Change of Bit

I am not a bit swapper. I've never had a horse that couldn't or wouldn't go in just about anything that I stuck in his mouth. I should also add that when I choose a bit for a horse, it's always with the horse's comfort (and discipline) in mind. 

Growing up in the 80s, all of my horses went in a curb, but that was because that's what everyone used. My endurance horses all started out in a Kimberwick with a curb mouth piece. That was fine for a while, but then I found the Myler bitting system and found that each horse did go better with something more specifically selected for their preference.

Speedy has gone through more bits than any other horse I've owned. For the trail, I needed some brakes so he went in a Mikmar Combination bit which looks really scary, but seems quite comfortable for Speedy to pack around. Later, he went in a loose ring French link, but that one wore holes in the sides of his mouth. He also went in an eggbutt snaffle with a lozenge, but he got kind of heavy in that bit. He's been in a Baucher French link for the past year and a half, and we're both happy.

Mikmar Comination

From the beginning, I've had Izzy in a Mikmar Lozenge bit. It has thick bars and a yummy lozenge to suck on. By all appearances, he should love it. It's a gentle bit that should encourage relaxation and contact. It hasn't. Instead, he learned that he could jerk the thing right out of my hands and do exactly what he likes.

Mikmar Lozenge

Last week, I decided to try my Myler correction bit on him. Holy smokes, people, the change was instantaneous. Instead of giraffing his neck and jerking the reins from my hands, he threw his head up and then brought it back into our atmosphere with a shocked look on his face. I didn't have to do a single thing except sit there with quiet hands.

For the first time in weeks, I had a quiet ride that I was able to keep short. Like 15 minutes short. In that time, we walked ... not jigged. Walked. And then we trot without going mach 10. We picked up a left lead canter and didn't do it at mach 10. We walked some more. We trot some more. We picked up the wrong lead tracking right, but then we trot and got the right lead. He swapped behind for a bit, and it wasn't exactly lovely, but it wasn't at mach 10 either.

For the first time in weeks, I smiled. It wasn't a forced smile either, it was genuine. I even took a selfie.

A REAL smile!

The next day, Chemaine got on him and rocked his little world a bit, but that story is for tomorrow ...