All righty. My horse, Jay, is by no means a Western horse. He can walk, jog, and lope (English/Ranch [in-between] style) with a Western saddle and bridle. But we mostly jump and do English anyway. However, when I do ride or show Western, like in AQHA or 4H, Jay is a little hard to steer, like I can't "control" him, even two handed. I think it is because for English, he is used to a D-Ring slow twist, yet in Western, I use a very basic "full cheek" broken bit (proper terminology? I'll post a picture tomorrow as I can't remember the name...). When we first bought him, I used a plain full cheek snaffle for English (yet I could not steer him, like he is in Western now). I can ride him one-handed, loose-reined all day and not have an issue with him listening to my hand and neck rein with his D-Ring snaffle. I'm asking:
Should I try a different bit? If so, which one? (and if so, what about one legal in AQHA and 4H?)
Would there be a legal 6 y/o + bit with the same effect as the D-ring twisted snaffle?
Would there be anything I could do to increase responsiveness if not?
Should I try a different bit? If so, which one? (and if so, what about one legal in AQHA and 4H?)
Would there be a legal 6 y/o + bit with the same effect as the D-ring twisted snaffle?
Would there be anything I could do to increase responsiveness if not?