Showing... does anyone else think it's a bit rediculous (bits)

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I did a class today, and to show Blue i have to have him in a pelham which is a little annoying for me because he goes fine in a snaffle!
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well, if you show him in a double, then you can just use the bradoon...and have the weymouth rein a little slack
no difference really...

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I don't have a double and am not about to buy one lol i've spent enough on buying other stuff for showing as it is!

I do tend to just ride him off the top rein of the pelham though and never use the bottom one.
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now, I myself dont show but im sharing 2 horses and 1 went to his first show in May this year. (i wasnt riding him)

he is ridden at home in a Loose ring Fulmer with a grackle. He went to his first show did the working hunter class and wore a double bridle with a cavesson noseband he went very well for his first show at the grand old age of 12 (lol)

Im confused with using pelhams and double bridles mixed with flashes and grackles..I thought this was against the 'rules' of bitting a horse full stop
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same as people not using curb chains with said pelhams and double bridles...im confused!!!!

Please could someone explain or am I living in the stone ages???
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I don't have anything against whips, spurs, pelhams doubles or whatever, but I will agree that it's daft to stick a horse in one for a show just to look "correct" (although I will admit to having done just that years and years and years ago)

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I have never shown however i have friends that have entered hunter classes with their horses which do not normally wear double bridles but for the class they have borrowed a double bridle because it is concidered the correct attire. I have no problem with people using these where necessary or when used correctly but i think that the horse should be shown in the bit/bridle which it goes best in and is usually ridden in- but that is just my opinion and i am sure others will have their opinions.
 
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I use a double bridle with a cavesson noseband and spurs on my horse when doing M&M workers, and highly object to being placed lower to horses in grackles and waterfords.

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Why? After all, a double is potentially a much stronger bit that a waterford!!? Do you not think the horses manners, jump, conformation etc. are more important than what is in it's mouth???
 
I went to a show on sunday, and abbey was playing up, I dont think it was the double but just beacuse she was excited! So I decided to put her back into my snaffle, so it was easier for me to control her without fiddling with the double reins as well as trying to control her! haha!

We got pulled in 4th and I was well chuffed, but the ridden judge did come to me after and said if I wanted to take showing further then I would need to use double.and that was a local show.
 
well if you dont like it then dont show. i dont like the fact that i cant use a pelham in dressage, my pony goes best in his pelham so why am i not allowed to use it in dressage? or for that matter why am i not allowed to use a cambridge magic bit in dressage either he likes that snaffle but it isnt dressage legal. So i dont do dressage, i dont constantly winge about it.
 
You have to remeber that horse showing classes the judge has to ride the horse as well, so the rider has to take that into consideration - you may be able to hold your horse well in a simple snaffle, but get a doddery old judge on top, and you could have a serious problem - what if horse pi$$ed of with a judge - the rider/owner would be responsible, even if it was perfectly well behaved with them. One of the points of showing is that the horse should give a good ride & be effortless - no pulling or tanking off with another person riding them. So what i'm trying to get as is that showing people have to take in the riding of the judge when biting their horses.
 
I think some of the comments here are a little thoughtless, and people dont seem to know the actual rules for showing.

As said before, theres no rule which states that if you show in a snaffle you will be put down, infact the other day a rider won a riding horse class with a horse in a snaffle. But it is about the overall picture. My horse goes lovely in his rugby pelham, he is light and forward and we always do well. He does not go as well in the snaffle though. However I have a youngster who is doing her first season of ridden classes and she found the straight bar rugby too strong so have put her in a jointed rugby and I ride her like shes in a snaffle.

I think a horse looks nicer with two reins than with one, it allows the rider to be stiller with the contact, and also most horses do provide a better ride.
I like to see people in correct dress, but what does annoy me is when people are wearing the right things but wearing them wrong, like a rugby without a sliphead... that annoys me!!
 
Lill - I quoted you because you were talking along the same lines as Starbucks.

There are no rules about what bits you can and can't use in a show ring. BUT - there are bits that judges would prefer to see, because they are traditional. this harks back to the days when snaffles were for grooms, because their hands were deemed to be too 'uneducated' to cope with a double bridle.

I agree with the past few posters - showing is supposed to be fun, and if it winds you up - then don't do it.

Edit. Just had a thought. (I know, amazing...) Does 'traditional' in the showring = 'fashionable' in the SJ world?
 
Because my horses are cobs that have to be shown in a pelham or double. Because of their mouth comformation they can't wear doubles (not enough room) so I use a pelham. Hattie goes fine in a straight bar, she is schooled so I don't have to even hold the curb rein, it is purely there for show.
Gyp has just starting ridden showing and goes in a slight ported pelham as he tries to get his tongue over the bit. He hates poll pressure and the curb chain so I ride him with a loose curb rein.
I wouldn't be able to hold Hattie in a group canter in a snaffle but would prefer to use one on Gyp.

Neither of my cobs need spurs so I wear dummy spurs as it is correct for my classes to wear spurs.
 
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Edit. Just had a thought. (I know, amazing...) Does 'traditional' in the showring = 'fashionable' in the SJ world?

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I don't think so.... when was the last time you saw a dutch gag or a myler combination bit in the showring?
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Well that's what I thought....Doubles and Pelhams have been around in the showring for Eons, but seem to have been considered a bit of a 'fad' in parts of this thread.
 
For showing I use a pelham with a French link mouthpiece and keep the curb rein loose, have a leather strap rather than a chain under the chin as well. Must be much the same as a snaffle but looks the part.
Showing is all about tradition.

What's a Sam Marsh?
 
for everyday riding and jumping etc I always use a french link snaffle, but for showing I use a double or rugby pelham. Flash actually seems to prefer the double or pelham and goes really nicely in them, but as I want to also do dressage (
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) and don't want my choice of bit to 'mask' any potential schooling issues, I stick to my snaffle most of the time. Showing can be really picky about seemingly minor things, but we know this when we choose to do it, so can't really moan. I do get confused when I get told off for my choice of bit tho, have been told every time except the most recent (used a double) that what I picked was wrong. My choice is more to do with whether we are also jumping than anything, he doesn't go better in an alternative, he just goes like poo in everything
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Wow, what a bunch of ignorant and idiotic comments about the showing world!

Spurs and double bridles are not used as gadgets (thats far too common - what the rest of you do!). it's about looking good (which Dressage Divas fail at year after year!).

The rules are for a double bridle. My pelham was more useless than a piece of string - but if I WANTED a strong bit, I could use one, but I didn't need a strong double bit. My horse was schooled (in a french link)

my spurs were duds (again, I didn't need them) but the showing picture was complete - double bridle, cane and spurs.

You non-showing types need to go showing and just see how many showing folks lean on their bits, or kick with their spurs. unlike showjumpers, eventers and dressage divas - I doubt you'll get past one (and I bet good money that one gets pulled in last!)
 
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Wow, what a bunch of ignorant and idiotic comments about the showing world!

Spurs and double bridles are not used as gadgets (thats far too common - what the rest of you do!). it's about looking good (which Dressage Divas fail at year after year!).

The rules are for a double bridle. My pelham was more useless than a piece of string - but if I WANTED a strong bit, I could use one, but I didn't need a strong double bit. My horse was schooled (in a french link)

my spurs were duds (again, I didn't need them) but the showing picture was complete - double bridle, cane and spurs.

You non-showing types need to go showing and just see how many showing folks lean on their bits, or kick with their spurs. unlike showjumpers, eventers and dressage divas - I doubt you'll get past one (and I bet good money that one gets pulled in last!)

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well said, if you want to see interesting ironmongerey go showjumping - which, incidentley has gone to the dogs regarding turnout.......showing is about the overall picture, and has deep roots in tradition, if you don't like it don't so it....
 
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