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I’m pretty simple when it comes to my tack I use for training. No gimmicks, nothing fancy. Just good useable stuff that will last. If it wasn’t for Chris all my stuff would be be pretty darned ugly. She makes sure she buys some stuff that got a little pretty to it. And she can look at stuff that is a relatively new design and see the practical applications.

When it comes to bits I’m about as simple as they come. Never seeing much difference between a 9 dollar and a 90 dollar snaffle, my horses get made in a 9 dollar snaffle. I’ll do a little work on smoothing them up and such, but if it’s got the features I want then it’s good enough for me. My shank bits are the same designs you could probably find in a 1950’s catalog. Most of them being some type of snaffle/flexible mouthpiece. I’ve had the pleasure of riding a few horses that could truly carry a solid mouthpiece bit but as far as I’m concerned they are few and far between. Horse has to be very advanced for a solid mouthpiece in my mind.

But at the horse fair Saturday I met with Dave Robart. Dave is a trainer and bit designer. Seems everybody these days is a bit designer so that didn’t catch my eye right off. I went and watched one of the clinic demonstrations he had and liked what I saw in his methods and philosphy. So that meant it was time to hunt him down and challenge him.

I had intended on getting after him right away…”so what makes your bits any better than the others?” But when I got to his booth he enthusiastically grabbed one of his bits and said “try this out!” So we went about talking bits. And I liked what I saw. Hard for me to explain but basically the bits are made to swivel and pivot making the “pinchless”. My first impressions weren’t too much concerned about pinching but I really like the way the bit allowed you to really work one side freely from the other. Overall they are very well constructed with nice fit and finish.

So I bought one of his snaffle. It was around 37 bucks which these days is really a good price. Of course for me 37 dollars for a snaffle bit might as well be a wheelbarrow full of money. And he does give a 100% money back no questions guarntee. So I figured I couldn’t lose.

So Sunday I tried it on my “tough cases”. Ginger is a 3 year old mare that has been a challenge for me with her head tossing at times and resistance to the bit. She is just such a darned nice filly that it really bothered me. Parker is a TWH that came to us by way of a boarder who didnt pay their bills. He was started by a young “trainer” in a nylon halter. Which can be ok but thats basically what he kept him in. So he had to be restarted with the snaffle like an unbroke colt.

Well Dave isn’t getting his bit back. I really like it. Both horses seemed to make very big improvements right off the bat. Even Brandy, who works very well in any old snaffle bit, seemed more comfortable.

I talked with Dave about his shanked bits, which are also impressive. He suggested his “reiner” bit as a good next step up from the snaffle. So I’ll be ordering one from him to use on our “shanked” horses.

I still don’t believe in magical bits. All the magic has to come from the rider and horse. But I can see where maybe if I was a little more open minded about stuff things might get done a little quicker.

We went to the Northern Illinois Horse Fair last Saturday. I went for basically one reason, to talk with Tommy Garland, a trainer from Va. The reason being is I’d seen him a few times on RFD-TV a while back and he demonstrated some of his techniques for tying a horse around in the round pen.

I’ve said before I’m not much for ground work. I do enough to get the colts where they handle and all that but don’t really work any groundwork program. Basically get them where they’ll do a few things colts need to do…handle their feet, lead, tie, get in the trailer, stuff like that. But that said, I do like working them in the round pen when they’re checked up. It really seems to help them get the idea and makes it a little safer first time I swing a leg over em. Helps the more advanced horses get their softness and some collection a little easier than can be done from the saddle.

Anyways, I got to talk to Tommy and we were pretty much in agreement on the things we do. But he deigned a halter/bridle rig that we bought that is really working out great. It’s basically a leather halter with browband like a bridle. The neat thing is it has rings and straps for the bit which makes it so you can snap the bit on and off in about a second. It’d be really great for trail riding if you had to stop and tie the horses. Just unsnap the bit and you got a halter. I hate seeing people ride with a halter under their bridles. This rig takes care of that.

The nicest thing that sold me on it is I can snap my check lines to the haltler part, through the bit and check up the young ones. This way they feel most of the pressure on the halter part (which they already understand real well), but still feel the bit some as they work things out. Right now I’ve got 4 colts that need to be started . This is going to help me out a bunch.

The rig cost me a 100 bucks. That made me cringe. But turns out it’s been worth every penny to me. And it’s really built well so should last a lifetime.