Hmm personally having groomed in "professional SJ circles" I can safely say that pro riders are not in any way immune to using inappropriate combinations of tack But that's by the by.
@HaloHoney I don't think you should get too caught up on what he has been ridden in before. You have no way of knowing if he actually "needed" it, or if the owner just chose to use it because they assumed it was necessary. Like Lissie I think you should invest in an XC lesson with a good instructor who understands bitting (preferably not one whose solution to everything is to bung a flash on ), see how Flash behaves and what she recommends. You could take different bits and nosebands to try out and see what suits him and what doesn't. You may find he is absolutely fine in what he's in now.
@HaloHoney I don't think you should get too caught up on what he has been ridden in before. You have no way of knowing if he actually "needed" it, or if the owner just chose to use it because they assumed it was necessary. Like Lissie I think you should invest in an XC lesson with a good instructor who understands bitting (preferably not one whose solution to everything is to bung a flash on ), see how Flash behaves and what she recommends. You could take different bits and nosebands to try out and see what suits him and what doesn't. You may find he is absolutely fine in what he's in now.