I recently bought a French/Dutch Warmblood mare, she has a very sensitive mouth and she's strong. She doesn't particularly like bits with chains (I'm assuming because of a bad experience in the past), but I'm using a jointed rubber pelham on her currently. I'm having a hard time bringing her back after jumps. Can anyone with experience help me find a bit that suits a horse that's strong and has a sensitive mouth? I would really appreciate your help. Thank you!
Have you considered a hackamore? IME horses that are strong but sensitive like your mare go wonderfully with either a hackamore or "hack-a-bit" combo. Often with these types a stronger bit only makes the horse more upset.
Well, back to what I was saying about barrel racing...
Have you maybe considered putting a noseband on the snaffle so when you pull there's light nose pressure too? I know these are typically western bits but these are the combos I use on mine if they get strong but still light enough going at Mach 5 which I will give the equivelance to jumping:
I would try her in a stright bar bit (like a mullen mouth) with a nice, think mouthpeice for her to grab onto. Sometimes strong horses are actually running away from pain so giving her a gentle bit may help.
If not, try her in a jointed eggbutt snaffle with a thin mouthpeice which is more severe than a thick mouthpeice.
I would also suggest a gag but if she is sensitive I would try to find something else first and use the gag as a last resource.
I just have to add because it drives me crazy when people say this.. thin mouthpieces are NOT necessarily harsher than thick mouthpieces! Horses have varying sizes of tongues and palates, if your horse has a thick tongue and/or low palate (like Casey), a thinner mouthpiece that fits your horses mouth will be less severe than a thicker one that hits the palate or tongue even when it is sitting in the horses mouth. With the bit in your horses mouth, peel aside your horses lips and see if it jabs into the palate.
I would get an experienced coach to evaluate you and your horse to see if you really do need a new bit or if it is a training problem, and then help you fix the training/bitting problem. I doubt it is actually a bitting problem, probably a training problem.
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