Pelham with one rein...

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bex1984

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Is there anything wrong with riding in a pelham, with just the snaffle rein?

Obviously I know it's not correct in a showing class, but is there any reason not to do it at home/hacking/jumping etc?
 
I had a lesson on an Andalusian in Spain with a ported pelham with just the bottom rein. All their horses were ridden this way on the yard.
 
to use a pelham with one rein, you should use roundings
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I definitely wouldn't want to ride with it just on the curb rein
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I don't want to change ponio's bit, but just don't want the bottom (curb) rein for jumping.
 
OK - I'll explain this a bit more...

Pony has unreasonable emotional attachment to his pelham. trying to replace it with any other bit results in stroppy pony who refuses to open his mouth to be tacked up, will not accept a contact, goes around with his mouth open, and develops a jumping style that goes something along the lines of: trot on approach, dramatic pause, cat leap with legs flinging all over the place. I have given up trying to change his bit, it's just not going to happen.

I'm working hard on our jumping, and after 2 years of the numpty on board (moi!) freezing on approach to the jump, and being too terrified of jumping from canter, it is taking some work to make him realise he can actually go forward and canter into the fence. I took the bottom rein off the last 2 times I've jumped him as an experiment and he went much better.

I don't really want to switch to roundings as he's going so well on the flat in double reins, and I often don't plan to jump and then once I'm half way through a ride I'll decide to do some jumping, so it'd be a bit of a pain to have to take the reins off, put roundings on etc everytime I decide to jump, much easier to just take the curb rein off...
 
Have you tried just taking the curb chain off?

TBH if you are riding properly with two reins the curb rein should not come into play unless you want it to, so perhaps you need to loosen off the curb rein in your hand before you approach the fence?
 
Am I being daft asking why you don't just not use the bottom rein when jumping? I mean still have hold of it to stop it flying around or anything but without any contact through it?
 
I'm sure i do SpottedCat...in fact that's why I've taken the rein off! I do get tense when we're jumping, and am a novice rider, so I think the two reins is just too much for me when jumping at the mo. The chain doesn't come off my pelham, it just undoes on one side.
 
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I had a lesson on an Andalusian in Spain with a ported pelham with just the bottom rein. All their horses were ridden this way on the yard.

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Yes indeed, because they are just (in my opinion, forgive me) ignorant and think that all Pelhams are like Kimblewicks or US curb bits. I bet half of them either had the curb chain done up too tight, or twisted or too loose as well. At the Spanish yard I bought FB from he used to have a Pelham with one rein on the curb rings. I sneaked a pair of roundings on him and was asked why they were there. I explained my reasoning to the YO and within a month all the horses had roundings. Just because they do it doesn't mean it's correct.
 
Tickles, I did try that but when i got unseated and grabbed for a chunk of mane to hang on to (bear in mind this is a 3ft long mane...) I ended up also grabbing a handful of rein
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and I thought if I'm not holding onto it maybe I may as well just take it off so it's not in the way?
 
[ QUOTE ]

Is there anything wrong with riding in a pelham, with just the snaffle rein?

Obviously I know it's not correct in a showing class, but is there any reason not to do it at home/hacking/jumping etc?

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None at all. If you are happy, your horse is happy then dig out!
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If it ain't broke don't fix it
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Nothing wrong with that at all, albeit it doesn't look very tidy.

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well that's what I was hoping, not too bothered if it doesn't look great if it does the job!! I will still use double reins for showing, and if we do jump out and about we're only doing the teeny tiny classes/clear round anyway.
 
I don't see a problem with it bex if it suits, though out of interest have you tried a kimblewich with the same mouthpiece and not using one of the slots (if that makes sense) it should in essence be the same

Onlyposs problem with only the snaffle on the pelham I could think of is if he has any tendency to play with the loose end!
 
Go for it
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Pip goes best in butterfly pelham with just snaffle rein... Used it for all riding/driving
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I only put the 2nd rein on when he is going to be arguementative in the school!
 
if it works for you then its not going to cause any problems but it wont be properky affective because its not being used as designed. i personally would keep working on tryong to get the pony to accept a new bit but you know your situation and what you have time/patience/inclination to do. the chain probably will come off both sides if you can find a strong man with a pair of pliers that's what i had to do after protesting that my chain wouldn't come off
 
Can you not try a hanging cheek as this is the same as the top part of the pelham but with out the extra length of shank. He may be better with this as it will be identical in his mouth with the same very slight pole pressure. But if not then just stick with what you have as its not as if you are favouring a stronger bit or action so i dont see why it would be a problem, you'l prob just get some numpty saying ' you do know thats not the right way to use a pelham' to which point you just tell them to mind their own business.
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OK so it's not correct... But if I was you I'd give it a try. If it works for you and your pony great, if not try something else...
 
To be honest, I thought it weird. I was very reluctant to take up a contact on the horse in this way. And yet this is a yard that competes in high level dressage? So who am I to argue. And yet I did have a sneaky look at the curb chains cos I'm a stickler - I'd rather them too tight than too loose!
 
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Can you not try a hanging cheek as this is the same as the top part of the pelham but with out the extra length of shank. He may be better with this as it will be identical in his mouth with the same very slight pole pressure.

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I tried that last year...I searched around and found a hanging cheek that matched the mouthpiece of his pelham perfectly but he wasn't fooled
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I did battle with him for a couple of months but he just wouldn't accept it and wouldn't relax so I gave up and went back to the pelham
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Have you tried a kimblewick? I would have thought that would have been similar to a pelham with the rein attached to the 'snaffle' part only?
 
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Onlyposs problem with only the snaffle on the pelham I could think of is if he has any tendency to play with the loose end!

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I tried this on mypony once and because the bottom ring was jangly he kept trying to bit the end and actually managed to get the shank between his teeth once-resulting in nearly pulling out his teeth- so from a safety aspect-no I would not advise using just the snaffle rein and leaving the curb(it will sit straight over the horses mouth this way and cause all sorts of havoc!!!)
As suggested- change the bit-same mouthpiece different cheeks. cant see what difference it will make if he goes on the snaffle ring.
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If your horse is happy with his bit then i see absolutely no reason to try and change it and try to make him accept something else. You're not a numpty bex, you know what works with Murphy and what doesn't. If he goes well with you taking the one rein off then i can't see any problems. It's convenient and more tidy than a too slack bottom rein swinging about whilst you're jumping which imo could get dangerous.

I -might- be worried about the bottom ring getting caught on something, but i've never used a pelham with only one rein and i suppose it would technically be no more likely to get caught than it would with a rein on it. Just a niggly feeling i have but i'm sure it's nonsense.
 
You can easily remove the curb chain if you want to, you just need to bend the hook open (I find a flat screwdriver useful, push the flat bit into the hook and twist, it should open the hook far enough for you to get the chain off then).
 
Thanks everyone, I jumped him in the field last night and left the curb rein on and I was rather glad I did because he was hyper. But I think he is definitely better with it off when jumping in the school as he's lazy and doesn't need any excuse to slow down!

I have tried all sorts of bits with him including a kimblewick, a gag, and all sorts of snaffles and we always end up back with the pelham - it's just not worth arguing with him over it
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Rachelthegreat - I have no idea what difference it makes and why he won't accept another bit that is as similar as possible to his pelham - just the way he is i think.

Skewby - I did try knotting it but it kept getting all tangled up in the giant mane!!

He tries to play with the bottom of the shank of his pelham anyway if he is tense/bored (i.e., in line ups in showing classes). I'll just have to keep him moving and keep an eye on him.
 
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