Nope.
She wasn't too irritable about the bridling (she loves halters, but not bridles), which was a good thing, but as soon as I had adjusted all the straps and was preparing to mount up, she started mouthing it.
She yawned a lot, she rooted, she gaped, she resisted anything except what she wanted to do, and overall was just a huge pain to deal with.
Lady is sensitive and leans towards the Arabian "hot" temperament, but this was beyond her normal antics. She stepped on my foot twice while I was getting on. She was anxious, nervous, and antsy. All of her reactions were bigger. She usually tosses her head when we go through a patch of grass that had grasshoppers, but she was so bad that I lost a rein several times due to her flipping her nose and tossing it over an ear or something.
Actually, the worst thing to me was the fact that I had little to no brakes. I know I tend to be light on the reins when I've put a bit on, but "light" was out the window. She was not focused at all.
I would chock it up to a bad day, except for the fact that she was lovely up until I got the bridle on.
Loose Ring Snaffle - Definitely not the bit for Lady.
It may not be the bit...It could just be the fact that she's not used to it :) My guy Toby used to throw the world's biggest hissy fit when I would put a bit on...until I just turned him out into the arena with it on for him to figure out and THEN once he was used to it I used a halter under the bridle to 'back-up' what I was saying. There's also a way to ride and use the bit that helps them to want to 'mouth' it, which is something you really, really want. Lightly wiggling it and really focusing on having them soften their poll (not their neck or their body their POLL.) by wiggling the bit and helping them 'wiggle' their poll also really helps, or so I've found :)))
ReplyDeleteI also prefer a D-Ring snaffle over a loose ring...I've found that the loose ring tends to pinch the sides of their mouth :))
DeleteThanks for the tip!! I do know her reactions and personality well enough to know that I need to find a different bit to try. I really do want to try a D-ring, or full cheek or something like that and see if it helps, but I think the fact that she doesn't have a big mouth plus the action of the single joint is uncomfortable for her. :)
DeleteI was going to say, I wonder if the loose ring pinched her?
ReplyDeleteI think that is very possible, and I'm not throwing in the towel on the single-jointed snaffle just yet. I do want to try a D-ring at the very least and see if it helps :)
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