I don’t seem to see too terribly many d-rings in the sandbox, but I’m considering trying the NS tranz D-ring for my draft cross gelding. He is short-necked, tends to brace, and our main struggle is lateral work. When he is unsure of the “answer” to give under saddle, he will run through the aids. I generally bring him back with a ten meter circle set up to a shoulder in. I have read that you get more lateral stability with a D-ring. Any thoughts or suggestions? He is currently going in a NS starter.
[QUOTE=sortofbyx;8945510]
I don’t seem to see too terribly many d-rings in the sandbox, but I’m considering trying the NS tranz D-ring for my draft cross gelding. He is short-necked, tends to brace, and our main struggle is lateral work. When he is unsure of the “answer” to give under saddle, he will run through the aids. I generally bring him back with a ten meter circle set up to a shoulder in. I have read that you get more lateral stability with a D-ring. Any thoughts or suggestions? He is currently going in a NS starter.[/QUOTE]
D rings work more like a full check so yes, this sort of pulls the head around as you use the rein. Whether that is good or bad to you depends on context.
I don’t prefer that.
But they are perfectly legal (assuming the mouth piece is) in dressage.
This post sounds like a training issue, not a bit issue, but each horse definitely has a preference!
There are trust issues with this horse that I’m working to overcome. I certainly don’t think that a new bit is going to be a magical fix, I’m just wondering if this might be the right path to try. I’m also hoping that the increased stability in the mouthpiece (less vibration) will help him come into the contact more.
Pulling the head around sounds less that ideal, I don’t want to lose the outside shoulder and come into a whole new set of problems…
You get more lateral stability with a D-ring, definitely: you’ll also, if the bit is a broken mouth piece or one of the newer HS single joints, get a fair amount of rotation/maneuverability with a D ring.
It depends on the horse but in most horses I’ve ridden, their reception between an Eggbutt and a D-ring are negligible and they go equally well in either.
I find you can have more ‘finesse’ in the bit aids with a D-ring, much more than you can with a loose-ring.
Ffor a horse that needs stability I like Egg/D much better than any loose ring variant.
The stability of having the mouthpiece molded to the ring in a D-ring makes the bit more maneuverable in your hands, which can help when training lateral movements. I prefer a boucher, personally, for a horse that needs stability in the mouth.
I’ve known some horses that brace because they’re bothered by all the wiggling parts on a loose ring french link and try to sort of clamp down on the bit to stop it, so it’s possible that he’ll brace less with a more stable D-ring. At the same time, I feel like the more stable bits sometimes give them too much to lean on when they’re bracing. Really depends on his preference. If he seems like the type that might just want a more stable bit, it might be worth trying a few types of mullen mouths, to see if it’s really the mouthpiece that he’s reacting to.
Yes, I agree to try an eggbut mullen with all parts fixed to see how that goes.
This mullen is also dressage legal the happy mouth plastic with the bumps is not.
