What would you do, regarding bits!

Natz88

Natz88

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Already written this out once & lost the whole lot so here I go again. I have a 5yr old who is a sensitive soul, but seems to have an issue with bits. He accepts them fine, but once we get going isn't happy at all. I have tried god knows how many different bits to many to even list :rolleyes:.

Anyway last weekend I decided to try him in a happy mouth jointed pelham, I had nothing to loose & was another bit to tick of the list, but to my suprise he went beautiful I got off him looking like this :D. I rode him following day on hack & again went lovely.

I had the physio out to him a couple of weeks ago & she also thought the problem was in his mouth as she saw me ride him, he is fine when ridden bitless it's just the bit he isn't happy with. So we booked the dentist again who came out on Tuesday (3rd time this year) & he couldn't find anything wrong just a little sharp. He asked me what bits I had tried, worse thing he done as was there for ages lol, but when I told him that I had tried him in a pelham he told me not to use it again as they damage the horses mouth & people don't relise the damage they do. He told me few others bit to try that I hadn't so far, which I done today & I was back to square one :(, so for the last 10 mins I decided to put him back in the pelham & I came out the menage beaming again it was just like sitting on a different horse :)

I want to stick with the pelham & couple of lady's on the yard have told me to stick with the pelham as it's the only bit he is happy with. We have the physio back out in Dec & he has had back/saddle checked with no problems in that department.

So my question is if he was your horse would you stick with pelham as he is happy in it :confused:
 
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I would stick with it if he likes it, I have never heard of them being no good for them that is strange, can I ask do you use a metal pelham with the port in the mouth piece? Only I use a magic snaffle on my arab he hates most jointed bits, and it is the same as a metal pelham with the port but with snaffle rings, you could try one of those it is lighter in the mouth than a pelham with no curb chain and might suit your horse.
 
He just said a pelham sits different in the mouth to other bits & has known it to cause horses mouths to bleed & he just doesn't like them. His words were *if he could get them banned he would*, suppose we all have different views on things. Somone said it will only damage horses mouth if the rider doesn't know what they doing.

Although he is happy in the bitless, he does buck when I ride bitless. I can't win :rolleyes:
 
Pinkvboots said:
I would stick with it if he likes it, I have never heard of them being no good for them that is strange, can I ask do you use a metal pelham with the port in the mouth piece? Only I use a magic snaffle on my arab he hates most jointed bits, and it is the same as a metal pelham with the port but with snaffle rings, you could try one of those it is lighter in the mouth than a pelham with no curb chain and might suit your horse.
Click to expand...

It's a happy mouth jointed pelham as he hates metal bits. I must admit when I rode him today I took curb chain of just to see how he was & he was lovely in it, so someone said about getting a leather strap instead of the curb chain.

Thankyou everyone for the replies :)
 
my horse(s) have a happy mouth pelham straight bar and really like it and go well in it. they both like a 'secure' bit which they can feel and 'hold' not strongly but take confidence from. perhapsyour horse prefers the poll pressure rather than the mouth pressure because, i expect, you are useing the bit more lightly, but you still get the result you want
i like the pelham option when im trying/teaching something new, so i dont feel the need to be strong with the hand, but still have a firm consistent contact.
any bit can do damage, just depends how strong the rider rides!
 
What!!?? I can't believe he said that .... what a plonker!

Loads of people ride in pelhams with no problems...... there is nothing wrong with a pelham if used ok, same with most bits really. I hunt my horses in a pelham, they are great on strong horses, it stops any pulling.

Imo it is a lot worse pulling hard in a snaffle constantly!!

Use what works for you :)
 
Agree with Lolli. Have had a mare who was always ridden in a vulcanite pelham because she hated jointed bits and she had perfect teeth life long. Much better than pulling them around in a bit they hate.
 
I gave up with snaffles. The bit which my mare was happy in, was a ported mouth pelham.
That was 5 years ago There is nothing wrong with her mouth.

It is the hands on the end of the reins which cause the problems.
 
I am going to stick with the pelham for now while he is happy, we did wonder whether he has just got into a bad habit with the other bits & infact taking the pee :p.

Thankyou all for your input, much appreciated :)
 
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