May 24, 2014

VCBH: Bit It Up

One of the first things Austen commented on when she surprised me by making my Connor binder cover for 2014 was that he is wearing a different bit in almost every picture:


Which if you know us is actually funny, because we have switched bits very infrequently - maybe once every 8 months - since I've had him.  Our goal has always been to have him go in a loose ring French link snaffle, but based on what he needed at various times, that has changed.  Using the above cover as a guide:

Top center: August 2011, Welsh show: I hadn't even considered owning Connor yet, that's his breeder's bridle and D ring snaffle!

Bottom left:  June 2012, Dressage show.  I had had him for 7 months, and he was going in the Sprenger KK Ultra loose ring French link snaffle for the previous three months or so.  It was borrowed from my trainer as Nick had lost his job so I couldn't afford to buy one at the time, but I later bought one from Aimee.

Upper right (March 2013, clinic) and center (May 2013, GDHT): We were having a hard time turning left, so he's in a french link full cheek snaffle to help with steering, at the suggestion of semi-resident clinician CJF.

Bottom right: (August 2013, clinic): My trainer has a few clients going in the french link Baucher, so we gave that a try when she thought I needed a tiny bit more leverage and the full cheek was no longer necessary for turning assistance.  Our first lesson trialing it was crazy good.

Upper left:  (September 2013, lesson): After we had focused on straightness for a while and our Dressage work really started to progress, I decided to try the loose ring KK Ultra French link again.  The results were downright amazing, and he's been in it ever since.  We've come full circle!

Hopefully we can stay in the loose ring, it seems to suit him, but I'm not opposed to using other bits as training tools in the future.

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