This is a spinoff of the last pelham thread, I didn't want to digress too far on that thread itself...
For a horse with a very small mouth, thick tongue, etc. who likes the pelham--precisely because of the mullen mouth, what do you use? He goes quite nicely on just the snaffle rein of the pelham--really exceptionally, as a matter of fact. My next experiment is to find out if he goes that well on the snaffle rein with the curb strap taken completely off... or if somehow there's some engagement of the curb even when I have the curb reins tied up... He has 'lipstick' even in the pelham--not nervous foam, not drippy drool, but the light bit of foam that is the outward sign of the fact that he's actually chewing and swallowing. (I once had him steal a mouthful of grass on the way to the ring--and to my horror, at the end of the ride the grass was still right in the middle of his mouth--not tucked in his cheek or anything, but clenched right there...
)
I've tried an HS and Happy Mouth mullen, both are much thicker than the very old german silver pelham, definitely too thick. They are also both loose rings, and this horse has NEVER liked looserings. I have a bid in on Ebay for an eggbutt mullen with a fairly thin mouth... would I expect it to be as well tolerated as the pelham?
His 'regular' bit is a JP Fullcheek, but the difference between that and the pelham is fairly dramatic. He very much prefers the way a fullcheek hangs without keepers. Which tells me (I *think*
) it's the pallatte pressure that bothers him... I wish I could find an arched fullcheek mullen... I think that would be the ticket... or a metal mullen Baucher perhaps? I've thought of getting my hands on a pelham and taking it to a welding shop and seeing if they can't 'make' it a baucher...
Has anyone tried the comfort mouth Myler? The mullen barrell? Neue Schule should have 'legal' versions of these coming out soon...
The problem is, once you feel the DIFFERENCE... it's difficult to accept anything less than the comfort and relaxation they find in something that works... now the trick is to translate that into something legal...
