which bit

happyhorse

happyhorse

Dutch Warmblood Fanatic!
Jul 19, 2001
912
0
0
46
bedfordshire
community.webshots.com
Hi guys,wonder if you could help me with this one.

i have a 15 yr old warmblood called Evert. He has been affialated in the past and loves jumping. i have owned him for 6 months now and hope to do some jumping with him next summer . however his old owner used to ride him in a gag and i found that a little severe with the leverage sometimes bringing him up to quick. i had a jumping lesson in the school last night and decided to try and jump in the snaffle! lol oh dear.... he was bolting round the school at very high speed !! (he hacks well in the snaffle and i have no problems. just gets to over enthusaistic when jumping.)

The question i have is there a more suitable bit i could use for jumping that might give me more control ??
or whether its best to use the gag?
any ideas greatly appericiated.

thanks

:confused:
 
its really trial and error what suits one horse wont suit another, you could try a cherry roller or maybe a Dr bristol, its just a matter of finding the bit that suits you and your horse best.
 
evert sounds a lot like rock star!! :) rock star gets extremely strong when jumping, and i've tried a gag but i find he abhors it, like your horse. so now i've been using a double twisted copper wire full cheek, and i find it gives me the control and precision i need, but it's not half as severe as a gag, so he doesn't mind it. he's beautiful in a plain snaffle when we're doing flatwork, though, so that's what i use on non-jumping days.
 
hi rockstar.

hmmm interesting. i ride in a snaffle for flat schooling as he isn't half as keen doing that as jumping! when i brought him they used to hack in a gag to but i now hack him in a waterford which he seems to go very well in. i find hacking in the snaffle leaves me with lack of brakes and i hate the thought of hauling on his mouth to stop him. i have been using the waterford for a month or so now and he seems quite relaxed in it. it doesn't help at the moment that he can't wear a nose band and flash as he had a fungal infection on his face and the nose band was hindering the regrowth of hair.

do u have any piccies of rock star?

nat
 
i may be of help

a horse that i ride at camp sometimes is 8yrs old and the LAZYIST horse EVER on the flat but the second you put poles in front of him he gets FLYING around jumping 10' high and 10' away! he gets SO exited, anyway my instructer had had a Snaffle on him because puting in a stronger bit isn't the answer in my opinion it just gives them a stronger mouth, they become sorta "imune" to it. anyway for a couple lessons we went back to the basics of jumping in a hackamore...what a job, we spet two days going over one pole soon we got so we were troting over troting poles nicely and he was much more backed off when we went up to a x-rail. we put the eggbutt snaffle in and started jumping. a lot of halfhalts and voice got him into the base of the jump backed off. you always needed to be ready in case he disided to JUMP! lol... but he got much better for me. If he started rushing into a jump she would make me stop him everytime he started to speedup and more than once we would take a jump from a standstill. after a week or two of riding he was much better...cource another camp kid would get on and he would try to get away with stuff but once the kid would show him that he needs to listen he got backed off nicley. hope this helps
 
:) I have an Anglo Arab who also gets slightly head strong. After many bits and gadgets i settled on using a loose ring french snaffle and a running martingale. I also had lessons on stopping him and basic manners, which worked a treat. I say whoa and he will stop with my body commands and no fighting against the bit now, but I recommend using half halts. A little exercise theat someone taught me is to jump them then within 2 strides from landing make them stop. The encouragesthem to pay attention to you and helps you gain more control over them. This is only a suggestion, but it did work on my anglo.

Tata from eden:D
 
i jump in a ...

i jump my pony in a french link!!! and she is good as gold ( until she decides to have a galloping and bucking fit ) brill other wise
 
I think that you should use a rubber pelham with 2 reins. Using the top rein is like a snaffle. If he gets to fast use the bottom rein as that acts like the gag. i'm lucky i don't have that bother my pony is in a snaffle with no martingale or any other gadgets (ie noseband)
 
thanks for all the advise guys.

i solved the problem, i never use my gag or flash now. i use a french link for schooling and the waterford for jumping. He goes really well in both and we are doing really well. we got 3rd in the 2'6 on sunday out of about 25. !! Hes so cool! don't you just love your horses/s!
 
I agree. Have a less severe bit whilst at home and then put your more severe bit on when you are competing.
Ihad a similar problem on my 15.2 6yr old. He had so much enthusiasm but no brakes! He is not a pelham or gag type of horse so i put him in a wilkey (spelling!) and this has worked. At home I use an ordinary eggbutt snaffle so that he does't get used to the wilkey.
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back