Hether help- pelham question

[lamprellsarah]

I have decided to try a pelham, just because I find myself fiddling with the reins when I ride, I find my horse tends to stick her head out and pull me, and when I try to establish a proper contact, she falls back a pace!! also i have a very light contact anyway!!
After riding your book like non stop I though I may as well give it a try, I am going to get a mullen mouth one with rubber but you said not (vulcanite) urm what type is this?? Is it this type??
I am going into a shop tomorrow and I hope that I will be able to take it back if it makes matters worse!!!

[Sarah]

hi Sarah,

I'm not Heather by any means, but I hope this will help!

Vulcanite is a sort of hardened rubber that feels like plastic.

The type of thing Heather is talking about is a mullen mouth bit that has been covered with rubber - it is still very 'squidgy' to the touhg, but has the hard metal bar under the rubber. A soft metal mullen mouht bit is totally flexible, and if your horse is anything like mine, the horse will bite through it or totally ignore it.

You want a bit that you can't bend, but that has give to it if you poke it.

I think Dublin make a suitable one.

I hope that helped (and that I wasn't talking rubbish!)

bye!

[heland]

I think I have the same problem as you lamprellsarah. My horse either leans on the bit or evades it. He also pulls his head out as well as down, so I find myself adjusting the reins.

I did mention to someone today about buying a pelham and they said it was the worst thing I could do. Infact I don't listen to alot of people as most of them think I'm wasting my time with this horse.

I am also reading Heather's book.....making notes and practising the next day. I'm finding alot of what I'm doing is working already but he still leans on the bit.

He hadn't seen a dentist for 8 years until I bought him and his mouth was in a terrible state, actually the dentist is due out again next Thursday so I might ask for his opinion.

[ros]

A risk of being labelled a fanatic, I'd just like to say that a hard rubber Pelham has got to be one of the nicest bits around (sensibly used, of course).

The mouthpiece itself is very kind, not too bulky, with a bit of give due to the rubber, not cold to the touch, no nutcracker action... If you try it first with an elastic curb it can't do any harm, and in any case with two reins (an absolute must) you can choose whether or not you activate the curb action. I'm sure there are odd horses who really don't take to it, but the majority certainly seem to.

Actually, I do think that this would be quite a good bit for riding schools to use on their horses. Used for beginners with one rein attached to the snaffle ring, the horses wouldn't suffer so much from novice hands, and the mouthpiece would be the same as the horses are always used to. Used with two reins it would be great for introducing more experienced riders to double reins, and you could use the elastic curb just in case. And of course, because it's a bit that lots of horses like, they'd probably go a lot better in it, so learners could get much better feelings than they do when they ride horses that stick their noses in the air, go hollow and resist all the time.

[Heather]

Thanks Ros for that very good reply, which I am not going to add anything to as I don't need to!

Heather

[lamprellsarah]

i was about to say that, yeah thanx very helpful borrowing a normal one, and if she goes OK i am out to buy the happy mouth one!!!

and i think i cn be trusted although i would really like a EE instructor, but i don't have the money :( plus too far away :( so i will stick to reading your book heather like religiously!!

[Bebe]

I've got the totally flexible rubber one and find that my horse is okay with it. There are a couple of teeth marks on it so I expect it won't last very long. At some point I'll get a hard rubber one (Robinsons sell them if you can brave their mail order, otherwise it seems that rubber covered is the description used by most tack shops).

I was having a conversation with a died in the wool BHS type at the weekend and after much discussin she said that she can appreciate why I'm using the pelham and that she has been told, and read, that the pelham is a bit liked by a lot of horses but she's never actually believed it until now. I still get asked why I'm using a pelham, and most people look at me like I'm mad if I suggest it (one girl on our yard as an ex-racing TB with no schooling at all. She said she wanted to change her bit as she doesn't like the gag it goes in now and when I suggested a pelham she flat out refused as it was a strong bit. What's a gag then??). Still, not everyone is opposed to it.

Amanda

[cvb]

Many years ago I rode my gymkhana pony in a pelham for a while, and she quite liked it.

From what I've read the 'problem' is that in trying to combine a double bridle into one bit, the action becomes very confused. Its is neither a snaffle nor a curb, but something in between.

In american style bits you then get a jointed pelham turning up, which confuses the action even more.

That said, some horses/ponies really seem to like them.

But the other factor seems to be that the rider has certain expectations and so rides differently. They feel more confident that they CAN stop, they may expect the horse to be more 'dressagey' and ride to anticipate this. Which tends to end up as a self-fulfilliny prophecy, i.e. that overall the horse goes better and fulfills their expectations, so the rider calms down even more and things get even better.

Still, if it works, do we really mind so much why ?

I also remember reading that John Whitaker rode with a pelham when he was a boy and so HAD to develop good hands.

You do need to ride sympathetically with them. With a very forward going pony, they can just curl up behind the bit and then you are back to having no control whatsoever.

The severity depends on the curb you use - single chain, double chain, leather, rubber, elastic.

[lamprellsarah]

the other day, i was talking to my friend, and has a 7 yr old, she leant me the pelham, and i said r u not using it, she said no only for more brakes x country.
i was watching her daughter ride ina a snaffle, and she was sawing on his mouth to get him down i said why not use the pelham!!??
she said oh no thats way to severe, and this is how she's been taught to get him down on the bit!!!!
i was shocked, i asked if she has read heathers book, which she turned her nose up at!!

[ros]

I'm not sure I understand why a Pelham should be much more confusing than a double, provided you use two reins with it. And with a double the poor old horse has TWO bits jangling around in his mouth. So what's the problem?

CVB - I understand what you're saying, but from another perspective, in my own case I really do think the Pelham was the first bit which actually allowed me to use my hands as I'd always wanted to use them. I totally agree with you about jointed Pelhams - I can't see the point of those.

As far as curling back behind the bit goes, I think perhaps sometimes we worry too much about that. If you use the curb too strongly you'll get that effect, but some trainers don't seem to mind the horse overbending a little to begin with as long as it's just a transitional phase and not because the rider is too strong.

[Mehitabel]

a pelham is traditionally viewed as confusing because, with a double bridle, the "snaffle" bit has a raising action and the curb bit has a lowering effect through the poll action. so a single bit trying to do both these things is seen as a contradiction, as with a double bridle you can use the bits seperately. petal much prefers a double to a pelham, i tried her in a double and several pelhams when making the transition to double reins, which you need for open showing classes. in all the pelhams she really backed off the bit and got me in the nose with the back of her head a couple of times, but went really sweetly in the double and still goes really well in it. personal preference, (well, equine preference) at the end of the day!

[ros]

Yes, I've read the book definition, but the trouble is that some of these ill-brought-up horses don't seem to be so well-read as their human companions!

In all seriousness Es, I'd be interested to know whether you tried the hard rubber Pelham on your mare? (I fully expect you did.) It would seem that some horses that do take to the rubber version still don't like the metal Pelham, and I'd love to know what Heather's views on that are.

[lamprellsarah]

hmm my mare didn't take too kindly to the pelham, i kept having problems with 2 reins one ended up tight then the other one ended up lose, trying to get a happy meduim was very hard, she was a bit confused too, and backed off the contact.
even if i dropped my reins she had her head tucked in and went slower!!.
so maybe i won't be getting it, but i put her back in her myler snaffle, and she went better in it, after using the pelham!!

[Mehitabel]

i tried hard rubber, soft rubber, metal, french link rugby, hard rubber rugby, and a happy mouth. i didn't think she was really ready for the double, and was hoping to use the french link rugby and ride off the snaffle rein, as she wasridden in a french link snaffle anyway. i'd have liked to have done novice classes for the year, but she was 8 and judges tend to think you're a pothunter! i mean, i know she's had 2 foals and 3 years off sick, but they don't believe you. but we're both very happy in the double, and it looks better than any of the pelhams did, which is another consideration for showing.