equidstar11
Active Member
Hi all,
I have a bitting question (which I know is entirely trial and error, but some advice on where to try first would be helpful)!
Said horse (large Warmblood) is currently jumped in a Winderen Butterfly Flip (curb bit) with their firm plastic ported mouthpiece - previous to this he was in a very slightly ported mullen metal pelham (short shank) with curb. He has always worked fairly well in these, however I feel they are bit strong for him (hence why I went to the plastic butterfly from pelham, but it’s still a bit much) - when taking a half halt into a fence he can overreact, and just feels all a bit too uptight, and not willing to take me into a fence (very bouncy and loses rhythm, also throws head into the air). The issue is he can get fairly strong/excitable at shows/when jumping. These two bits have helped pull him off the forehand (I know pelham/curb is usually the opposite of an elevator but they have worked for him) and not tank me along, so something in the middle would be a nice medium. I have tried using a flexi mullen Winderen mouthpiece with D cheeks for jumping, and this is what I flat him in, but he tends to lean on this and pull onto the forehand, including into jumps (and yes, we are doing millions of walk/trot/halt/canter etc transitions a week alongside lots and lots of hill work). I did also try an NS verbindend loose ring & also the NS D trans angled bit, neither of which I had particularly good feeling with.
I have had someone offer me to try their ported mullen Trust combination bit (short shanks), which has a fabric curb which he may like but also uses some nose pressure. I have used a hackamore in the past which worked to a point, I don’t think it was quite enough brakes to contain him at a show.
Other than that, any suggestions? I want him to feel he can take me to a fence, without tanking off and me being able to make small half halts without him reacting too harshly. I also don’t want to lose steering.
I would prefer a less is more approach - I don’t use a martingale as I don’t like the effect it has on the bit and I don’t like standing martingales as I feel they restrict movement over a fence.
I have a bitting question (which I know is entirely trial and error, but some advice on where to try first would be helpful)!
Said horse (large Warmblood) is currently jumped in a Winderen Butterfly Flip (curb bit) with their firm plastic ported mouthpiece - previous to this he was in a very slightly ported mullen metal pelham (short shank) with curb. He has always worked fairly well in these, however I feel they are bit strong for him (hence why I went to the plastic butterfly from pelham, but it’s still a bit much) - when taking a half halt into a fence he can overreact, and just feels all a bit too uptight, and not willing to take me into a fence (very bouncy and loses rhythm, also throws head into the air). The issue is he can get fairly strong/excitable at shows/when jumping. These two bits have helped pull him off the forehand (I know pelham/curb is usually the opposite of an elevator but they have worked for him) and not tank me along, so something in the middle would be a nice medium. I have tried using a flexi mullen Winderen mouthpiece with D cheeks for jumping, and this is what I flat him in, but he tends to lean on this and pull onto the forehand, including into jumps (and yes, we are doing millions of walk/trot/halt/canter etc transitions a week alongside lots and lots of hill work). I did also try an NS verbindend loose ring & also the NS D trans angled bit, neither of which I had particularly good feeling with.
I have had someone offer me to try their ported mullen Trust combination bit (short shanks), which has a fabric curb which he may like but also uses some nose pressure. I have used a hackamore in the past which worked to a point, I don’t think it was quite enough brakes to contain him at a show.
Other than that, any suggestions? I want him to feel he can take me to a fence, without tanking off and me being able to make small half halts without him reacting too harshly. I also don’t want to lose steering.
I would prefer a less is more approach - I don’t use a martingale as I don’t like the effect it has on the bit and I don’t like standing martingales as I feel they restrict movement over a fence.
