Bitting advice for fast work and jumping

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perryhillbay

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Soooooo, my horse is blummin' strong when out hacking at canter/gallop and also jumping. Out hacking she will stop but takes a long time to do so and is pretty headstrong, jumping she gets very over-excited and will given half a chance, bomb into jumps at a million miles an hour and I cannot hold her. Before all the suggestions come on jumping exercises and grids etc. to help slow her down, I do all of this. I am not looking for advice on schooling the problem out of her, but instead on finding the right bit to help little old me contain the excitement of a big, headstrong chestnut speed demon! :) I love her so much, she is awesome, but I just hate hauling on her mouth all the time, especially out hacking. It must be so uncomfortable for her, never mind my poor arms, but she just sets her mouth and neck and goes!
I have tried the following with varying success:
Normal loose ring lozenge snaffle (I use this for flat work) - no brakes
Hanging cheek french link - no brakes
Waterford french link - better brakes but cut her mouth the ribbons and I don't like that so not having that in her mouth again
Dutch gag - hated the poll pressure and threw her head up and nearly bounced me out of the saddle by stopping too quickly!
Rubber straight bar pelham with roundings - good, but not happy with poll or curb pressure, same problem as above.
Myler low port pelham with roundings - again as above, but too strong for her, she hated it
Cherry Roller - no brakes
I have found success with using a market harborough on her - it is an absolute godsend as it stops her throwing her head up as she has a habit of doing. I found that in a running martingale she could and would still do this and am not sure about a standing martingale having never used one. Ideally I would like a bit that I could use in conjunction with the harborough.

What are everyone's bitting suggestions then? Thank you everyone who answers as I am all out of ideas! :)
 
I had the problem of no brakes when landing after a jump and quite recently when cantering in the field :(. So I hired a NS elevator from the bit bank on advice from instructor. Over the past couple of days we have tried the NS alone, with flash and finally with a drop nose band. We have brakes with the NS and drop nose band and suprisingly he is accepting the bit and working in a very nice outline - than you very much. So it will be a loose ring snaffle (made with copper) for flat work and the NS for anything else more exciting.

Finally we were in a 3 ring gag with the nutcracker action. :) Hope this helps.
 
Does the elevator not work on the same principles as the dutch (3 ring) gag though? i.e. poll pressure which she doesn't like and it makes her throw her head up? Thanks for your reply! :)
 
Yes it does but the difference (I think) was the metal and the lozenge. Could be just me of course but he didn't seem to lean either. Instructor was happy with it - we had tried others - and is quite happy for me to tootle off on Sunday to a wee comp. I did really feel a difference. :) Also its not so long as the DG.
 
Sound so like my boy!!! but i use a 3 ring waterford dutch gag with a grackle bridle! Works a treat and gives me the confidence to do whatever knowing i can stop him, i would say for you to try the myler combo too if she doesnt like poll pressure
 
My mare was vey strong doing fast work and |I struggled to hold her, but discovered a german hackamore was the way to go. It gave her nothing to pull against, and I could pull her up on the gentlest contact. I could also do the walk parts of her interval training on the buckle. I never used it for anything else though. Regular hacking was in her snaffle as normal.
 
I really like the myler combination and actually I have found it to be a pretty gentle bit which my mare relaxes comparatively well in. It takes the pressure away from their mouth and spreads it so there is some on the poll, nose and jaw but because there are more places there is less pressure in each area. Also unlike the dutch gag there is a hook/bobble on the bit ring so the cheekpiece can never turn too much and create too much poll pressure, if that makes sense.
http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/...rrel_Short_Shank_Combination_30_31-(596).aspx
The other thing I like about mylers is that there is a lot more room for their tongues than with most conventional bits and their tongues can't get squeezed. Even a french link or a lozenge snaffle can put on a lot more tongue pressure compared to a myler, which is why my mare won't go in anything else because she gets really worried about her tongue, having been ridden by a lot of novices in the past.
 
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