Kimblewicks

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Hannah1Pie

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I have had my cob for almost 3 years now and have always done a fair bit of jumping with him, but only for a bit of fun in the school or if the jumping feilds free, or if ther are lessons going or if the pony club are doing rallies.
Everyone that has seen me jump and all my teachers have said how good a jump he has on him and that he would do well in showjumping, although i have always had one problem to deal with which stops me from having the confidence to do a show. He will go over any jump but he will always try to mess me about by dodging jumps every now and then for no reason, after many teachers and friends tried to help me through his dodging they all came to the conclusion that he really is just trying it on and that i should maybe go for a different bit that can help me get a bit more control with him.

So after much thought on this we came to the conclusion that i should try him in a Kimblewick bit. The only problem i have now is that i dont know weather i should go with a slotted one or just the general cambridge one.

and if i do go for the slotted one does it mean double reins?

Can anyone give me a little advice into this?
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Nope you don't need double reins, and I would got for the slotted one as it gives you more options... the slots work like the rings on a continental "bubble" gag. The high slot acts like the small middle ring, giving a little poll pressure, and the low slot acts like the bottom ring of the gag- with more poll pressure- you can also put the rein directly around the main ring (like you do with the cambridge) which gives a much milder action (like the snaffle ring of the gag) so I would definitely go for that one
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to be honest, and i hope someone will correct me if im wrong. I'm not sure what the point is to the none slotted ones. i dont understand how the curb or poll pressure works with no leverage.
I have used both. the none slotted didn't do a thing but it did have a single joint mouth piece. The slotted cheek did the job, port mouth. I went from not being able to stop my TB hunting AT ALL, to having a very polite, well behaved horse who respected what i asked.
 
If you don't know how strong you need you might as well go for slotted- no double reins. Try it on top slot, if you still need more bit try it lose and finally bottom slot. If you find he goes best lose maybe change to a none slotted one as it looks a little 'neater'
 
I don't get it. You say he "dodges about" between jumps therefore I dont see why a change of bit is needed? If he wont stay straight in between fences, a bit won't help that - only schooling will.
 
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I don't get it. You say he "dodges about" between jumps therefore I dont see why a change of bit is needed? If he wont stay straight in between fences, a bit won't help that - only schooling will.

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my thoughts exactly, I'd take things back to basics and nip those cheeky pony anticks in the bud first, you have had no reason to change his bit up to now (control issues when hacking etc) then really I'd concentrate on some jump schooling rather than complicating things with a different bit.
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A good RI, lots of time and practice and I'm sure you will get round it.
 
I agree with magic_magpie and kenzo. It seems to be steering that is your problem not brakes. If you are going to change the bit then i'd look for a full cheek version of whatever he's in now, but it really sounds like it is a schooling and rider issue.

You need to school him to work straight and make sure you are keeping him between hand and leg.

A strong bit could in fact make any wobbliness worse rather than better as all the forwards energy will try to escape somewhere.
 
I wonder if a stronger bit really is the way to go?

If the horse is running out your leg should be doing the work - not your hand.......


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Agreed, I would have thought blocking him going forwards would only add to his reluctance to jump properly.

The best thing I have found for runner-outers is V poles and good leg aids and the strong 100% insistance that whatever happens the horse will go over the jump.
 
I disagree with the above posters. Having read your OP it seems to me that you have sort advice from instructors and from friends who all agree a stronger bit is the solution.

Without seeing you ride myself I would be loathe to tell you to ignore their advice as they have obviously seen you ride and taught you themselves rather than just read a paragraph summing up on the internet!

personally I would opt for the slotted ring Kimberwick but start with the reins not through the slots. JMO
 
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Without seeing you ride myself I would be loathe to tell you to ignore their advice as they have obviously seen you ride and taught you themselves rather than just read a paragraph summing up on the internet!

personally I would opt for the slotted ring Kimberwick but start with the reins not through the slots.

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By your argument, how then can you form an opinion on which Kimblewick to use then?

Maybe I should have qualified my response by suggesting something like a fulmer instead?



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I disagree with the above posters. Having read your OP it seems to me that you have sort advice from instructors and from friends who all agree a stronger bit is the solution.

Without seeing you ride myself I would be loathe to tell you to ignore their advice as they have obviously seen you ride and taught you themselves rather than just read a paragraph summing up on the internet!

personally I would opt for the slotted ring Kimberwick but start with the reins not through the slots. JMO

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You do have point I agree, however my response was purely based on past experiences, people are too quick to change the bit as a way round a problem rather than tacking it with correct tuition and effective riding and basically just understanding why the horse is doing something wrong in the first place, my friend had a very similar situation and her RI/YO who over horsed my friend by selling her it in the first place was told to use this bit, well the horse just went from bad to worse, to the point where she couldn't ride the horse anymore, if horse is going to tank about and run out at jumps, it can do this with any sort of metal between its mouth if its feeling that way out, I'm just suggesting that working as as team on the issuess between horse and rider maybe the way to go before switching bits.
 
Gosh I did not realise that despite not having posted on here for a very long time my personal opinion could be construed as 'allowing' people to post!!!!!!! I have to be honest, I don't really want that sort of responsibility.

I certainly meant to mearly disagree with those whose response was to undertake more schooling when I had not personally seen rider or pony.

In terms of people being qualified to recomend which version of the kimberwick to use, I too the OP's question to basically be asking what the difference was in order that she could apply it to her situation and make her choice.

I do agree that better/more schooling is always better than changing bits but personally I didn't feel qualified in this situation to suggest this as I gathered from the OP's post that she had already sort advice and support/tution from a range of sources.

I am not particularly surprised by the reaction my post caused though, one of the reasons I do not post here any more is that posts do seem to get very defensive very fast if people don't agree with each other. JMO - over and out, I'm back off to other forums!
 
She asked for advice and did not stipulate to what she wanted advice for, we were only doing as asked and trying to be helpful (as requested and the OP is well aware none of us have seen her ride) - it isnt then nice to hear

"Dont bother listenning to them they haven't seen you ride"..

Well I havent seen anyone here ride, and I guess most of us don't - so by that measure we might as well not bother offering advice on anything!
 
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