From: tracy@scoraz.resp-sci.arizona.edu (Tracy Scheinkman)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: bit suggestions wanted
Date: 17 Aug 92 23:01:06 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ


In Article 8250 in rec.equestrian: aviator@athena.mit.edu (Joakim Karlsson)
Karen Karlsson writes:

>Hi Dorothy!  I have a 1/2 Arab and he sounds similar to Danny, he also
>gets excited with a group of horses out on the trail and wants to be in
>the front, or "race" until he catches up with them.  Actually, he much

	A very difficult problem to correct.

>calmer now that I've had him over a year now.  He's by far taken the longest
>of any horse I've ever had to learn to trust me.  Maybe Danny needs to get
>to know you better and will calm down with time like my horse did.

	A good thought.
  
>The
>bit I use that works well is the Tom Thumb Snaffle.  It is the mildest
>western bit, the one below the curb.  Yet with a chain chin strap it is
>pretty effective on the trail. 

	Actually any bit that has a shank (lever) and a chin strap is a
curb bit (it has to do with the action not the mouthpiece).  Also 
generally curb bits with a solid mouth piece and low port or mullen mouth
are generally milder than those with a jointed or "snaffle" mouthpiece
as the lever action increases the nut-cracker effect tremendously.  It
is pretty much a toss-up as to whether a curb with a solid mouth and
medium or high port is more severe than a curb with a jointed mouth,
it really depends on the horse.  I tried a Tom Thumb jointed bit on my 
mare and she was tremendously uncomfortable, yet a solid mouth curb with 
a medium port and copper roller (what the TTEAM people call their roller 
bit) doesn't bother her in the least and she relaxes her jaw and lowers 
her head and doesn't flinch when asked for contact.  By contrast a horse 
with a very sensitive palate would wind up in terrible distress with my
horse's bit.  That part depends on the horse.  The worst of the curbs
are, in my opinion, the so-called correction bits, which combine the
nut-cracker effect of the snaffle with the lever action of the curb
and add a medium port thrown in, and the old style mexican spade bits
which were often sharpened or had other torturous features to them.  
(There are many other torturous bits but I don't want to go into them
here it would start a whole nother discussion/argument.)

>Silver does not stop well on the trail in
>an eggbut snaffle, but he listens to the Tom Thumb well.
 
	Obviously your horse likes this bit.  Very good.
 
>He also used to
>toss his head when I first bought him - perhaps a product of hard hands in
>the past, but since being ridden on this bit with gentle hands he almost
>never tosses his head.

	This can't be emphasized enough, quiet hands and a comfortable bit
make a happy horse.  Good for you.
  
>I'd try a 4" Tom Thumb with curb chain on Danny.
>If he gets strong on the trail, try facing him the other way so he cant
>see the horses he wants to be with, also try circling him until he calms
>down.  Once they are out of sight he should be better behaved.  Make him
>think he will *not* get any farther along until he goes at the gait YOU
>specify (circling works on some horses).  Get his mind off the horses
>up ahead. 

	This is a good procedure to try, although some horses become more
fretful when left behind.  Another technique that a friend of mine and I
did to help her horse get over his fear of being left behind is that one
of us would trot ahead 20 or 30 feet then stop, the other one would wait
till the first had stopped then ride up to and pass the first horse and
go 20 to 30 feet beyond and stop, and we'd repeat all along the trail.
It accomplished several things at once, got the horse listening and 
focussed on the rider, taught the horse not to worry when another horse
went ahead and to be patient when stopped, and taught the horse to allow
another horse to pass it without getting upset.  When the horses are 
accomplished at this fun game you can vary the distances, change from
trot to canter, and have people alternately change directions and ride
back toward the other horse and pass going the other way.  With 3 people
this becomes a real fun schooling technique. 

>We've had several horses at the barn like that and these 
>tactics worked on them.  Every horse is different, I think Danny will calm
>down once he gets to know you ;better and trust you, but do try these
>things too.  Hope this helps!

	Me too!

				Tracy and everybody