I'm a big fan of French-link snaffles. Brock was ridden in one before I got him, I got him one when I bought him and we continued on from there. (I also had a Dr Bristol for his "difficult" days when he'd be reefing the reins from my hands - normally I wouldn't switch to a harsher bit to fix something but the reefing was often followed by him putting his head between his knees and attempting to launch me into orbit.) However, I'd noticed that with both he was very fussy with his mouth, chewing and wiggling his jaw and putting his head from side to side - just not very happy. Sometimes as much as you like a bit, your horse has a different opinion...
So, last week I went to the saddlery and among other things I bought a mullen mouth. Pretty big change in action obviously and it was a bit of a gamble but I was operating on instinct. Tried it out on Saturday and it was great! He was much less fussy and he also seemed lighter and more responsive (which I hadn't expected given the relatively crude nature of communication with a mullen mouth). All in all I was super pleased with the result!
Note: he has also gone well in a low port Western curb before (not direct reining obviously) so my other thought had been a low port snaffle (as I need to direct rein for English riding). But they didn't have any at the store (actually, there weren't any simple ported bits there!). Might get a chance to try him in one one day, but as he's about to be leased out there's no point in me getting one just yet.
So, last week I went to the saddlery and among other things I bought a mullen mouth. Pretty big change in action obviously and it was a bit of a gamble but I was operating on instinct. Tried it out on Saturday and it was great! He was much less fussy and he also seemed lighter and more responsive (which I hadn't expected given the relatively crude nature of communication with a mullen mouth). All in all I was super pleased with the result!
Note: he has also gone well in a low port Western curb before (not direct reining obviously) so my other thought had been a low port snaffle (as I need to direct rein for English riding). But they didn't have any at the store (actually, there weren't any simple ported bits there!). Might get a chance to try him in one one day, but as he's about to be leased out there's no point in me getting one just yet.