First Crack at Training A + Bit Clanking part 3

Butterball and I went to a fix-a-test with Susan Graham-White at Majestic a couple of weeks ago. We signed up for Training Test A. In spite of being nowhere near ready for training level XC and stadium, I felt like challenging us with the training level dressage test (lengthenings and transitions at the letters instead of between letters being the only real differences). 

Inspired by Emma, I tried to take plenty of pics around the event because I knew we wouldn't have any from the ride itself. He got a bath beforehand and it was just chilly enough to be able to put his BOT sheet on after

It turned out to be a wildly productive day, more so than I knew going into it. We warmed up for about ten minutes and then went into the test. He was lovely for all of the trot work, and, as per usual, the canter work kinda sucked, especially relatively speaking. 

After informing Susan that her generous interpretation that the canter work sucked today was incorrect and that the canter work actually sucks every day, she asked me to try something. 

Side note, I've been on such a freaking journey with this horse's canter. When we first met JV he was so deeply behind my leg that we had to fix that before doing anything else. Then we stopped seeing JV and spent 5 months on our own with a forward but hollow horse. Me afraid of pulling him into the contact and getting him behind my leg again. He goes forward from a light touch and has impulsion now (he carries himself forward without me nagging), but that's it.  

Anyways, Susan had me using the inside rein to generate a "space" in his neck, lifting the hand higher and even at one point crossing it over the neck to demonstrate to him just how serious I was about inside bend. The outside hand moved slightly away from the neck to give him a space to move his shoulders into, but didn't get completely dropped. And oh wow, what a difference that made. He was instantly more supple and soft and through. We've been playing with that since then, keeping reaction first in our minds, and I think we're on the right track. I'll break the pivo back out soon to document some of this. 

For the canter lengthenings on the circles, she had me think of starting a stretchy circle, but only letting him out one notch of the reins. That's the feeling, lengthen the frame and stride, try to avoid letting him fall on  his face. 

Hi, yes, I'm really cute

She said at the end that his mouth was gaping open during the canter work. I told her our saga with bits and also told her about my flash trial. JV had recommended a flash to prevent the gaping. When I told him Butterball hated flashes, JV said it didn't need to be tight at all, just needed to prevent a wide open mouth. I had tried the flash the ride prior to the fix-a-test, and it did NOT go well. I could fit three fingers stacked on top of each other between the flash and his jaw. So it really only came into play when he opened his mouth wide. But he felt it while I was tacking up and was mad. I could feel him re-discover it every half-circle or so while we were working and then be mad all over again. About 75% of the way through a 50 minute ride, unintentionally that long, he finally gave up and softened nicely. I'm not sure that a flash is the right answer though, and I haven't bothered trying again since then. Susan wasn't insistent on a flash either, but she did say boundaries were a good thing sometimes. She also caveated that she didn't know us well enough to know if the flash was the answer. She recommended that if I was going to keep going with the flash, pair putting it on with a peppermint, which seemed wise, since he'd gotten mad even before I got on his back. 

Susan ended by saying that if we got the canter work to the level of the trot work we would be winning everything. Kind words for sure. 

Snax before the fix a test

There was the option to work with a bit fitter, Michelle Ryan-Schwartz who is a HS Certified Bit Fitter, afterwards. I don't know enough about the bit bitting world to know if coming from a specific brand means the same thing as in saddle fitting, and we did only try HS brand bits, but she was incredibly helpful, so who am I to judge. While I hadn't planned on trying out bits since we've fixed the clanking, I was prompted by Susan's comments to at least give it a go. We tried 5 or 6 different bits while the fitter and the clinic organizer (also a dressage judge) watched. Which meant I got both of their expertise.

I immediately vetoed the double jointed that was very similar to his prior bit that he clanked so aggressively. 

But we did try 

And this; I didn't know HS is the company that makes nathe bits. 

This one ended up being the winner. We put it in with latex bit wrap on it, so when she ordered the bit, she ordered a roll of bit wrap as well. 

TBH I don't remember his response to each bit. I wish I did. But we were all chatting in between and watching and chatting with riders coming in for the fix-a-test. And our pony participation meter was definitely a bell shaped curve. He generally gets quieter in his mouth the longer he goes, which was true for this ride/day as well. But then he started asking WTF was going on and how many more times was he going to have his bridle taken off and then put back on and then be asked to go trot and canter again. Which was a totally fair question. I kinda was too. Since it was a spur of the moment addition to our day, neither myself nor Ms. GY were completely prepared for the additional 1.5 hours of time. But the fitter and organizer were incredibly generous with their time and had a number of useful thoughts on the matter.  

About two weeks later, I had the bit in hand. 

My attempt at sorting out exactly how far back he would be able to pull it. I think the key here is that the single joint means the middle can pull back, but the outer edges that could get near his teeth cannot. 

My conclusion was that it wasn't a lot especially because this is a 4.5" so fits more tightly in his mouth than the myler I had been using 

Next follows a confession. We ordered bit wrap because they had wrapped it during our trial. $26 for a roll. I watched a video, but it wasn't the exact same type of bit wrap. So I spent an embarrassingly long time trying to get the wrap to stick while it was still attached to the thin cottony layer that keeps it from permanently adhering to itself in the box. Wow guys. Somebody gave me a doctorate at some point. 

Anyways, once I took the cotton layer off, I got the bit wrapped. 

While he definitely still opened his mouth some, he was overall quieter. He also felt much straighter and steadier in the contact and his body. Which is weird because I spent a while feeling the single joint in my hands and playing with it and wondering how on earth it wasn't inherently uneven because one side is longer than the other to put the joint in the center. I still don't have an answer. But it seems he can't clank this bit either, so while the myler hasn't been relegated to the tack trunk yet, I think this bit is an improvement. 

As stated above, the pivo will be coming out at some point soon, and we'll see how busy he is. If he's still gaping at times mayyyyyybe I'll revisit the flash. But even though it was FAR from cranking his mouth shut, I hate to do things that he so clearly hates since he's generally the most agreeable dude. 

I'm also a little surprised that I managed to go through so many bit trials in December and January without trying a single jointed bit and/or realizing what it is about the single jointed shape that would prevent clanking.