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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 18 January 2012
Posts: 199,
Visits: 286
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Sooo... Poppy is being a little biatch. She's in a full cheek snaffle at the moment, and looking at the thing... I have a feeling the reason she likes to stick her nose in the air, or jerk at the reins, is because there's too much pressure on her tongue and she doesn't like it. (None of my horses ever liked snaffle bits btw, it's why I often went with a Bosal.)
She does this on long reins btw, with no hand contact at all from me. (I was worried it was me, so I rode her without hands on the reins, weight only... and she still did it.)She's not ready for a Bosal. 
She's also being headstrong and iffy in traffic with a snaffle bit and likes to fight you with it. I was looking at the Myler combo bits, as they combine a short shank, snaffle and bosal (well, a hackamore, really) and elliviate pressure on the tongue. I have no experience with them though, and I wondered if anyone has used one and what your experiences are.
I did get into a "lively discussion" with someone about western shanked snaffles before.
I was told they are "brutal" bits -- which is total rubbish. They are only brutal in the wrong hands, but so is a snaffle or a hackamore.
The amount of people I see "sawing" on a snaffle bit... well, yeah. If you did that on a curb bit, it's brutal. But I find it brutal on a snaffle, too. I'd go for a very short shank Reinsman, but I think her owner would freak.
Personally, I'd rather lift my little finger and get an instant response, with a very light touch, than fight with her on a busy road in a snaffle bit which she's got between her teeth... Besides, I want to wean her off the bit completely eventually.
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 30 December 2011
Posts: 347,
Visits: 2,538
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i really don't like/get mylers the last person i knew who used one found it made one side of her horse just rediculously difficult to hold. Obvo different bits work with different people.
Have you tried a Neue Shule (probably spelt that wrong) bit? I know alot of people who've said that their horses were more willing to accept them than they have been other bits?
Your resident guardian reading lefty
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 18 January 2012
Posts: 199,
Visits: 286
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Testing a Myler combo at the moment.
Yes, they work differently for different *horses*. Sod the people. People can work with anything, it's the horse who has to like it.
It takes practice and patience, because they (the combo) work differently to a regular snaffle.
(Especially with a horse like Poppy, who likes to open her mouth wide!)
I'm working on the ground with her at the moment, with the nose band very loose, so she can get used to it. Tightening it freaks her out, because she's not used to the pressure points yet and she doesn't realize it's not me putting pressure on -- it's her.
When she opens her mouth wide, she actually puts pressure on herself, and she freaks and then opens her mouth even wider, putting on even more pressure. (Silly moo)
So loose is the way to go right now, allowing her time to figure it all out.
It's not a bit you can put on and just go off and ride your horse with. It takes work to introduce the bit, and it needs to be done gradually.
I haven't tried the Neue Schule ones. The main reason for the Myler combo is that I want to wean her off the bit and onto a bosal. But a bosal would completely freak her out at the moment, because of the way it works pressure wise. She wouldn't be able to do her yawning stunts in a properly fitted bosal and I'd have no way to release pressure easily/quickly with a bosal.
With the Myler I can gradually get her to learn about the pressure points and what she can and can't do with it. So for now, we're on the ground, slowly getting used to different pressure points. (She really does have a thing about cranking her mouth wide open, especially in a halter.)
Right now we do a lot of lateral bending work, so she learns to flex more. Lots and lots of circles, 10-15 mins at a time, both directions.
However -- one thing she does very well with it is backing up. Both her owner and I were standing there going "Whoa. What the hell?" when she took a step back when I simply lifted my little finger a little and let the weight of the rein do the work.
This is a horse who will not back up. Period.
With this, she was like "Ok. I'll take a step back." with no fight, no pushing, no anything. Just one finger lifted slightly, on a loose (not slack) rein.
I'll report back how we get on, but it'll be a lengthy process. I don't believe in pushing things along fast.
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 18 January 2012
Posts: 199,
Visits: 286
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She was much better today.
I kept the strap loose still, and am looking at a smaller headstall for her, because I'm having to resort to taking the brow band off.
We did a lot of backing up today, and worked Parelli style for a good hour and a half, where she was allowed to run and buck to her hearts content (off the line), before being lunged... without a lunge.
So she'd run off some energy before we put the Myler back on. Much calmer, much more controlled today. I tightened a notch and she accepted it. No freaking out this time, either.
With the nose band so loose, I definitely need a string to keep it in position, which is the plan for Thursday.
I'll try not to forget the camera!
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