Pessoa vs alternatives

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zoeshiloh

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Ok, apologies - I know it has been done to death! I just bought one of those bungie training aids and my god has it made a difference to lungeing Ben! He really swings through his back using it, although he is not 100% consistant in it. One of the girls at the yard has recommended a pessoa as she uses them where she works. Several people have said they are fantastic bits of kit, and having just been paid I am itching to get one! This time of year I can only really lunge during the week, so I'm hoping it will be more beneficial than just sticking side reins on.

Anyway, I have read several reports about copycat versions actually working better. I read an article about pessoa's catching horses in the mouth but that some similar aids were effectively the same thing without any harshness. Any information/recommendations would be good. I don't mind forking out for a genuine pessoa if it is the best thing to have, but if there are pressure points etc I would rather go for something else.
 
I dont like pessoa's at all really, they do sock the horses in the mouth which is why the try and stay behind the contact, so really they are not working fulling from behind. (everyone has a different opinion on this though and think differently)

Ive used a bungie before and thought it was good, but then i bought a chambon and its fantastic! Its the kindest aid of all and doesnt force anything. x
 
I bought this exact pessoa imitation on ebay the other day

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...T#ht_862wt_1165

I am SO impressed with it. It is just as good as any genuine pessoa I've ever used and a fraction of the price. Arrived quickly and well packaged. 100% recommended. Probably the best thing I've bought in a long time!

I was a little dubious about using a pessoa because of the socking in the mouth thing that people such as Charlie55 have reported, but having used it a couple of times now, I must say that it does not do this at all (maybe it would if fitted too tightly?), and my horse has never worked so well on the lunge. It is really going to help with her canter as well I think, becuase she has a habit of throwing her head up in the transition, but the pessoa soon sorted that one! She does find it very hard work though, so I am keeping sessions very short and sweet at the moment, and only on the lowest setting.

The downside to anything that works just on the front end is that it is easy for the horse to simply fall onto the forehand and not work up into a contact. The breaching strap on a pessoa teaches the horse to get his hind legs under him and work correctly. Plus, I know that vets recommend them after kissing spine surgery - if it's good enough to be recommended by vets...
 
I use the equiami http://www.equiami.com/ and I haven't used my passoa since getting it. I have seen far to many people strap horses into a passoa so it is fixed and leaning on itself and it causes all sorts of problems! the equiami is self cantering so they cant lean against it and it encourages and rewards rather than restraining them. I really love it. I haven't found a horse that it doesn’t work well on!
 
i got a pessoa copy off ebay but no matter what i did with it (tight/loose etc) i was always not 100% happy with the results....
so...i cut the front end off lol!
kept the elasticated breaching strap - use that on horse as def encourages greater use of hind quarters... then use elasticated side reins with it - seems to have the desired response
wink.gif
 
i don't like pessoa as they aren't rewarding if the horse does the right thing.

i used side reins but aren't really rewarding either (more so than the pessoa though)

i have used lungie bungie and they are too giving so my horse just leans on it.

i used the JW rein and it does work kinda of well but my mare still knows how to lean on it to hold her up.

i was give a kalvade ho (not sure of the correct spelling) and i used it for the first time yesterday. i was quite impressed as it rewards the horse for doing the right thing, but it does take some faffing to put on. my mare (who usually takes 10 mins of cantering to settle into a steady canter) was cantering nicely within a few circuits.

chambon again she just leans on it and works against it rather than with it.

they are all the ones i can think of at the moment. good luck with your decision

would it be possible for you to borrow one to see if it gives the right effect before splashing out
 
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