Do you have a strong horse? If so what bit do you use?

I have recently brought a Welsh D 15.2 mare. She is very CHUNKY.

She is very stron more so with jumping but never nasty when being strong but she is currently in a pelham.

I was just wondering what other riders and owners use on there strong horses.??

Her last owner didnt have time to ride her or school her much as she has 5 other horses and her daughters where always compeating. Like when I went to view her she did say she hadnt been riden in a few months and she was eager to please.

My mare does have brakes and is not nasty and not 'mare ish' just can very VERY strong, So yeh was just wondering what others use when riding a strong horse :)

I use a Waterford Bit on my draft cross who can get very strong and on the fore. I now know how to better train for "lightness", but still am not sure he would ever be light cross country. I used a gag Waterford cross country, and a Waterford d ring in the ring.

A harsh bit is never the answer to a strong, forward horse.

If the mare likes the pelham and goes well in it, why fix what's not broken?

I use a D-ring french link snaffle on my spazzy Arabian and a jointed, full cheek low port curb on my TB. My TB goes much better in the low port curb than anything else. He fusses with regular snaffle bits.

It's usually a training issue that needs to be addressed if a horse is running through a particular bit.

Sorry think you may have got it wrong. Im not looking to 'fix' a problem as to me its not a problem and obvs she's hardly been schooled with last owner as they were busy with their other horses and compeating hence why they were selling her and I have the time to work with and school her and she will be riden more often than every few months or so. I was generally asking what other people use with there strong horses just as a discusion rather than to get suggestions. Maybe I didnt put this across well in my orriginal post.

Suppose just making convo :)

Theres nothing to 'fix' with my mare she's perfect to me :) Which is why I decided to buy her :) Yeh she needs restricted graizing cause she's very ''chunky'' from amount of graizing she has beeen on and lack of use she has had but now she is with me she will be excercised a lot more and her graizing will be restricted till she's down in weight a bit :)

That was how I felt about my guy at the time, which is why I used this.

Korsteel Waterford Hunter Dee - D-Rings from SmartPak Equine

Thanks :)

Both my mares used to be on forehead, and one was very strong (meaning lean on my hands and went around with head in air and really good speed). I still stayed with 3-link snaffle though (the only change I did was going from french mouth to lozenze (spell?)). As we progressed with training all those problems went away.

Some horses get strong in the ring. Moving up to a bit for a strong horse doesn't mean you are covering up training issues, IMHO.

I have ridden a lot of strong barrel horses, and I take them with the same light as jumpers. For my barrel racers I give them the option of staying in a smooth snaffle until they prove otherwise. Even then they are always trained in a snaffle and ran in a harder bit.

I will alternate the following: Sweet Six, Jr. Cowhorse, Smooth draw gag, Billy Allen shank, Light twisted dogbone combination bit. There are a couple other bits I will try as an "Out there" option, but those are my main ones.

When I had a brief exploration into the endlish world, the horse I rode was a schoolmaster and he was also strong. He showed in a kimberwicke. I did not show him very much before I went back to my western reiners, cowhorses, and barrel horses.

I'd stick with the pelham myself, I personally like them, and find that the cob types do well in them. What sort of mouthpiece does it have on it? Once again purely personal preference I go for an unjointed mullen mouth.

Eggbutt snaffle. She can get VERY strong, especially outside the arena, but she knows to listen to my seat and legs. She often tries to energize her trot to make me post faster so she can trot faster, but I shut her down with my seat, not my hands. After she got into bad hands, I bought her and sent her to her off-track trainer, who had her in a pelham for the first few rides because she would uncontrollably bolt when asked to canter. After the retraining process, I have her in a simple snaffle, though she is still very strong.