Please tell me everything you can about bosals, hacks, and side-pulls. I was thinking about using something bitless but I don't have much experience in that area...Thanks!
^^ I'm really glad to hear that a bosal was the best because I was starting to hear really good things about them..For hacks,just now I've already ruled them out--Potentielly dangerous", "can hurt horse's nose and breatheing tubes", etc..We do mostly trail riding [pleasure riding], and he is seriously herd-bound; he will jump off a cliff whith me hanging on his mouth just to have his nose back in his bud's butt, so I needed something with power, but I also wanted something that can be mild at the same time and it sounds like a bosal is just that..Right?If I was going to go bitless completely and wanted something more than a rope halter, I would definitely go with a bosal. Of course though, I am a western rider and sidepulls strike me as much more of an english thing (not sure though). As for hacks, I think that there are different kinds. I will stick with western as that is what I know. There are what are called "loping hackamores" which are basically just a soft rope version of a bosal and there are mechanical hackamores. I personally don't like the mechanical hacks at all. There are certain people and certain horses that use them and get along great but I just don't like them cause they have the potential to be incredibly harsh.
I don't know if you are looking for something for just pleasure riding or for showing/competing but I just use a rope halter and lead rope reins when I want to go bitless during pleasure rides.
^^ Well, there are a few reasons:Just wondering WHY do you want to go without bit? Any teeth problems or something?
^^He ride GREAT by himself, but I ride with my family a lot so it is kind of hard to ride by myself..He does pretty good in the ring wether there are horses or not.. Actually, I was thinking about letting a horse loose in the ring while we worked so he can get used to them being a round..I HATE switching bits, but I've tried everything! Right now we've been working in the ring with a snaffle, so that might help some things. I will keep everybody posted and keep updating how he [we] are doing I DO NOT feel safe riding him in a halter, because he will spontaneously start bucking or acting stupid if he knows he can get way with something..And it just so happens that he dose it when I'm BAREBACK!! Smart horse..:PDid you try to ride by yourself on trail? How does he behave then? Some horses just do much better on their own. How does he behave in ring with other horses there?
As for bit, well I use french link eggbutt snaffle on both my horses (one is fast/nervous/go-go on trail). I don't believe in harsher bits to solve the problem, frankly. May be other people will come up with the better suggestions.
^^ A while ago I would have considered the mech. hack, but I have heard SOOO many bad things about them that I don't want to take the chance..Thanks for the stopping adviceI don't know much about bosals, but for an emergency break, mechanial hackamores are better; I think. (Tho I find bosals pretty harsh.. :/ ) They're (hacks) are not dangerous to the horse if you just fit it right; about an inch or so above the point where the nosebone breaks. The hackamore itself doesn't cut the air of the horse, but if you use it to tuck the nose in without getting the horse to relax, the throat won't fit freely between the cheek and the neck, and that can cause the air flow to get worse..
But stopping a horse by just pulling the reins isn't a good idea, remember to sit right, and so on The best way I know is to squeese with the top of your leg (thigh and knee), be un-yielding and go against the horses motion, then if that doesn't work, add the rein firmly (not yankning tho) untill the horse stops. Imediate release and relax your body (you might have to stop him immediatly again tho since relaxing could be taken as ''it's ok to go again'').
It's strange how much a small thing does, like this horse I couldn't stop.. I just remembered to sit better and he stopped without touching the reins.
Good job to work on the stops and obdiense, that's the most important thing when you have a problem
^^ Ha! How about STOPPING! Lol. It's not the kind of twist you're thinking of..It's a SLOW twist--it is only twisted like, once. Not multiple times..Avoid any twisted bits unless you need it for safety reasons, even slow twists are much harsher than you first think, since they scratch against the bar of the horses mouth.
I'm not sure what the other bits are, nor the 3d bitless :P
But think through; what do you need the bit to help you with?
^^ True..But I saw one for $200..It must have been sterling silver or something..Why do they call them "Tom Thumb Pelhams"?Any of the three last ones, but the black one is pretty thick and might not fit properly in the horses moth. It also depends a lot on the horse, but I personaly wouldn't put a broken/jointed one in his mouth with that curb chain
The last one gives the tounge a rest, but you have to make sure that port is low enough not to hit the palate. I'd try the simple, straight bar one. Tho, Crow already use a straight bar snaffle, so that's part of the reason :P
Wern't all of these cheaper than that? :P 34, I think, and 27?
Yes, the twisted ones have, but I don't really like them. They have quite a lot more ''bite'' since they will run sideways, with preassure, over the toothless area in the horses mouth. Which is filled with nerves. And they'll always be more severe, so it's difficult to go back to a mooth one later.
(The sides of the bits, where the bridle and reins attach.. I've noticed that some people here claim pretty much any bit with a jointed mouthpiece to be a snaffle >_> when the type of bit really depends on the sidepieces rather than the mouth piece.. >_> if it's an O-ring or a D-ring doesn't make much differense, the D-ring is better if your horse needs help to follow the bit to the sides and so. And any bit with a shank rather than a ring, is not a snaffle...)
Or, you can try making your own bitless pelham. It's very easy as long as you can get hold of 2 rings in the right size and that's sturdy enough. (My instructor used two key-rings on the noseband of her hackamore on her PRE stallion when he was all crazy and ruined after some bad riding in Spain..****** I prefer something a bit.. less break-able tho.. x) )