I know this is largely individual horse preference, however my newish ( bought her mid September) OTTB mare does not seem to love the French link that I am using. (She is 5 FYI)
I have had her teeth floated, had the chiropractor out twice since I have owned her, bought her a new saddle and had it professionally fitted, treated her for ulcers, although she didn’t have serious sign of ulcers, she was a bit cranky at times.
She is super sweet and easy going (for a young OTTB) Great hooves for an OTTB at least, but she is just a little fussy in the bridle. Could be that she is just a baby… but I thought that I would try a different bit to see if that helped. I also have her in a Micklem bridle. Any suggestions?
Try as simple and soft as you can find. A straight bar, mullen mouth breaking bit is always worth a try. The fact that there are no moving parts and tongue relief can be helpful and inviting. Mouthpiece may be some sort of plastic, leather, composite of some sort, not too thick as most TBs have a fairly petite mouth. See if it finds favour for your re-breaking exercises. A bit like this is not usually used in higher level training, as you can not use each side of the bit independently, but for greenies, it’s often great, simple, easy to understand. If it does not find favour, you can always try something else, a loose ring single joint snaffle if she prefers that. She will let you know when you hit on something that she likes. You use so little hand pressure with a greenie, all you need is basic navigation and comfort and acceptance from the horse. Your early training with an OTTB is simply “re-breaking”, re-education to change from being a racehorse to being a riding horse, use of the leg, relaxation, softness, engagement of the hind end, establishing a personal relationship with the horse.
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Thank you. I love your advice! I am really trying to take things as easy and simply as I can. She’s a very good young mare. It’s very important to me that she enjoy her retraining and our new partnership as much as possible!
I use a Micklem with an HS Duo dee. No movement at all- I started with the loose ring but even that was not as well received as the fixed dee. My OTTB is really laid back and no-fuss too, but he’s sensitive. This works really well for him, and his contact is really great and substantial. His mouth doesn’t move at all, anymore!
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I have an OTTB with a big tongue. I bought him a Trust Innosense ported eggbutt snaffle. It’s a solid ported mouthpiece in hard rubber. Made a huge difference for him. He was constantly opening his mouth and trying to pull his tongue up in other bits I used. He was starting to get the concept of contact this fall before I had to stop riding due to winter weather 
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What cheeks are on the bit? Sometimes they have a preference for that as well. Also consider the metals, width of the cannons, how heavy the bit is, the curve of the cannons. My OTTB was only happy in a slightly loose Micklem with a D ring with copper lozenge. No other bridle or bit worked, it had to be that exact setup.
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Try bitless. 
Not a hackamore or anything like that, but a sidepull or a ‘bitless’ style bridle.
The Micklem bridle can switch from bitted to bitless, and there are others that will do the same. It puts the same type of leverage, but without the distraction of the bit. When the horse is more familiar with how it works is the time to introduce a bit. That could be a long or a short time.
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Well after some trials, I have figured out that it’s the new SADDLE! It’s going back. Anyone have a 17” County Fusion med/narrow for sale? I used the BOs a couple times and she is a different horse!!
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I know you are no longer looking for bits, just wanted to chip in in case anyone else stumbled onto this thread looking for bit suggestion. I had my OTTB in a french link snaffle, but recently switched to a Myler level 1 bit and he is a much happier horse in the Myler.
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Thank you for adding this. It’s always good to have other suggestions
