New Toys
Sometimes, you just need a change of equipment.
This is Dino's "regular" bit, a plain D-Ring Snaffle. It's a pretty basic, gentle bit. (Tip: Get your bits squeaky clean by running them through the dishwasher! But wait until your husband is in a reaaaallly good mood to tell him you did this.)
He does just fine in this bit for the most part, but he tends to take advantage of the straight, solid, single-jointed mouthpiece at times. Because of its shape, he can get a REALLY good hold on this bit and just lean away into my hands, therefore avoiding actually using his body and doing any sort of real work. He's a pony. This is what he does.
Upon suggestion from Auntie Jen, we borrowed this little beauty from a friend of mine:
This, my friends, is a loose-ring Waterford. As you can see, instead of a solid mouthpiece, or one with only one or two joints, it's made up of a chain of little metal bubbles. The rings on either side are also not fixed in any way, so they slide freely through the last bubble. The construction of this bit makes it nearly impossible for a horse (or pony) to grab ahold and lean on it for balance, requiring them to use their strength to hold themselves and their rider up.
It pretty much blew Dino's mind.
After he figured out how to hold this wiggly thing in his mouth (Yes, buddy, you have to HOLD it not just LEAN on it) Dino did wonderfully with the Waterford. He was very polite, and responded beautifully when I asked him to go round and carry himself, and didn't lean on my hands! I've been alternating with the Waterford and his D-ring every other day, and overall Dino has been getting quite a bit lighter and more balanced, and is starting to carry himself more even when he has the 'option' to lean on the D-ring. I love new toys.
This is Dino's "regular" bit, a plain D-Ring Snaffle. It's a pretty basic, gentle bit. (Tip: Get your bits squeaky clean by running them through the dishwasher! But wait until your husband is in a reaaaallly good mood to tell him you did this.)
He does just fine in this bit for the most part, but he tends to take advantage of the straight, solid, single-jointed mouthpiece at times. Because of its shape, he can get a REALLY good hold on this bit and just lean away into my hands, therefore avoiding actually using his body and doing any sort of real work. He's a pony. This is what he does.
Upon suggestion from Auntie Jen, we borrowed this little beauty from a friend of mine:
This, my friends, is a loose-ring Waterford. As you can see, instead of a solid mouthpiece, or one with only one or two joints, it's made up of a chain of little metal bubbles. The rings on either side are also not fixed in any way, so they slide freely through the last bubble. The construction of this bit makes it nearly impossible for a horse (or pony) to grab ahold and lean on it for balance, requiring them to use their strength to hold themselves and their rider up.
It pretty much blew Dino's mind.
After he figured out how to hold this wiggly thing in his mouth (Yes, buddy, you have to HOLD it not just LEAN on it) Dino did wonderfully with the Waterford. He was very polite, and responded beautifully when I asked him to go round and carry himself, and didn't lean on my hands! I've been alternating with the Waterford and his D-ring every other day, and overall Dino has been getting quite a bit lighter and more balanced, and is starting to carry himself more even when he has the 'option' to lean on the D-ring. I love new toys.
Yay!
ReplyDeleteI just need to say that it's so refreshing to see someone that tries out new equipment thoughtfully, and actually addresses the underlying problems for why they're using other equipment in the first place. Far too many horse-people just take the approach of, "Throw a martingale/harsher bit/random contraption/obscure torture device on Fluffykins, because he needs it", instead of a) working on their horse's training or b) their own riding, and that makes me so grumbly. You do the opposite, as far as I can tell from everything I've read from you, and that makes me do happydances :D
Aw thank you Tory!! I really try.. and I believe most of our horses' 'problems' stem from us being sub-par riders and trainers!
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