I like haveing enough bit to KNOW I can get them stopped in an emergency. Harley is very light/sensitive mouthed. It doesn't take much. IN the arena for barrels, when you go to asking for the turns and for quick stops, this bit causees his to really throw his head up. On trail, I don't ask for those kind of stops or turns, so he doesn't get pulled on so much. I know I should work on getting me to not pull so much doing barrels, it's one of those things I need to work on, but in the process I don't want to mess him up
With the snaffle he just isn't responding quickly. Once again if I learned to expect that and adjust my self accordingly the snaffle might work. But there is just alot of stuff to remember in a very short time and I'm not proficent at putting it all together.
In a long shank snaffle, I think you have to pull more to get the tight turns. I don't like doing that.
I pull too much for the correction bit in the arena and not enough with the snaffle (I think my main problem is I forget to work in back and forth and tend to pull straight back), and I actually think with the long shank you need to pull even more the with snaffle, but since you have a curb with the long shank you get more rate. Make sense:)
Becky