When I got my present horse, who is a very sensitive Trakehner, he was going in a French link full cheek when I got him. My trainer felt he backed off from it even though he evented well in it. We switched him to a Nathe and he has been a happy camper for the last 5 years. My trainer said his brakes are not in his mouth but in his brain. We needed to learn how to ride him with supporting leg and seat aids not the hands. Has not been easy but he is very happy. We are going to use the same bit in a Full cheek for jumping⊠He also has never chewed through it either
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Itâs a bit extreme but have you considered having her mouth x-rayed? Enough COTH people have made posts over the years about fractured teeth, odd splinters, old jaw breaks, etc. that I think it is worth considering if a horse is universally fussy in the contact and has had a quality dental exam performed.
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I used to have the same problem! Then I watched this video and had a lightbulb moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y59T_CJNJ_s
My horse used to be fussy in the mouth, evading contact with all he can and even threatens to rear sometimes. We tried a Nathe bit and he all of a sudden learned to trust my hands. Now we go in all three phases with a Happy Mouth French Link, which he really loves and this is a horse that used to ride in a Pelham 3 ring elevator bit. My point is, sometimes when bitting up doesnât work it might be because the horse is afraid of the bit and putting a stronger bit on them might just make it worse. Maybe try lunging her in a Nathe first? Itâs so soft and flexible I have yet seen a horse that doesnât like it.
Nathe all the way. My horse spent a longggg time in a loose ring nathe. Transitioned into a French link, but he got a bit to strong for that galloping, he was really keen on landing and enthusiastically galloping away from fences in straight lines. I canât remember exactly what we tried but he had a meltdown, and he has epic meltdowns. My coach at the time and I went out on a limb and ordered him a nathe elevator. It was perfect and wonderful. So Iâm a huge fan of all things Nathe and would try some sort of nathe snaffle.
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My hot fussy strong TB mare went great in a loose ring straight Nathe.
Jennifer
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My horse hated the loose ring nathe because it moved around in his mouth. Just saying.
Arenât most racing bits D rings?
Not really. Racing bits run the gamut from your typical snaffles you see in other disciplines to all sorts of racing-specific bits with rings, spoons, extensions, etc. There isnât a standard, it just depends on the trainer.
Some examples of bits that are mostly unique to racing:
http://www.jacksmfg.com/Racing-Bits.html
Thank you everybody for the replies! I admit I wrote my post pretty quickly so I left some pertinent information out - Yes she has had her teeth done by very reputable and thorough dentists twice - once in December and once two weeks ago. She has no health, soundness, back, etc issues at all. I very much appreciate the advice on understanding and retraining TBs, and yes, that is what I do day in and day out, which is why I asked for help on this case. I assure that I am not over jumping this horse, by jumping, I am occasionally hopping her over a crossrail, tiny coop, or small log. We primarily, 99.9% of the time work on flatwork and hacking. I do NOT rush my horses, if anything I hold back too long and get criticized for that, lol.
I am really excited to try some of the suggestions in this thread. Thank you everybody!
