bubba, I'm also curious as to what your hands on experience is with the equipment we're discussing? I know you as primarily a Western rider, have you ever ridden or schooled a horse in any of these bits?
If I can get it, I've used it, for better or for worse. My dun gelding is going right now, as a matter of fact, in a rubber mullen Pelham....with two sets of reins. He's becoming more accepting of this bit than most others, though at times I'm afraid I really have to hang on the curb rein--I'm trying to wean both of us off that. His past, unfortunately, ruined him, and his first instinct upon feeling pressure is to brace and bolt mindlessly, because that's what roping taught him. High-headed, too. Due to his poor conformation, stifle/hock problems, and past-life baggage, I've never gotten him to any sensible degree of true collection. The Pelham, however, has gotten him to at least relax and drop his head more than any other bit, rather than tensing and blowing forward like a locomotive.
I tried my ported Myler Pelham with the roundings I bought on my sorrel mare recently, and she went as well in that as she does in anything else. I think they would be more suited to a different mouthpiece, however. Keep in mind, too, that this particular Pelham is marketed as a barrel racing bit, and is thus intended to be ridden on a curb rein only. But it's a great bit--one of my favorites.
As for what I have ridden, I actually started out as a saddleseat rider, of all things. I was taught to handle a double bridle at age 10....but not exactly in a way you'd approve of. We were always on the curb, tightening it every time the horse poked its head beyond the vertical.
(not me, but it was that kind of stuff, and that's a photo from the website of my former instructor)
From that extreme I went in the polar opposite direction with barrel racing. I think I've shared enough there to broadcast my experiences and successes in that venue, and the methodology I and others used.
After and during that, it was to the H/J/Dressage barn. I had a couple "Centered Riding" style lessons, and rode the horses the way the owner requested, in her saddles and her French-link snaffles. No official training in those disciplines, though, and I don't profess to know much about them.
Now it's just trail riding, and I long for the day I get my next horse to start from scratch. The only two sound riding horses I have left are beyond my capabilities to "fix." Training is so, so,
so much easier than
retraining. I've made mistakes and learned from them, but can't go back in time to correct them, and I've taken on other people's messes, too. Bah. I'm gonna do the next one
right, dammit, or die trying.
Back on the subject of bits, here's about half my collection:
That photo was taken several years ago. I've sold some and gotten a bunch of others. All told, I'm over 50 now. Which doesn't mean I currently use all of them, though I've certainly done my share of experimenting. All of my barrel racing combo bits are currently piled in a bag in the trailer, but I just can't quite bring myself to list them for sale, just due to their sentimental value....
And that's probably a whole lot more than you ever wanted to know!
Not a fan of the Kimberwicke, period, because of no flexibility....
I agree with this statement completely, though I think you and I are defining "flexibility" in different terms. :wink:
You're absolutely right, some Grand Prix jumper riders do use the Pelham converter set up in the ring. But I'm willing to bet you a paycheck that that's not what they school the horse in at home, or ride in one a regular basis. Because I believe a rider of Eric Lamaze's level, or any other Grand Prix jumper rider can both manage the complexity of two reins and values the flexibility both a snaffle and curb rein provides. That they may prefer the expediency of the converter while competing doesn't change that.
This just gets a bit silly to me. So Olympic-caliber jumpers are allowed to use it, and clumsy little toddlers on Shetlands are allowed to use it, but it's entirely unsuitable for everyone in between the two ends of the spectrum?
Yes, hunter riders crest release, and elementary hunter riders may ride on loose reins. And pleasure riders rider on loose reins a lot, including me. However, riding on loose reins with leverage bits really doesn't make a lot of sense to me. A horse that needs a leverage bit to hack out or pleasure ride probably isn't ridden on loose reins, a horse that's stablized on loose reins and hacks out quietly on loose reins probably isn't in a leverage bit. But I still don't understand what "presignal" on these bits has to do with anything. Maybe because it's a Western concept, which I have absolutely no experience with.
So if you can explain how "presignal" is somehow an advantage on these bits while being ridden as they typically would in an English discipline, I'd appreciate it.
If you're riding with no slack at all in the reins, then there is no advantage at all. But if you are giving and taken enough for a little droop--enough to, say, take the curb chain off the chin (because keep in mind that, depending on how tight your chain is adjusted and how hard you are pulling, you will not always have jaw pressure when curb rein is picked up)--then the horse can feel the difference and respond with greater subtlety and finesse. Would this apply to the typical showjumper or hunter rider? Probably not. But to the happy hacker or the non-by-the-books, for-the-fun-of-it rider? Absolutely.