Bitting Advice....

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CaleruxShearer

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Right then you lovely helpful lot
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His Lordship is currently in a hanging cheek snaffle for everything, but now he is getting fitter and I have upped his feeds in accordance to the amount of work he is doing ( scoop of hi-fi , scoop of slow release energy cubes , 1/2 mug of sugar beet and peppermint powder - fussy eater) He is becoming much harder to stop when we're out hacking or jumping. At a bit of a loss at what bit to put him in for hacking, jumping, hunting and xc though , any ideas?
.xx.
 
it depends whether he pulls downward, or sticks his nose up and out, ducks behind the contact, sticks his head up above it... depending on what he does, i'll try to help if i can.
if he leans strongly then my first suggestion would be a full-cheek waterford. if he sticks his nose out or up high, either a kimblewick or a pelham (i.e. something with a bit of curb), if he sticks his head down, possibly a gag. difficult to say without seeing/hearing more though.
tbh though as long as he has enough energy for the workload he's doing (i.e. doesn't get exhausted 1/2 way through!) i'd give him less hard feed, if is it that which is making him harder to control...
 
Definitely pulls downward - Think he might just be starting to feel quite well since he now has some good feed in hi and is getting fitter, without the slow release energy he does tend to get quite tired half way through so think they are fine, might take him off the sugar beet though?
Thanks
 
Try changing your noseband to a high ring grackle, and the bit to a loose ring. I put a grackle on for 'exciting' work and stick with the same snaffle. Ride in a cavesson most of the time. Makes a big difference. The loose ring helps with putting the head down.
 
I was told by a lorriner (bit specialist) that a pelham or kimblewick brings their head up with the use of the curb chain, and a gag brings their head down by using poll pressure!!!!?
 
That is a very common mis-conception with these bits, seems to be getting quite wide spread now, which is worrying as there will be a lot of horse going around in bits that aren't doing what the owner thinks they are!
The biggest difference between the gag, pelham and the kimblewick is the way and amount of poll pressure applied by each.
The Dutch gag uses poll pressure to raise the head, it can have some downwards pressure if used with a second rein. Much like a pelham.
The pelham uses poll pressure to drop the head, however this will differ depending on the lenght of the shanks
The kimblewick is a ported bit, uses poll pressure, useful for strong horses that lean in a downwards way, also a popular childs bit for hunting etc years ago because of abiltiy to use a single rein.

This understanding got me through all my equine exams, I was going to look for proper definitions but I couldn't be bothered.
 
A gag raises the bit in the mouth, thus raising the head. Poll pressure is applied, but its the upwards movement of the bit in the mouth which encourages the horse to upwards.

A waterford is impossible to lean on because it is not a solid mouth piece.

A curb, pelham, kimblewick, weymouth encourage the horse to lower his head with poll pressure, pressure from the curb chain and pressure on the bars of the mouth and slight tongue pressure (depending on the mouth piece).

If your horse has access to grass, I would imagine you are feeding too much. I would cut out the sugar beet and see how you get on before changing a bit which the horse previously went well in.
 
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