Bit Clanking Part 2

So I'll admit. There was a lot of panic involved, but we have two bits now that he can't clank. As his dentist had surmised, basically everything was better than his KK ultra double jointed loose ring. 

The first trial was my friend's Myler wide port loose ring, level 3. 

He was certainly better in that than the KK. His first reaction was confusion, I think. His normal pattern after putting a bit in was repeated clanking while I finished adjusting the bridle, possibly to go ahead and bang the involved teeth enough that they went numb. He spent a while trying to clank this one but couldn't seem to do it while standing still. He did still make movements with his mouth and pull the bit back with his tongue, especially during his usual times of expressing tension. But I didn't hear that metal on tooth sound. 

The first ride in it was magical. He was seeking the contact and steady and soft. The second ride this faded a little bit. By the third ride I felt just like he was in his old bit. Our biggest struggle is always during warm up. His first reaction, at least with me on his back, is to hollow above the contact. JV had me ignoring this entirely and focusing on forward. I never timed it exactly, but it felt like a solid ten minutes before he would soften his topline. Eventually JV did have us adding leg yields early on to get that softness sooner. This seems to be a me thing though because when EM rode him, he would be soft and lovely over his back from the get go. 

Based on his response to the first bit, I tried a Myler level 2 D ring comfort snaffle next. My friend who loaned me the first bit and I both thought that moving away from the loose ring might help with stability/preventing flipping the mouth piece back. 

Myler D comfort snaffle with low port (level 2 mouthpiece)

You can see the forward curve to the mouthpiece here 

I texted the picture to his dentist after our first few rides in it. She commented the port was wider than she liked and that the bit itself was too wide for his mouth (it was a 5"). She then sent me a link to a Myler D comfort snaffle (level 1 mouthpiece). 

Basically the same bit, but without a port, and I ordered it in a 4.75". 

Normal tongue

Tongue drawing the bit back to try to get it to his teeth

This is now our jumping bit. He feels very similar in the contact to me in the level 1 as he did in the level 2, so I took the word of his dentist and went with it, especially because it was the correct size. 

I did experiment with one more bit that has turned into our dressage bit. Trying to go back to having both a dressage and jumping bit was inspired by Gray Flannel Horses comment on my original post that some horses need their bit changed every few rides because their mouth gets irritated by the bit. So I picked up a Bomber's Happy Tongue at Tack Shack. 

He feels quite nice/steady in the contact in this bit the majority of the time. But he's still very, very busy with his mouth in both. His reaction to tension or pressure is to open his mouth and wiggle the bit with his tongue even though he can't clank it anymore. 

I'm not sure though if that's a training issue or a bit issue at this point. Interestingly, I did a semi one rein stop when turkeys rattled behind us in the woods on a hack and he wanted to sprint away from them. His reaction was to fling his head quite high in a way that made me think the bombers bit is quite a bit sharper to him than his prior double jointed loose ring. Bombers does have a few more interesting options, but I'd have to explore those through avenues other than Tack Shack so I could try and return if needed.