Larry Trocha has a good evaluation and comment to say about the Billy Allen mouthpiece bit from his website. I have repeated it here: "The next bit in the sequence is my favorite transition bit. It’s a loose shank bit with what is called a “Billy Allen” mouthpiece. (Billy Allen was a top trainer who invented this mouthpiece many years ago. The design has stood the test of time as one of the best bits ever invented).What I like about this bit is that it gives the horse the “feel” of being ridden with a curb without scaring the horse. The reason why is because the Billy Allen mouthpiece moves and is flexible similar to a snaffle.The difference is, the Billy Allen mouthpiece has a "roller" that is molded over the middle joint. This roller "limits" the movement of the mouthpiece.
The horse gets the feel of a mouthpiece that is almost "solid" like a regular curb bit yet still has some "flex" to it.
This semi-solid mouthpiece gives you a lot of control without scaring or worrying the horse. Most horses love this bit and you can usually leave a horse in it for most of his training.
Most horses, I’ll ride with the 8” shanks. The super sensitive ones, I’ll ride with the 7” shanks.
This is also the primary bit I use to teach a horse to neck rein.
The loose shanks and flexibility of the mouthpiece allows me to use a direct rein to position the horse’s head before I apply the neck rein. It’s very easy and very effective. (You can see how I do this in my “Teach Your Horse to Neck Rein” video).
You can teach a horse a lot in the Billy Allen. And some horses work so well in it that you can keep them in it for years. However, most horses will eventually need to be moved up into a regular, solid-mouthpiece, curb bit."
I really like reading Larry's information. I like his stuff. I have his german martingale and most of his videos. I really like it. I like what he said about teaching a horse to neck rein. It is a really good bit for that too.
Next article... a good correction.
Questions and comments are always welcome.
If you need information about a bit, please contact me. I love to talk about bits.
Reinersue
©Copyright KISS Reiners
I've got some of Larry's videos and recieve newsletters. Great stuff for sure.
ReplyDeleteI also use the German martingale. What a great piece of equipment in the right situations.
I'd like to see your thoughts and experiences on the German martingale. I've had such great success with it. But I only use it on horses that are pretty far along in their foundation.
I'd also like to know if you ever use a headsetter like Larry talks about. I haven't used one and was wondering how well it works and what situations it is most helpful with.
I have a couple easy stops in the barn but rarely use them. I may need to dust them off and see if they'll help in our program.
The german martingale, easy stop and headsetter are great topics for articles to do on speciality equipment.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the idea Al!
I'm moving tomorrow and so I will try to get to them as soon as I'm reconnected on the internet.
Thank you....good luck with the move.
ReplyDelete