[estrogen]

I was using a straight snaffle with a 5" shaft. Now I'm using a mullen mouth with a moveable piece on it....sorry I don't know the real names and what you call the little piece that rotates in the middle of the bit. What should I be using for a gaited horse? Any ideas?

[HairOfTheDog]

Now I'm using a mullen mouth with a moveable piece on it....sorry I don't know the real names and what you call the little piece that rotates in the middle of the bit.

Like this?

What should I be using for a gaited horse? Any ideas?

IMHO, if I may throw in 2 cents, gaited or not makes less of a difference than sensitivity and responsiveness. You should use a strong enough bit that you can have his complete attention and get a complete "WOAH", always, with a light hand, not with muscle. (if you're relying on muscle to win a battle with a horse, you'll lose ;~D)

Yours is a young horse, and likely to be fairly sensitive. That may be enough bit, but it's relatively mild. A bit with some leverage to it would be stronger... and of course, it is possible to have too much bit, a bit so harsh that the horse reacts too much out of pain.

Do you feel you have good steady and light hands if you had a stronger bit in the horse, so that you would not be confusing or cruel?

[Beaker]

Now I'm using a mullen mouth with a moveable piece on it....sorry I don't know the real names and what you call the little piece that rotates in the middle of the bit
Sounds like a roller to me. It's supposed to keep the horse "entertained" or more willing to accept the bit. I had an eggbutt snaffle with keys at the joint. The horse liked it, but it irritated the heck out of me.

[FrogInABlender]

The little piece that rotates in the middle of the port of the bit is called a "cricket". I use one like this for my older gelding, Tennessee, but mine doesn't have the chain between the shanks...

I'm using one like this on Blade coz he doesn't need much in the way of control...

The guy who trains for me uses this bit on his horse. It looks severe, but it actually isn't because the flat mouthpiece swivels independantly on the shanks so that it always lies flat on the bars of the mouth. I've been thinking of getting one of them myself...