The way I have been taught is you want them to bend around not pivot:) but you can get too much bend. Also you want the bend in their bodies, not just their neck which is a common mistake that alot of barrel runners make. You do not want your horse swinging his butt out as he goes around the barrel which, I think, is what would happen if the pivot. The back end should follow the same path around the barrel as the front end went.
Your description of use of reins with my trail bit is where I get confused. I do two hand with that bit. I have always been under the impression that with any broken bit you can two hand as each side of the bit works independently of the other. That a broken curb bit does not necessaily mean you neck rein..?? BUT, on trail I do ride with slack in the reins. On barrels rightly or wrongly, I keep contact, which is why I think that it is a problem for Harley. He doesn't "like" that, but he does need help rating down for the turns. He's not lazy about running, and he will blow by the barrel with the snaffle, and tends to bend just his neck rather then his whole body.
I don't know if I'm describing this well enough:). My biggest problem is putting all the moves together at the right times.
You start rating them about 2 horse lengths from the barrel to get them time to get their butt's gathered up under them for the turns. When you get to the point to start the turn , slide inside hand down the rein, drop the outside rein grab the horn and push back, pull to your pocket, hold them in the turn with your outside leg, keep them off the barrel with you inside leg. about 1/3 of the way around the barrel your looking at the next barrel, 3/4 of the way around, your picking the outside rein back up to get them to move over to get ready for the next barrel about 1/2 to the next barrel you using your legs to get them in postion for the next turn.....to much to think about to remember to not pull too hard, but hard enough:) I just feel there might be bits that would work better then what I have, I just hate buying them and they not be right.
Becky
That's true, you can two hand it, just understand that when you bring it into play, you are getting contact on the bars of the mouth and on the chinstrap, and not so much on the corner of the mouth. You are getting as much or more 'stop' as 'turn'.
he will blow by the barrel with the snaffle, and tends to bend just his neck rather then his whole body.
With the full cheek snaffle, when you pull on both sides, you get pressure on the corner of the mouth and the bars for the 'woah'. But when you pull on just one side, you get pressure on the inside corner, but most of all, the cheek piece on the outside, that turns his face with very little woah.