Kimblewicks? Good or bad?

pistolpete

pistolpete

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My horse chomps and gnashes, tried all sortsof bits. Not tried a straight bar yet though or anything with a curb chain. Thoughts on kimblewicks please people? He is quite strong at times so I do need some brakes although usually hack on the buckle.
 
I ride my haffy in a kimblewick, I've tried all sorts, he leans and snatches and occasionally carts off in anything other than the kimblewick. He doesn't lean snatch or pull like a train and will stop with a squeeze of the rein with it. I love mine
 
My daughters riding a little jumping pony at the minute who at home and at dressage schools perfectly in a snaffle. Shes did a test with 64% on grass last week in a snaffle. But when the jumps come out she just didnt have any brakes. She tried a gag on the second ring and a pelham but they were just to much for him, plus i prefer to keep them in snaffle as hes only 12.2 but i relented as the time before last at a show she went flat out and had no stopping. Tried him in a kimblewick and its perfect no shoving his head in the air and stopping very quickly like in the gag and pelham, but enough when she takes a check he comes back to her.
 
I really like them, very underrated IMO :)

Nice and still in the mouth, plus get a Uttoxeter (sp) and there are so many variations for extra brakes.
 
Persephone said:
I really like them, very underrated IMO :)

Nice and still in the mouth, plus get a Uttoxeter (sp) and there are so many variations for extra brakes.
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Agree - a nice old fashioned bit, which is far better than the 3 ring gag - as good hands don't matter so much (so good for kids and inexperienced adults)
 
Just changed from a hanging cheek snaffle to a Kimblewick (snaffle) as my boy had no emergency stop. He is a Welsh D, nearly 8 years old, with a neck of iron and when he wants to go he goes! I went on the advice of his previous owner, who is a saddler and very experienced rider. When I described the problem this is what she thought best and I trust her judgement.
So far so good, he barely noticed the thicker bit and the curb chain doesn't seem to bother him at all. I am yet to try it out in an open field but I will soon and let you know! When out hacking my boy, when he chooses to be scared of something, always spooks a sudden sharp left - he tried this yesterday and I managed to stop him mid turn so perhaps that's the difference. I figure that I'd rather use light contact and get results than be hauling on his mouth. If it bothered him I wouldn't entertain the idea but he's happy and I feel marginally safer on hacks.:o
 
My girls in a ported kimblewick (think its the uttoxeter referred to above). She's so much more secure on it. We have breaks, she accepts it much easier than a snaffle, she is less spooky.. It really works well for us. I don't use the chain though.
 
Many, many horses go better in a bit with a curb action (the kimblewick is a very mild curb) rather than a snaffle, which has got a completely undeserved reputation as a "mild" bit. Any bit is only as mild or severe as the hands on the other end of the reins, but a snaffle which is being hauled on and turned into a nasty, pinching, blunt, unspecific and unrelenting instrument cannot be milder than a curb bit which does not pinch, acts precisely and specifically and has an instant release (when properly used by the rider).
 
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