I like the double jointed bits better than a mullen mouth. I found my horse went fine in a mullen mouth but eventually started leaning on it.

 

I ride my OTTB with an D ring French link snaffle. he does great with it =)

 

i think my choice on which bit would depend on how fresh off the track he is and how much re-training he's had.

from my research (i've never dealt with an OTTB, but have read much about them here on the forum), a racer is the 'grab the bit type'. i've watched many a race and they definitely brace against the bit too.

i think a mullen mouth would make all that easier for an OTTB to be a more difficult ride. with the french link, you have a broken mouthpiece that is harder for the horse to grab or brace against.

 

He was last raced in 2010, but has very little off track training. Leaning more towards french link. My trainer generally uses loose ring snaffles..

 

Take a look in his mouth before you decide. My TB has a high palate with plenty of room for the bit. She likes the French Link.

My other horse has a flat palate. Her tongue is pretty much sandwiched in between the upper and lower mouth. There is barely any room in there for a bit to fit! She hates the French link and most jointed bits and prefers the Mullen mouth.

Mouth Conformation and How to Assess it - HorseBitBank.com

 

Take a look in his mouth before you decide. My TB has a high palate with plenty of room for the bit. She likes the French Link.

My other horse has a flat palate. Her tongue is pretty much sandwiched in between the upper and lower mouth. There is barely any room in there for a bit to fit! She hates the French link and most jointed bits and prefers the Mullen mouth.

Mouth Conformation and How to Assess it - HorseBitBank.com

Its hard to guess though, I have a horse with a very low palette with hardly any room and he loves a French link. I'm curious to hear what other people say, I've heard a) a Mullen mouth gives good tongue relief and b) that a French link is good for a low palette. And I guess I've always assumed that a low palette and large tongue would go together.

And OP, both bits have loose rings, yeah?

 

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Here is an excerpt from a article of why one bit over another... the link for that article is on the bottom of the post...maybe it can help you to make a informed decision on what, where and why...

*A broken mouthpiece (single break) will enable the bit to work independently on each side of the mouth, which makes the design useful for teaching lateral bending. Again "if" it is accepted by the horse -- if he has a low palate, thick tongue or other mouth conformation that makes a single joint uncomfortable, it will not work to teach anything but resistance (again, with the nose out and head up)
*A double broken mouthpiece (french link) will avoid the roof poking problem and allow some horses to work more comfortably while learning lateral flexibility. However, this mouthpiece may be too busy for some horses and again produce the nose up, high head, resistance in them.
[/FONT]*A mullen design which forms a shallow arch over the tongue when the bit is carried correctly in the mouth does not allow as precise a signal for lateral flexibility training, but will work for horses that do not tolerate other types of snaffle bits. The mullen works more on the bars and lips than on the tongue, but does work on the tongue too. Pretty mild signal for any mouth, and it does encourage the horse to reach down and forward, even if he does not do that in any other snaffle bit. If you have a horse that fights in a regular snaffle, noses out and star gazes, the mullen may be more comfortable and may help him accept cues for head lowering and bending that he was too distracted to respond to in another more traditional snaffle.

Bits and Their Mechanics

I have also used The Bit Bank for reference many times when trying to find a comfortable bit for the horse to carry and work with.
Some in-depth descriptions of how bits really work, not what people think they do...and how parts of the bit {shape} and how they are "put together" makes the difference between nice and not-so-nice...

Here is some more reading for you ...
The Bits and their Action: Cheeks, Mouthpieces, Doubles - HorseBitBank.com

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We graduate all our horses out of mullens once they learn to take the bit and stretch down into the contact. Then they get French links and most do wonderfully and it really helps when working on their lateral flexion.

OP, if you liked the gelding in the French link, I say go with that. Over time with the Mullen you may find that bending becomes harder and will have to go to the French anyway.

Have fun with the new guy!

 

"When tension was applied to the reins, the mouthpiece pressed more deeply into the tongue, thereby causing the joint to move away from the palate. Single-jointed bits are usually described as having a nutcracker-like action, the implication being that when tension is applied to the reins, the angle between the arms of the mouthpiece closes and the joint is pushed toward the palate. In our study, any nutcracker effect that tended to push the joint toward the palate was more than offset by indentation of the tongue."

- Bitting: The Inside Story by Hilary M. Clayton, BVMS, PHD, MRCVS

http://horseproblems.com.au/Bits/USDF_Dec05.pdf

I like this guide to bits:

An Overview of Bits and Bitting
Dwight G. Bennett, DVM, PhD

http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaepfocus/2006/bennett1.pdf

It is always hard to predict what a horse will respond to well, so I usually recommend borrowing some bits first. If he is doing well in a french link eggbutt, I'd leave him in it.

 

I might just hold off on buying a bit for now and try him in a few. I think my trainer has a large collection I could borrow.

Thanks for all the input. I know very little about bits. I rode western before and always started horses in full cheek snaffles (single jointed) and then graduated to a mild curb.