Moving up from a snaffle - conflicting advice?

i used to ride my mare in a mullen mouth pelham, it was terrible, she used to bite down on it and F OFF with me, I couldnt' stop her for love nor money! I now ride in a waterford gag! so wouldn't ever recommend a pelham now!
 
putasocinit said:
Hanging cheeks do have poll pressure when you pull on the reins the bit comes back and causes the part attached to the cheek piece to pull down and rotate, which will bring the head down. Search dressage bits on the net very explanatory.
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Honestly, you'd have to fit a baucher very high in the horses mouth for there to be poll pressure. There is no shank, so the bit will not rotate just lift in the horses mouth. A wilkie will spin, as the base of the bit has a ring for the rein, while the cheekpiece at the top is fixed, which will cause some poll pressure. The rein on a baucher can slide, so will just slide to the top of the ring & pull up, causing the cheek piece to sag. Some good diagrams online. I've never seen a baucher rotate.

PeeWee might be worth a try, I've used mine on many different horses, from green youngsters that find it very clear/comfortable (they don't evade it), a pony who hated anything else but a hackamore, to my gelding that likes to go very fast when it comes to jumping, but a pelham was too much XC & caused him to bounce until I let him go :eek:
Could also be worth trying a waterford mouthpiece, or a grackle, or even a kineton noseband? :) Lots of options!
 
I've found over the years that bits are one of the biggest minefields in the horse world! Everyone has their own opinion about what should be tried or used in each situation! Do try some of the suggestions you've had, but please remember that you know your horse better than anyone and you'll know when you've found the right option, just give you and your horse enough time to make sure it's the right choice!
 
As others have said a wilkie or the cheaper version but same action loop ring snaffle.
The other option youve also got is a dr bristol bit. Looks silmilar to a french link but the link is rotatated so puts a bit more pressure on the tounge. Can be quite affective.
Also as somebody said you can use a kimblewick as these can be fitted so they vary in severity usually theres slots on the outside D obviously if its in the slot you get more poll action but if you put the rein just on the D rather than on a slot not so much poll action but you do get the curb action. You can always put a leather curb rather than a metal one on too.
 
As said above, every horse & pony is different but I ride my mare in a NS Universal with 2 reins which stops her putting her head down and tanking off with me, although she has a naturally high head carriage most of the time. I find that the 2 reins mean that I can ride her on the snaffle rein most of the time, just bringing the curb rein into play when necessary. Perhaps the best thing would be to hire a few different bits and experiment. I certainly wouldn't fasten the horse's mouth shut with a noseband.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
As said above, every horse & pony is different but I ride my mare in a NS Universal with 2 reins which stops her putting her head down and tanking off with me, although she has a naturally high head carriage most of the time. I find that the 2 reins mean that I can ride her on the snaffle rein most of the time, just bringing the curb rein into play when necessary. Perhaps the best thing would be to hire a few different bits and experiment. I certainly wouldn't fasten the horse's mouth shut with a noseband.
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Hire bits is a good idea. I dont think a 2 rein bit is an option as the rider is a 7 year child might be a bit much out hunting.
 
completely confused now :confused: Thank you so much though. I actually find it hard to believe that he is hard to stop although I know that she HATES dragging on his mouth, understandably. Maybe the hanging cheek might give her a psychological boost and that might be enough to be honest (she's 12 not 7!)
 
Just to confuse things a little more I used to use a French link kimberwick on my cob for drag hunting as he was normally in a French link snaffle and it gave me some more brakes.

But I'm certainly no bit expert.

Paula
 
billylula said:
completely confused now :confused: Thank you so much though. I actually find it hard to believe that he is hard to stop although I know that she HATES dragging on his mouth, understandably. Maybe the hanging cheek might give her a psychological boost and that might be enough to be honest (she's 12 not 7!)
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I can 100% believe it- I had the sweetest little pony you could wish to have when I was 11. 14hh connie, absolutely snaffle-mouthed at all times. He was polite, soft, gentle, never pulled and required a fair amount of encouragement to go beyond a sedate lollop unless we really razzed them up out hacking :D Out hunting, it was like riding a wooden board! I honestly couldn't stop him, no matter how hard I tried or regardless of the tactics I used (one rein, sawing, the lot). He ended up in a copper roller snaffle, and it was so much nicer!

The rest of the time, he was his normal sedate self though and still absolutely snaffle mouthed. It was just the excitement of all the other horses around him that meant I needed a little more to make him listen to me!
 
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