I use a vosal. Both of my horses have one. I really like it, and I think
the horses prefer it over a bit. There were a few reasons I changed over to
it: My horse was teething, and a snaffle was making his mouth bleed/sore.
Also, a regular hackamore, which I tried, has shanks - which interefered
with my horse trying to eat and drink out of buckets, etc.
I have the vosal connected to a biothane headstall, and it is nice and
lightweight. The vosal gives you plenty of control, some of my friends have
used it on their very high-strung type horses with great success.
Admittedly, it gives more control than I need with one of my horses, and if
you get one you need to be real careful about pulling too hard. I also use
a sheepskin nose-band cover on mine because my horses hair gets so short in
the summer.
My 1st horse took to it right away, just put it on him and went. I still
don't use it exclusively on my younger horse now, as I have found that it
works better on a horse that neck-reins well, and we're still teaching the
young one that (though he's doing pretty well) :-)
The first couple of times I rode in it, I wasn't easy enough on the horse,
and the slightest pull (to slow down) would cause him to just "stop". Once
I got the new adjustments down it's great - I don't have to pull on the
actual vosal anymore, the horse just listens to the reins.
My horse is wearing a vosal in the picture on the Endurance Home Page if you
want to see what it looks like (http://www.fsr.com/National/endurance -
under Photographs -minus the sheepskin - got that right after that ride).
Hope this helps, if you want to know more just e-mail me.
Karen
P.S. Horse # 2 has the setup with the trail-bridle (in biothane), which
allows me to switch between the vosal and/or bit for training. I like the
vosal because it allows the horses to eat and drink without interference.