I need a strong bit

[Sassymygirl]

I have a tennessee walker and he is the kind of horse that thinks he can do what he wants, I use a loose ring snaffle (I know it's not strong enough) And when I gallop full speed he never wants to stop! I takes me about 5 minutes to stop him! What kind of bit would you recommend?

 

[Cara]

More training not more bit.

 

[snewman]

I second that. A horse that runs through his current bit will continue that behavior no matter what bit you use. It will just become more dangerous for him, as some of the more severe bits can cause pretty serious damage to his mouth. Behavior modification is the key.

 

[Joyryder]

How do you evetually stop him? By circling? Do you have a fenced in area to work in? I would switch to natural horsemanship hackamores. Pressure points would probably work better. Does he stop in all the other gaits? If not you have to work on it, at every gait for your own safety. He's got more GO than WHOA, and nothing will stop him, unless he listens to you and that's training.

 

[Catstar68]

Lunge him before you go out on a ride. I always rode my TW/arab with a pelham and a curb strap.....depending on how he was behaving that gave me options. I agree though, he sounds like he needs some more training. How old is he?

 

[Akane]

No you need better hands and transition work. Any horse should be able to ride in a plain o or d ring snaffle. Any horse I don't care what they are used for. There are plenty of reasons to move on to other bits but lack of training is not one of them. A "stronger" bit is merely a bit that gives signals faster and clearer. It should not be a bit that forces a horse to do something it isn't trained to do.

Go do transition work. Walk 5 steps. Stop for 5 seconds. Walk 5 steps. Stop. Trot. Walk. Stop. Walk. Trot. Stop.... Around and around and around for as long as it takes every day until he listens. If you can't accomplish that you need to enlist the help of a trainer not a new bit.

 

[MaggieRae]

I agree on the more training, you shouldn't use your bit to stop a horse. I can ride my horse w/o hands on the reins and he'll stop the second he feels me slowing down. He doesn't always want to, but he does. I could probably ride him w/o a bridle at all, but I keep it for emergencies. I know the lady who had him before me used a strong bit, and he had behavior problems.

 

[horsejody]

Training, training, training. Start from the beginning. Do ground work to establish the basics, trust and your position of benevolent leader. Then work on more training under saddle. Gimmicks won't work. Stronger bits to solve problems are just gimmicks that can create new problems.

 

[patandchickens]

First, when a horse pulls through or 'ignores' the bit in a running-away fashion, it is nearly always because either a) you are giving conflicting/confusing/contrary signals with the rest of your body and aids, or b) he is in pain, from the bit or from the saddle or from the way you are riding him or from some other cause. Or both of course. (If he pulls through or ignores the bit without actually going fast, just not actually stopping, another possibility is that nobody has ever really TAUGHT him what the bit means).

Thus, normally the best solution to needing a strong bit is to keep your current bit and get a strong RIDING INSTRUCTOR, who can identify whatever problems you and/or your horse are having that are causing him to be uncomfortable or think he's supposed to go faster.

In the mean time, a horse that is not easily controllable should not ever be encouraged or allowed to "gallop full speed" (or in fact gallop at all). That is just making the problem worse. You need slow relaxed work to get both of you on the same wavelength and get him happy in his body and mind.

Good luck, have fun, please get help with him as too many horses end up ruined this way,

Pat

 

[twentynine]

I was taught a whoa exercise a few weeks ago.

Bit and reins, from a standing start, begin walk, whoa, pull back on rein hold pressure and increase pressure until the horse stops, the instant he stops release pressure. It is very important to release the pressure the instant he stops. I repeat the exercise until the horse stops with a whoa and very slight pressure.

It has worked very well on my horse. Now a slight tug or a slight pull on the rein will stop him.

However we have not progress past a fast walk.