Tuesday, February 17, 2009

So its not me, it's the bit!

I asked hubby to go ride G tonight and Thursday as I have a zillion things to do between scrap projects and the routine stuff.

Well he came home a little while ago and said boy is he a gaiting fool with the Dr. Cooks bridle. My first reaction was to say "oh, you didn't want to try the bit" and he told me that he did at first and found that G just kept fussing with where he was carrying his head. After 10 minutes he went in and switched to the bitless and from there on he gaited his fool head off.

So I guess the good news is, it's not my hands (cause I know hubby has even lighter hands than me). Now the question is...is it this particular bit and contact or is it any bit and contact? Argh...I guess I could just keep using the Dr. Cooks bridle, but G being G, I'm not sure I will feel 100% secure with him on the trail with it. But I suppose I could simply ride western on the trail since we neck rein and he has no problem with that bit? I'm just not sure how to proceed at this point.

p.s. Just wanted to update this. Turns out that hubby wasn't using the Dr. Cooks with him but the Liz Graves sidepull, lol. So either way he's telling us he likes being bitless!

Back to the Bit (kinda)

I haven't had much opportunity to keep my blogs updated (bad me). I rode G in the dressage bridle with the HS bit and it was like we were beginning anew.

He definitely is more responsive to light pressure as I work on flexion from the ground then before. I taped my reins to where he was the most comfortable with the contact as I wanted to be sure that I was keeping my hands in the same place so I could concentrate more on softness in my hands and requests. We just worked on walking and he was above the bit and behind the bit and just couldn't seem to be happy in between. So after about 20 minutes I switched over to the Dr. Cooks bridle and he just flat walked along with his head steady and his neck was a shaking. I'm beginning to think that it's either the bit we're using or he's just a horse that will never be happy with a bit in his mouth. I remember David from ESF telling me he went through about 10 bits before he found one G was happy with. However, I don't think I want to go back to that type of mouthpiece, as I think he has progressed past that at least.

At this point I'm going to continue working with him on the lunge line with the HS bit and side reins and see if we can find a comfortable place for him. I may even tap into our barn's DQ to see if she has any ideas. Since she brought her WB through his training she may recognize something that I'm missing. But at this point I figure some of the work will be easier without me on his back. We'll see.