VCBH: Hardware, Mouth Edition

Time for yet another blog hop courtesy of L. Williams.  This week she asks for us to tell her about the bit we ride our monsters in, and why.

I've liked reading everyone's responses so far, because there are so many different bits/disciplines/schools of thought represented.  I've always operated under the "no need to be harsh, but I need it to work" mind frame and it's worked for me so far.  I do try to use "soft" bits however if a horse is blowing through me, the happy mouth has gotta go.  Since Molls has a few different set ups I figured I'd share them all :)

Main Schooling Bits

Dressage: 

Our main dressage bit is a single jointed Baucher.  I forget what the exact brand is, I've had it for so long, but Molls likes it, and so do I so that's good enough for us.  It allows a slight amount of leverage so I'm able to get her to a lighter place than I can with a plain old D/eggbut yet we're still being dressage legal.

Hunter Pony Flatting:

This is one of my favorite bits to hack almost any horse in.  The slow twist gives a little more "hey, I'm up here" than a smooth snaffle yet it's still a very mild bit, especially in soft hands.  I also find horses have a harder time hanging on this bit, which is always good.

Wild Horse Activities:

This is Mollie's XC/going off property/I think she's going to be bad bit.  Again, when I ride with soft hands with slack in the curb rein it's essentially a plain old snaffle.  But when Molls decides she doesn't have to slow down when approaching a large XC fence I have a little leverage on my side and can sit that heifer on her ass.  I also use this bit frequently when going off property (ahem, long trail rides) where Mollie is certain she's in a race.

Serious "Get Shit Done" Bits

So anyone familiar with this blog knows that I sometimes ride Molls in a double.  Once I have her back in regular work (only 20 school days left!!) she'll probably go in the double more often than not, but for now I reserve it for clinics/more serious dressage schools.  Our current bit situation is a plain eggbut snaffle and a Weymouth bit with a wide port because Mollie seems to be more comfortable with that fit.

Wide Port Weymouth:

Molls in her Get-Up: 

That about sums it up!  I guess it looks like a lot of bits, but considering I've had her for 13 years I think it's a pretty minimalist list.