June 12, 2004
When Con has a good day, it's a really good day!
Today we tried him with a Myler bit. It is the MB33 ported barrel in a pony D, recommended by Dale Myler himself after talking with me about Con. I should use a curb to position it, but couldn't find one, so we tried it without. He did quite well, and did bring his nose in somewhat. A couple people were horrified that I would use this bit on a Thoroughbred off the track; one told me "it has no brakes". I still thought it was worth trying; Con has never had a tendency to pull or become very strong, and has always been responsive to the bit.
For more information on the bit, see http://www.toklat.com/myler/mbits_33.html. According to Mr. Myler, this bit is very gentle, and puts pressure on the bars rather than the tongue, encouraging the horse to bring his nose in. He said he wished every horse would go in this bit.
Most impressive, Con did a canter depart from a walk, on the correct lead, in what is for him the wrong direction. For my non-horsy friends, racehorses go mostly one way around the track, so they often have better muscle development and flexibility on one side than the other. This means they often have a much more difficult time working in the direction in which they are weak. Con did the canter depart twice, perfectly. It was the first time I had asked him for a canter since I have had him, in nearly a year.
Con followed this up with a trip to the river, where he followed Marge's horse in the water twice. Finally, I took him out by himself and asked him to go back in; and he did. We went farther up the river to a deeper place, and he crossed it willingly.
Pretty good for a "crazy Thoroughbred off the track", huh?
For pics of Con working, see the Photo Album.