jones bit) with
double reins. There is a photo that you can kind Becky and Rio and  the bit
here:

http://www.horse-photography.de/pics/fotos/pferde/92.jpg

If course, any bit is only as severe as the hands that use it. And a snaffle
can be very severe.

Jonni



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