Cantering ponies and changes ahead

Had a great few rides on both Indy and Radar, working on my cantering and their straightness and throughness.  Indy in the curb, although not ideal, is great because he can get all stretchy and relaxed in a way he doesn't in the snaffle.  He really does have a fun canter even though his stride is HUGE, he's rhythmic enough that it's totally rideable.  I'll be really sad if he goes back to his owner soon... he's fun and I love his personality.  Had a good few rides on Radar, who is in such a better place than he was last year! He actually has a left lead canter that is easy to get! He is fun, too, now.  So I'm in a good place horse-wise, but sad that I don't know how long it will last.  I'm not to good with trusting new horses, so if another lesson horse comes into the mix... we'll see.

In the meantime, I'm bringing out my camera on Friday and hopefully will have some good shots of me on Indy.  I really want some to remember him by if he does end up leaving.  When Ghost was put down a few years ago, I realized how few pictures I actually have recently and realized I need to rectify that.

Bitting up and relaxing down

So I've naively thought for a while that less bit = better for the horse.  Thinking back on it, a majority of the horses I've ridden have been in snaffle bits.  I encountered a few stronger bits (a double-twisted wire, for example) in college at the hunter barn I rode at, but I think those were mainly for the benefit of the tiny lesson kids.  But snaffles have been the default bit overall.

This is changing.  Indy likes to brace and hollow.  And got forbid you get him long and low with a snaffle.  But for some reason, using the curb bit... he figures out that he can actually stretch and everything changes.  It's funny to think that I at least need a slightly stronger bit to achieve more relaxation... but it is what it is.  And everything changes once he gets his head down! Wasn't even the same trot at all.  So that was an interesting revelation for the week and made me think about the expectations we have of what is "best" for individual horses.