I have an 8 year old gelding who I have had since he was two. He is a quarter horse and tends to be heavy on the forehand. Besides being heavy on the forehand, he has a fairly light mouth and is responsive to my aids. I have always ridden him in a loose ring snaffle because he didn’t give me much reason to want to try anything else. But as he got older and we started jumping bigger, I realized I needed a little more bit in his mouth. So a friend suggested I try her Mikmar D-Ring.
At first glance, I wanted nothing to do with the bit. It took a lot of convincing on her part for me to agree to try it. I first walked my horse around for a couple of minutes and he was chewing a bit, and seemed a little confused. As we got further into our flat work, he started to accept the bit and go into a nice little frame. I liked that I could still feel his mouth but he was not pulling on me or rooting. So far, I have to say I was impressed.
The next day, I used the bit in my lesson over fences. I had much better control through my course and he did not dive into the corners like he usually does. I was hooked! I do not think Mikmars are for every horse, and I know of a couple of people who’s horses hated them but I do recommend trying them to anyone who is thinking about it!
Ashley Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/equestrian-articles/mikmar-bits-1004061.html