I am a huge fan of a Kineton noseband
and have used it very successfully on several horses. I tend to use it on horses that need more brakes but who tend to strongly react to being in a stronger bit by either not taking you forward or by over reacting to it.
The Kineton works by placing the pressure on the nose. I find that you can half halt nicely and if they ignore you, you do it again stronger and the Kineton kicks in.
Most recently I have used it on my large ginger horse who is incredibly sensitive in the mouth and goes cross country in a rubber snaffle. I found him running through the rubber snaffle going downhill once or twice so rather than change the bit which on the whole he was happy with, I just stuck on the Kineton to give me some extra brakes. The big ginger one also does not like his mouth being shut and will shake his head when being collected back in a grakle or flash. As the Kineton has no back strap he is really happy in it. I have also used it on a horse which went best thinking he was in control. In a stronger bit he would sulk, become very quiet and drop off the leg. I much prefer a horse feeling keen down the rein so ended up with him a 3 ring gag and Kineton which he was really happy in.
Katie uses one on Fleur for many of the reasons I have outlined but uses it over the top over her grakle so that Fleur cannot open her mouth. Its not a fix to every problem but I have found it very useful on several horses and will keep hold of it in my tack room!
Kineton over Grakle
