I have noticed lately that she is not responding to the bit anymore

QUESTION:

My daughter has an 11-year-old Arabian that she started riding in 4H this year. She rides her with a regular snaffle bit but I have noticed lately that she is not responding to the bit anymore; she goes where she wants to go and doesn’t stop when she is asked to. She used to be very responsive to the bit she has always been ridden with. At my daughter’s judge’s evaluation, the judge told her that she needs to change her bit to get the horse to respond better. I was wondering what type of bit we needed to get for her now?

ANSWER: 

Hi Erika,

I use curb bits on horses that are beyond two years old. Snaffle bits are great for starting colts, and for returning from time to time to work on problems. However, for an 11-year old horse, he should have been in the bridle for nine years by now. You do not need anything extreme, just a short shank correction mouthpiece is fine. Thanks for the question and good luck…………………………………………… Mark