> I'm not sure. If you were to lay it across your palm, how would it > sit in your hand? How does the balance of this bit allow it to lay > naturally without any rein pressure? I wonder how the balance of this > bit would translate into how it sits in a horses mouth. > > I have no experience with Icelandic bits and am curious.
It's not an Icelandic bit at all. http://www.sustainabledressage.com/tack/bridle.php#pessoa The mechanics is different between this bit and the Icelandic bit. This puts strong pressure behind the ears and only after a while starts putting pressure in the mouth (meaning the mouth piece starts turning, of course the pressure from pulling the reins is there all the time and the fact that bridle is pulling "the other end" makes this pressure harder). And without the curb chain (sometimes this bit is also used with one) there is nothing that stops the bit from turning. The icelandic bit starts affecting the mouth immediately because the part in the mouth starts turning the same time pressure is put on the rein but it doesn't put pressure behind ears the same way because the bridle is fastened at the level of mouth piece (and not above it) and the bridle slides on the ring when the bit turns. (Did I make any sense? Probably not...) I've ridden with this kind of bit once, in a riding school. I felt I could not keep my hand soft enough to do justice to the pony I was riding (a welsh part bred). The scary thing was that this particular bit was used so that children could control the pony. And with smooth riding there were no problems with controlling the pony so it was used to correct behaviour that was caused by poor riding. So unfair for the pony. I didn't take very many riding lessons there. Krisse
