Time To Go For A Pelham?

[Milliemoo]

Hi, my mare has not done very much schooling in her life, she is now 16yrs, we have had various problems since I got her last year. She has had recent physio etc and will now just lift her back for short periods in her treed saddle, I have and SBS on order and I hope this will make it easier for her to work, carry herself etc.
I ride her in a french link hanging snaffle, french for softness and hanging for the bit of extra brakes. I recently lent this to a friend and put her back in her loose ring french link, the bit she came with, thinking this was 'softer' and would not need the extra brakes in the school (haha). Anyway she did not go as well in it which suprised me, do you think it was the extra poll pressure that was causing her to put her head down, she did lift her back and not just tuck in her nose, I do not use a hard contact so was not just pulling her in.
Any ideas?
Also, i know the kimblewick and pelham are different but wondered if a kimblewick would be acceptable for schooling, I have one in the cupboard, Uttoxeter variety, so i could put two reins on it and give it a go but if it is so different to a pelham then there is no point.
ie no point in trying to acheive the results others do with the pelham if the basic tool is just not right.

[ros]

Well - personally I would say that provided 1) you view the Pelham as a means of asking for softnesss rather than a means of forcing an "outline", and 2) you're confident that you can feel the difference between a horse working correctly under you and one that is just fooling you by tucking its nose in, then trying your mare in either a Kimblewick or a Pelham won't do any harm.  I have to admit that I used to be one of those who objected to Kimblewicks on principle, but that was chiefly because lots of people tend to view them as a sort of lazy alternative to a Pelham in that they can get away with using one rein.  But then, lots of people view the Pelham as a lazy alternative to a double, and as I'm now a confirmed Pelham-lover I can't really uphold that particular argument any more  <_<   Besides which, horses don't seem to have the same preconceived ideas about bitting that we humans do, so if your mare takes to a curb bit, go for it!