Storm my 5yr old pony has become very strong whilst being ridden recently. He is ridden by my friends daughter aged 13. He is currently being ridden in a eggbutt snaffle.

He seems to resist the bit, being quite over powering. When changing direction he just pulls against you going where he wants and the bit pulling through the mouth. My friends daughter is quite an experienced rider and is gentle with his mouth. But she came to me last weekend and told me she has little control whilst hacking, and her arms ache from trying to maintain control. He is well schooled however very cheeky and if he thinks he can get away with something he will try.

My friend told me to change his bit, but to what? HELP! There are so many and I don't really want something too severe. She said either pelham or full cheek.??? I would be very gratefull for any sujestions. Thanks in advance.

I'm not a great fan of pelhams. To be effective they need to be used with 2 reins which can make them quite severe and cause the pony to resist even more. A lot of people use them with leather roundings which convert it to a single rein. This just confuses the action and makes the bit ineffective. My advice would be to try a hanging cheek snaffle which will give a bit of pressure at the poll when the rein is taken up. This may help because there is not more mouth pressure for the pony to evade. Be very careful with a stronger bit, especially those with long shanks, such as a 3 ring gag, which winches the ponies neck/head in. Energy which is not allowed forwards often goes backwards or upwards instead. You could also try a drop noseband with a running martingale.

Thanks. I certainly don't want to divert his energy into creating another problem. I wasn't keen on the pelham either. Hanging cheek sounds and looks a bit kinder. Although I'm having great difficulty finding one in his size. He has a small mouth of 4". Most websites ive looked at start at 4 and a half inches and if they have smaller not the hanging cheek!

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Had a quick look and there are definitely some 4" ones. You can also try berfore you buy.
Don't be put off by some of the silly prices. Have a look at the 19th one in the filet baucher section. It's available in 4" and costs £16.50.

That is fab! Thanks so much. I have been hunting online, searching everywhere couldn't find anything and if I did, i'd have to pay a fortune, I think it's a site I better add to favs. I'm very gratefull.

I got Star bit from there, they are very good because they offer a 30day trial for £5!! They sent me one, it was too big so returned it and they sent me another one which was the right size and just took the money out when my trial was up

This was posted a while ago so it'd be interesting to hear how you got on with the new bit! It sounds like it would certainly stop the bit from slipping through.
Have you tried long-reining? It's a brilliant way to get the horse responding to cues for turning and re-establishing the pressure-release balance that's so crucial in getting him to yield to you. It also means that you can school a pony that's too small for you to ride so that the next time a child rides them they're listening to them much more.

While riding does he have his mouth opne? If so rather than changing his bit you may want to add in a flash or a drop noseband to gain more control.

When was he five? Is there any chance his mouth might be sore? Wolf teeth?

Hello, my horse used to be in an eggbut snaffle and she was bucking and very headstrong, although we are very gentle on her mouth. She is now in a Dutch Gag however and a Running Martingale and we have had no problems with any of that. Hope this was an OK reply and good luck with your pony.