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?
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?
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...