All the money that e'er I spent.....

[Caol Ila]

...I spent on trialing different bits and trying to find the one my fussy horse tolerated. I had one that was okay, but never 100% convincing. We've been working on this for about a year. Last month, I bought a hackamore and started hacking in it, but schooling him in the bit. At first, he was okay in the hackamore -- enough brakes and steering on the trail, but I did not feel it had the finesse for schooling. That was fine. He was far more relaxed in it on the trail. However, over the last month, he has been feeling lighter and lighter in it. I decided to try schooling in it today and see what happened.

He didn't feel like a green horse. He was relatively straight, bending, maintaining rhythm, coming more through than he ever has before. He was not hollowing or bracing through the base of his neck. We played with leg yield and baby shoulder-in. I didn't spend the first 15 minutes of the ride managing tension. It was like my little green ex-feral turned into Valegro (well, not quite....).

Do I keep persevering with bits, or just accept that he's always going to go better bitless and live with that? Obviously it b*ggers us for BD, but I never had any dressage showing ambitions with him anyway.

(yeah, I know the hackamore isn't the perfect fit -- he's getting a custom headstall which will sort that out)

 

[Barton Bounty]

Firstly he is gorgeous and secondly… I am bitless too just a micklem tho.. so much less drama ?

 

[Neversaydie]

Is there a way you could combine the two? For a trial? Put the bit in and ride off the hackamore? See how the tension is? If it’s there with no pressure on the bit then scrap the bit altogether if it’s not then get him light in the bitless then reintroduce the bit slowly? Means you may get to compete in the future but still have a happy horse? Just incase plans change as most of the time they inevitably do ?

 

[bonny]

If he’s happy and you are happy then why not ?

 

[Caol Ila]

Is there a way you could combine the two? For a trial? Put the bit in and ride off the hackamore? See how the tension is? If it’s there with no pressure on the bit then scrap the bit altogether if it’s not then get him light in the bitless then reintroduce the bit slowly? Means you may get to compete in the future but still have a happy horse? Just incase plans change as most of the time they inevitably do ?

I rode him in a Myler Combination bit for a while, which is sort of that idea, but the bit engages automatically if you add a little more pressure to the system. He was completely hopeless in a bit (tried various ones) before I acquired that Myler, and that got him from hopeless to sort of okay. I stopped using it because it always felt like massive thing, it was too strong for him, and it was faffy to put on. He really needed to go one way or another -- bitted or hackamore. I went for bitted because that's more universally accepted, but I guess that's not what he wanted.

 

[babymare]

I’m no bit person and others will give advice but heck he is so gorgeous ?

 

[SEL]

I'd keep him bitless unless dressage is on the agenda and you can always ride HC or do the online dressage where they have bitless classes. I bought this bridle after seeing your original post - thank you!

 

[ycbm]

I think he's already told you what the answer is
.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I love this, i love people that actually listen to what their horses want and are happy with. Instead of a few I know that see the bit as the bee all and end all and constantly hang off their horses mouths ?

 

[Fieldlife]

I suspect you havent found the right bit for his mouth shape. I'd use hackamore for now as still early schooling days. When you next have equine dentist out, ask him what bits suit his mouth conformation best. Maybe in future try a bit fitter who brings loads, sometimes will find one random one horse loves.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Fabulous! He is bonding well with you and you have found a solution that works! If you are happy to stay bitless, it seems the best option.

 

[Miss_Millie]

My mare is bitless. She's much more relaxed and forward without a bit in her mouth. I even had a professional bit fitter out but could still see that she was clearly happier without one. I'd stick to bitless all the way if I were you.

I also think that going bitless forces you as a rider to train better. A lot of people do rely on bits for leverage/control. A bolting horse is more likely to stop to a painful yank in the mouth. But if you can get them to stop off of your seat and voice, you are actually in a safer position imo. A lot of people I know view bitless bridles as being risky because of the lack of 'control', but if you have a well trained horse who is responsive to your aids and trusts you, you should never even need to use the reins in that way.

The best thing I've ever taught my mare is to stop on voice cue. I practice it every day so she never forgets.

 

[maya2008]

My old TB always preferred bitless. No physical reason for it, just her preference. I hacked/jumped/schooled her in a crossunder and just popped a bit in for actual dressage competitions. She loved competing and didn’t mind having it in for half an hour or so once a month.

 

[Caol Ila]

I use the vet for dental work (horse needs sedated), and he was fairly useless when I asked him about suitable bits. He said the only issue he found in the horse's mouth were diastemas, which I rinse out with a syringe most days. Vet said that might affect the bit. Or he wasn't bitted until he was 10, and he just doesn't like it. The people who started him used a dually.

I tried and failed to get bit fitter. There just aren't many in this part of the world. I wondered if I should do the qualification because there could be a job in it.

He's such a different ride than my old horse. It was hard to get her through. There was always a block along her back somewhere. She was a very long horse, with a much heavier front end than hind end. But with this horse, I find that as soon I get the relaxation and straightness, and he softens at the base of his neck, the back lifts, and I can feel the hindlegs reaching underneath me. Once you lose the brace in the shoulders and in front of the saddle, the hind end engages, and I don't have to chase him around the school doing a million exercises to encourage that engagement.

Is that a biomechanics thing because he's very short backed with a huge, powerful hindquarter?

 

[PurBee]

As you dont have competing ambitions, go with what works for him ? (eta: that doesnt imply to compete go with what doesnt work, just that the journey of finding a bit that he likes is on the horizon)

The breeder who i bought my mare off, rode his egyptian arab stallion bitless since day 1 - i met that stallion, a lovely boy with fill-the-field Presence about him. My mindset at the time was “only a soft ’dopey’ horse could be bitless, stronger forward horses needed a bit” - one look at that stallion obliterated that type of thinking!

 

[Boulty]

I'd go with what makes him happy right now. If you have any ambitions to do dressage etc down the line you could always have another play. My Highland has ended up in a bit I definitely wouldn't have thought to try him in as fitter tried a load & that was what he liked (he seems to prefer a straight bar but needs a port for his tongue & for it to be a fairly slim bit as he's not got a lot of room in there as he's got some teeth in slightly odd places). I may try him in a transcend or similar at some point for TREC purposes but for now I feel safer in my head using a bit.

As an aside I've got a friend who is a bit fitter & she is really really struggling to find something her current youngster likes. I think she's mostly been riding in a rope halter but he can be spicy & it's not ideal long term. So erm yeah you could become a qualified fitter & he could still say no!

 

[Birker2020]

...I spent on trialing different bits and trying to find the one my fussy horse tolerated. I had one that was okay, but never 100% convincing. We've been working on this for about a year. Last month, I bought a hackamore and started hacking in it, but schooling him in the bit. At first, he was okay in the hackamore -- enough brakes and steering on the trail, but I did not feel it had the finesse for schooling. That was fine. He was far more relaxed in it on the trail. However, over the last month, he has been feeling lighter and lighter in it. I decided to try schooling in it today and see what happened.

He didn't feel like a green horse. He was relatively straight, bending, maintaining rhythm, coming more through than he ever has before. He was not hollowing or bracing through the base of his neck. We played with leg yield and baby shoulder-in. I didn't spend the first 15 minutes of the ride managing tension. It was like my little green ex-feral turned into Valegro (well, not quite....).

Do I keep persevering with bits, or just accept that he's always going to go better bitless and live with that? Obviously it b*ggers us for BD, but I never had any dressage showing ambitions with him anyway.

(yeah, I know the hackamore isn't the perfect fit -- he's getting a custom headstall which will sort that out)

View attachment 96727

Your description of your horse doesn't surprise me, Bailey used to go much better in her dually when I used to ride of the nose rings. I had better brakes and I used it for long reining around the lanes during a rehab period as well as jumping at home.

It looks a nice bit of kit and suits your horses head.

 

[Caol Ila]

The bit he complains about the least is a Bomber Happy Mouth. Argued with normal snaffles with a lozenge, passionately hated a single jointed snaffle, and started off okay in a D ring Myler and a Bomber double jointed snaffle, but would throw his head constantly if you rode in it for more than an hour.

No head throwing in the hackamore, either.

The little brown horse, on the other hand, is learning how to carry a bit. Hopefully she will be less fussy and go in a snaffle.