Flash Nosebands

I only use one when necessary, I have two bridles. One for schooling with a plain cavesson, and a hacking bridle with a grackle. Means I am never using completely unnecessary stuff to ride in the school.
 
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i only use the flash to keep the nose net down!! If I dont put a flash on (albeit fairly loosely) the nose net gets blown upwards on her face......

Anyone have any other solutions for this??

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Cut the nosenet so it fits properly over the nose
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Flashes and dutch gags/three ring snaffles are my pet hate, used far too much as a fashion item

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Oh, you'd HATE me then! I use both on the Ginger Beastie AND a standing martingale. I'm going straight to hell. Move over Shilasdair!!
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If you have good reason for using them rather than "it worked with my firends horse so i'm not going to try anything else ever again because this combo is obviously a miracle bit" than your most definatly not going to hell! I know every bit and noseband has its use even the harshest (in good hands obv) but seeing so many of them about makes me wonder peoples reasoning. Esp when you see tiny tots riding tiny ponys with them.
 
I dont like using a flash but my boy goes round like a cheshire cat, my ins has advised that I start using one because of this he is a snaffle and a cavesson. I just need to dig a flash out and see how he goes in it. I must admit I watched my OH rding him the other day and the big grey pet was pulling some dodgy faces and showing a right crocodile smile, he should be on a colgate advert
 
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Ok, a flash 'ties a horse's mouth shut'.
Are cavessons, drops and grakles, etc just decorative?
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I agree with Shilasdair here, all pieces of tack have an effect - and i believe it is the hands that use them that cause the problems. Have any of you seen a crank nose band used properly?

My mare wears a flash, for no particular reason - so shoot me. If it isnt broken, why 'fix it.'
 
All my bridles now are plain snaffle cavessons with no martingale. However, when we were jumping, I will admit that I fell foul of fashion - Ellie wore a Mexican Grackle - because it looked nice.
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I can honestly say it served no purpose; we had it on her so loosely that there is no way it could have had any function at all - but it was one of those things that we went to buy a new bridle, and there it was, looking soooooooooo nice...so we bought it! She doesnt cross her jaw, doesnt open her mouth, is not in the slightest bit strong; in fact I used to ride her at home without a noseband at all - but Mum insisted there was no WAY I could compete 'bare'.
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So.....grackles, flashes, drops, martingales - they all have a certain function and place, but alas that is not always the reason that we choose to use them. What looks pretty sometimes takes precedence over what is functional or necessary!
 
Hiya

my pony wear a plain cavesson and my horse wears a flash.

I cannot use a grackle because he has an old fracture where the cross over would sit and i am reluctant to put pressure on this.

At the end of the day a flash suits my horse and a cavesson suits my pony. I don't do it for 'fashion' just what suits.
 
I know what you mean, none of mine need flashes and trying to buy a plain cavesson noseband is a nightmare, I complain vociferously whenever I speak to bridle manufacturers, the answer I get is that flashes are fashionable and they therefore sell more
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Flashes and dutch gags/three ring snaffles are my pet hate, used far too much as a fashion item

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But what if your horse actually needs them?
Pepper is in a flash for Dressage (& hanging cheek snaffle) as he gets his tongue over the bit otherwise - believe me, I have tried him countless times without & he never fails.
Can't use a grackle because they are illegal in dressage.
For SJ & XC he is in a grackle & dutch gag, purely because without it, I would be somewhere on the horizon with him mainly because of a lack of brakes etc. Have tried other different combinations but that always works best.
I personally couldn't care less whether either are 'fashionable'. At the end of the day, it's about how well your horse goes in whatever bit/noseband combination you use.
 
I totally agree with people using these peices of tack if they are needed, and I even agree with people if they use bits of tack because they "look pretty" as long as they aren't cranking the horse's mouth shut. I also agree though that too many people are willing to forego their schooling or even to succumb to fashion by putting these nosebands and bits on their horses that are far, far too tight.
Berlin used to wear a grackle, because that was the bridle his owner had when she bought him and it fitted him. She has had him for a while and I persuaded her to get him a new bridle this year because I want to do some dressage on him, and obviously I can't do that in a grackle. TBH the flash on his bridle is so loose and however much I do it up or loosen it, he still fusses in his mouth. I think I have found the reason for that so I am considering taking the flash off completely and re-educating the owner's contact instead
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I think she had a reason to use a flash on Berlin as he does open his mouth, but I don't think the flash actually does anything at all so he'd be no worse off without one!
 
Sorry, i seem to have come across like i think they should never be used. Like I said there are horses that need them its just that when you go to a show and you see 80% of the horses in them it makes you wonder whats going on. Diane_Pepper: you said you've tried other things, therefore you have acctually thought about you horse (who looks lovely in the si, i'm guessing thats him)

Like I've said in other threads, snaffles with cavasons/ no noseband are the ideal but not every horse is ideal.

On the fashion front I like kimberwicks which for the last few years have been deeply unfashionable but i love them for their versitility, i.e. you out and you horse gets the wind up them you can make the bit marginally stronger (tighten/add chain, move rein position) so can continue with a nice light contact rather that end up with dead arms and a dead mouth then you can go back to your "nice" setting half hour/hour/ next day.
 
Ok. I have used various nosebands on the many horses that i have owned over the years. I do it because they have served a purpose, not through fashion.

I have read that many of you perfer Drop and grakle rather than flash. Can i just say, that the grackle and flash are quite high up on the horses face, hence they lie over a harder part of the face. The drop lies further down, on a more fleshy part of the face, which if not fitted or used correctly and restrict the horses breathing.

So in my opinion the drop is a more harsher noseband than the flash.
 
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This this a bit unfair. How do you know that everybody you see at local shows hasn't put a flash on their horse for a good reason? Lots of people use flashes because lots of horses open their mouths when jumping and try and tow their riders into a fence. The flash stops a horse opening its mouth and allows the owner some control of speed. My horse does this, although he's actually ridden in a grackle not a flash. Schooling over jumps works to an extent, but putting a flash on is no worse that putting a stronger bit in imo
 
Only time I have ever used a flash was on my old loan pony. She came with one on her bridle, which I immediatly took off. I then put it back on about 3 months after when she started to put her tongue over bit, so I am guessing that is why she had one on in the first place!!
 
If i don't have a flash on my mare, we have no brakes, head up more than usual and tongue fighting the bit constantly(and limited steering if we've got a strop on!) it's never done up tight, it's almost as if she just needs to feel it there!
 
My ex racer started in a plain cavesson with snaffle, then martingale added, then flash added, then gag added...!

Now we are back in a full cheek snaffle with no flash & no martingale.

Martingale, flash & hanging cheek snaffle required for 'exciting' work though or there is a high risk I will be ejected from saddle via spanish riding school type manouvres involving all 4 feet leaving ground simultaneously!
 
This is a lovely site that explains countless types of bits and nosebands and, most importantly, the effect they have on both young and mature horses, with pictures to show how they can be correctly and incorrectly fitted. Having read a good chunk of it, I'm actually considering trying Brandy with no noseband at all.
 
I had a hard time finding a cavesson noseband for Norman just recently, went to three different tack/agricultural shops, not ONE had a plain cavesson, in the end I had to buy a flash and take it off, so now I've got a tab of leather but well, there you go! And I'd rather not pay over the odds for LESS leather than a flash which appears cheaper????!!!
 
ask some of the people at my yard why they ride with a flash noseband and the answer you will get is "i dont know the bridle came with it".

Im not against using tack, but wish people would understand the function of the tack they are using. I have a tack room full of various gadjet and nosebands but my aim is to ride in the simplest tack possible - no noseband on the stroppy cob and sometimes no bit
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I also think flash nosebands are fashionable just like kimblewicks were when I was a teenager.
 
I think some people completely missed the point of my post....I guess I should have elaborated to say that 'some' people seem to stick a noseband on without knowing why they do it....either grackle, flash, drop or cavesson!

I use a flash on Ty as his gob is permanently open.....
 
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