Can a bit make that much difference?

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Since I came home from my holidays, Hannah has been a complete madam to ride. After me saying that she has not bucked since she was 6 (she is turning 12 this year we think) the first day I got on her and asked her to walk on she exploded and I ended up on her neck without any stirrups
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I was so unprepared for that it just completely caught me out!

Since then I have been riding her most days and just feeling as though we are not getting anywhere. She has been fighting with me about everything I ask of her, and when I ask for something different to stop her stroppiness, she just gets her tongue over the bit (lifted one hole and extra tight flash strap
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) regardless of what I am doing to stop her
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She is constantly fiddling about with the KK and seems to get stressed out with it all of the time.

Anyway, because I have just had enough of her attitude, I put the Myler Comfort Snaffle in that I used to ride in about two years ago, dropped it down to where it should be (thought I would see whether she tried to get her tongue over it in the normal position), left the flash quite loose and jumped on.

What a difference... the arguments just never even started, she was soft through her mouth without must asking from me, and her collected canter work was outstanding (this is when she starts throwing a tantrum and puts her tongue over the bit and tucks her chin in). I ended up not doing as much with her as I have been, but she had sweated up in all of the right places and seemed so much happier.

Can a bit really make this much difference?

I feel a bit more confident about taking her to my lesson with Spencer now tomorrow... before tonight I just though about chopping her into little pieces and burying her under my patio!!!
 
Apparently so, wouldn't belived it myself if hadn't seen with own eyes. Friend's mare, very sharp was on last chance boot camp at a point to point yard, they only use Mylers and it happened to be a fulmer and suddenly the mare would accepted the bit and thought forward, instead of backwards and up as she normally did. Just before she returned home he tried her in the loose ring snaffle and she tensed through back and wouldn't take a contact I'm sure it wouldn't have taken her long to resort to rearing again.
 
I have been getting so frustrated with her because I know she is so capable, and yet while she is arging with me we are just not going to get any further... but tonight, she just felt compliant is the best way I can describe it!
 
Just out of interest can I ask which Myler bits you all use please? I just cannot get my head round them but other people seem to have excellent results with them. I can't get the hang of the level 1 etc with all the variations. I try and my head just wants to explode
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I have the level 1 bit, the Comfort Snaffle without hooks... I also used to have one of the triple barrel mullen mouth pieces which is the best bit I have ever owned, but unfortunately not BD legal
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I don't understand why the Mylers are not BD legal because they are very kind to the horse and work for the horse's mouth as opposed to anything else
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Jo C, you might want to contact the "bit help" feature on the website - I've not used if myself but I know quite a few people who have found it extremely helpful for specific information. In at least one case they suggested something I would not have tried in a thousand years and it worked extremely well. I'm not evangelical about it - bits don't solve problems, they are a piece of a larger puzzle - but I appreciate the thought and theory behind the Myler line and will admit I've found their bits excellent and just what they say on the box.

Makes you wonder how many "stroppy" horses are really in discomfort . . .
 
Apparently bits can make a difference. The horse I ride hates her Cambridge mouth kimblewick, and I stuck her in a Myler triple-barrel mullen mouth short shank combi as an experiment with the advice of a friend, and she absolutely loves it. She's much easier to hold in it (I'd happily hunt her in it) and is so much softer, willing to take the contact, etc. I'm off on a shopping trip at the weekend to see if I can find a triple-barrel eggbutt with hooks to see if that works as well, hopefully I'll be able to hack her in that instead of looking like I'm completely over-bitted!
Jo C - I've never been interested in Mylers before now, I think people are put off because it all sounds complicated and some of them (the combis) look like awful contraptions! Basically the mouthpieces are split into groups according to the level of training of the horse and rider, so level one is for young/ untrained horses and novice riders and it works up the scale from there. You then team your chosen mouthpiece with the right cheeks for you horse. I think the Myler website is a bit confusing, myself!
 
Am I right thinking she's an ISH?
If so she may be like H with a big fat tongue - I have to use a drop as if I have a tight flash she's a nightmare because she can't swallow
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Just a thought
Good luck with Spencer
Kate x
 
i use either the 02 mouth, which is the standard comfort snaffle with wide barrel (dr legal), with full cheeks no hooks, or the 32 mouth, which is similar but with virtually no movement at all at the joints, only moves about 1-2 mm, again full cheek no hooks. again, dressage legal. i use either a looseish drop noseband, or a loose cavesson, depending on the horse. nothing else.
i've got a couple of combination bits too, they look harsh but actually aren't as bad as they look, as they act on nose, poll, chin etc as well as corners. plus, of course, they're only as harsh as the hands on the other end.
i use other bits too, i'm not exclusively myler, but compared to a normal single-joint snaffle, the symmetry of the mylers is very important, i think.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Am I right thinking she's an ISH?
If so she may be like H with a big fat tongue - I have to use a drop as if I have a tight flash she's a nightmare because she can't swallow
frown.gif

Just a thought
Good luck with Spencer
Kate x

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, she is an ISH...
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I do have a drop, so might try her in that and the Myler after my lesson. The flash was only on slack though tonight and she didn't once try to get her tongue over the bit!
 
[ QUOTE ]
i use either the 02 mouth, which is the standard comfort snaffle with wide barrel (dr legal), with full cheeks no hooks, or the 32 mouth, which is similar but with virtually no movement at all at the joints, only moves about 1-2 mm, again full cheek no hooks. again, dressage legal. i use either a looseish drop noseband, or a loose cavesson, depending on the horse. nothing else.
i've got a couple of combination bits too, they look harsh but actually aren't as bad as they look, as they act on nose, poll, chin etc as well as corners. plus, of course, they're only as harsh as the hands on the other end.
i use other bits too, i'm not exclusively myler, but compared to a normal single-joint snaffle, the symmetry of the mylers is very important, i think.

[/ QUOTE ]

I only thought there was on dressage legal one, the Comfort Snaffle... which is the other?
 
HI

The Myler comfort snaffle really worked for me. Used to ride my horse in a standard Happy Mouth Eggbutt snaffle but she was always a bit fussy with her head. I changed to a Myler Comfort Snaffle about 2 years ago and it made a huge difference to her head carriage, she was definitely more comfortable in it.

I've also got the one with hooks for jumping where I need just a little poll pressure and it works a treat!
 
Did you find they came up quite big? I had a comfort snaffle in my horses regular size but I didn't like they way it seemed to have a lot out of his mouth. Not sure how to explain this but are the curved end bits (told you I couldn't explain!) supposed to be out of the mouth or should you still see they same amount as you would on a normal bit? Found the fact that it was so curved hard to figure out in his mouth. I think mine was to big.

evenag
 
Yes a bit can make that much difference - I tried so many before I found one that suited my horse's mouth conformation. She's a superstar now her mouth is comfortable.
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I went for my lesson with Spencer today and again she was really settled in her mouth and Spencer thought she had really softened through her mouth and was working through her back too! She was such a good girl, so the Myler is staying. Again, there was no argument, no stressing...
 
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