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I have always been told a bit is only as cruel as the hands that hold the
reins. Being of a smooth mouthed age myself, that included the old spade
and halfbreed bits. They were notorious for having a BAD reputation.
Have to say tho, that the worse thing for a set of bad hands is bad balance
in the saddle. I watched a Canadian dressage rider this last weekend on
his wifes driving horse, bareback, doing half pass, tempi changes ( of
leads, every stride ), without loosing his balance. Quite a treat.
Mike, those jumping horses you saw... very anticipatory of what they are
about to do....probably not that way at all when not in the arena with the
large fences. Sort of an adrenelan high in the equine world... ( Yes they
may be being over fenced ( jumped too high ). Stall kept horses is another
subject best discussed at a later time.
If you want to learn more about snaffles, get some dressage help. Dressage
riders are snaffle experts, as the old California reinsmen were spade
experts. A horse can run thru a snaffle but then it is a horses natural
reaction to move into pressure. That race horse is no different than a
green colt. They have to learn to move away from the pressure a bit
causes. When a dressage horse is put into a curb bit, it is just as a
suppliment to the snaffle. The main bit is still a snaffle with the curb
adding fine tuning.
More discussion? Love it!!!!
Bonnie the sorta tall Short in Washington
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