New Bit

I'm trying a new bit with Morgunn.  For those of you who know, Morgunn has been in a bitless bridle for the last year and a half.  It worked fine in one respect, but I feel that we hit a plateau with it.  It didn't seem he was progressing in his training and in our riding together.  So, I decided to put him back into a bit.

Before the bitless bridle, I was using a Paso Fino bit based on the advice of the trainer who trained Morgunn.  It worked fine, but it's a little more harsh than I'm comfortable with.  I have a bias that almost every horse should be trainable and rideable in a snaffle bit.

We're a big fan of Mark Rashid and his training methods.  Mark normally doesn't sell any equipment - just his books and training DVDs.  However, he was given a new bit a year or so ago.  He admitted that he took it just to be nice, but threw it into a drawer.  Later, he had a horse that wasn't progressing in his training the way Mark wanted.  So, he decided to give the bit a try.  He didn't tell the owner/rider about it and he noticed a real difference in the horse.  He continued to try the bit with horses at his training clinics and in almost every case he could tell a real difference in each horse compared to his behavior in his original bit.

The bit is called the Rocking S Snaffle and it's made by Reinsman.  The circular rings are free to move, but what makes it different is the extra half ring that also moves freely.  The reins connect to this extra half ring so there is no pinching at all to this bit.

I put it on Morgunn the last couple of days while I did ground work with him and, after an initial mouthing it - probably because it's been so long since he had a bit in his mouth, he seemed fine.  I'm going to ride him tomorrow and see how well he does with his exercises with the new bit - flexion, lowering his head, moving his hindquarters, etc.

I'm always willing to try something new as long as I don't think it will hurt the horse in any way.

Today is September 23 and if today is your Birthday then you share your day with:  Jason Alexander, Bruce Springstein, Julio Iglesias, Ray Charles, and Mickey Rooney.

On this day in 63 B.C., Caesar Augustus was born in Rome.  In 1779 John Paul Jones said, "I have not yet begun to fight."  In 1806 Lewis and Clark returned to St. Louis after their explorations.  In 1846 the planet Neptune was discovered.  In 1939 Sigmund Freud died.  And, in 1952 Richard Nixon went on TV and did his "Checkers" speech that saved his Vice President role with President Eisenhower.