having troubles with a bit for my new horse, any suggestions?

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shannon14

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I have recently got a new horse, he is a 17 year old thoroughbred cross and can be very forward going and strong which is not a problem for me. He was brought off a riding school where he was ridden on the bottom ring of a Dutch gag because he is strong and fast and it meant smaller less experienced people could stop him. I have found this bit is much to strong for him and he is very sensitive so when ridden in a gag he is inclined to either lean on you or throw his head up and take off. I am currently riding him in a jointed hanging cheek which he works a lot better in however he is still very quick to react to any pressure I apply, he will soften and work from behind with a good head carriage comfortably in trot but in canter he is quick to tense and react if I half halt or apply any pressure to him, I believe this could be because he is used to being roughly pulled around on the riding school and expects it when he goes into canter. I ride him with very soft hands and I am a quite rider but he gets very rushed and can be a bit off balanced at times due to a lack of schooling. I am trying to find a gentle bit that he will accept that will also offer me brakes if I do need them, I was thinking about maybe a sweet iron hanging cheek as he is improving in his current bit but he will fight the pressure! Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! His saddle, back teeth etc have all been checked also. Thank you!! He is our baby and we want him to feel
 
We have an ISH which sounds similar. There is an organization called the Bit Bank and the staff there can advise because there is a huge range of bits our there these days. You can also rent a bit for 30 days and still return it if it doesn't suit - we went through a log of efforts before settling on a suitable bitting combination.

I know you are already in a hanging cheek - but you could give thought to the NS Baucher which is very similar but with an angled lozenge. We have that as our dressage bit just now and it works well. For everything else we've been playing with waterford type combinations because the flexibility of the mouthpiece really seems to suit. He's currently in an NS Waterford elevator for SJ/XC and a waterford snaffle to hunt - the elevator is great to work in the confines of a ring or in the (relatively) controlled environment of an XC course. But we found out hunting the excitement and the gag action wasn't great so the snaffle works better. We did play with the Mylar Combi bit and I'm actually sad it didn't suit him. But might be worth looking at for you?
 
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