I was having a conversation about this via personal messages.Thought maybe others on here might find it interesting so I thought I would post it.
My understanding is that the two rein 3/8" bosal should be between 9.5" to 10.5" when measured on the inside from the nose button to the top of the heal knot because the two rein bosal does not sit on the same place or apply pressure to the same spots on the horse that a hackamore bosal does. It also sits at a different angle than the hackamore bosal.
The two rein bosal operates different than the hackamore in that with the hackamore you set the bars so that they are off the jaw of the horse. When you send I slight signal with your right rein the nose button rotates and puts a slight prssure on the left side of the nose button and the left bar of the bosal touches the left jaw of the horse.
With the two rein bosal it operates in a different place in a different way. The two rein bosal, the bars operate on the lip muscle thats on both sides of the horses jaw. Its a long muscle that feels something like your finger. This is where the two rein bosal operates. Example The bars of the two rein bosal sit approximately 1 inch back from the corners of the horses mouth. Unlike the hackamore bosal, the two rein bosal sits right above the curve grove of the upper part of the horses lip. Right in the hollow of his check. Example just behind the corners of the horses mouth is where these lip muscles are. The nose button operates evenly across the nose unlike with the hackamore. With the two rein bosal you should not have to move your reins as far as what you would with a hackamore in order to get a response.
If your bosal is to long so that you have to use 5 to 6 wraps under your reins to make it small enough to work this creates to much heel weight. This excess heel weight creates< bends> your 3/8 bosal at the bottom <heel> forward from the weight when its on your horse. It doesnt move the bars that much because of where the bosal fits in the hollow of the horses cheek,but it moves the heel. The more heel weight, the farther the heel bends down, the farther your going to have to move all that back up when you move your reins to send the signal. This heel drop slows down your signal because when you pull back on your rein the heel part of your bosal has to move all that much more before it moves the bars of the bosal or before it gets to the normal position where you would normally start your signal with it.
My understanding is that with the two rein we want or signals to the bosal to be fast because the bosal signal is our primary signal before the signal from the bit. Now I know this is controlled to a large degree by the length of our bosal and bit reins but if the bosal is to long <heel bends forward under the weight of your wraps>and sends to slow off a signal this expands the movement that we have to make with our hand which is also holding the bit reins. Since the bit has shanks that provide leverage, the more we have to move our hand to send the signal to the bosal the harder it will be manage both sets of reins in the same hand at the same time.
Example if your loping a left circle and say the horse doesnt arc his body into the turn. If your bosal is to long and slow that you cant signal the horse by turning your wrist with three fingers between the bosal reins and moving your hand over a little bit to the left. Then you are going to have to reach under your reins with your right hand and grab the left bosal rein and move that rein independently more over to the left. If you where to not use your right hand with the to long of a bosal and if you just moved your left hand with all the reins to far to the left because of the leverage of your shanked bit, your bit is going to send a signal to the horse to tip his nose to the right which is the opposite of what is wanted. So the better your bosal fits, the faster the signal or the signal gets to the horse with a less amount of hand movement which should make things easier in the two rein where you have 4 reins in your left hand all at once. I was taught that when you first get in the two rein you should think of your hand position as having a box thats 10" long and 7" wide just ahead of your horn. The idea is to keep your left hand inside this imaginary box. Then as you and your horse progress farther and farther along in refinement, the bridle box keeps getting smaller and smaller.
My understanding is that the two rein 3/8" bosal should be between 9.5" to 10.5" when measured on the inside from the nose button to the top of the heal knot because the two rein bosal does not sit on the same place or apply pressure to the same spots on the horse that a hackamore bosal does. It also sits at a different angle than the hackamore bosal.
The two rein bosal operates different than the hackamore in that with the hackamore you set the bars so that they are off the jaw of the horse. When you send I slight signal with your right rein the nose button rotates and puts a slight prssure on the left side of the nose button and the left bar of the bosal touches the left jaw of the horse.
With the two rein bosal it operates in a different place in a different way. The two rein bosal, the bars operate on the lip muscle thats on both sides of the horses jaw. Its a long muscle that feels something like your finger. This is where the two rein bosal operates. Example The bars of the two rein bosal sit approximately 1 inch back from the corners of the horses mouth. Unlike the hackamore bosal, the two rein bosal sits right above the curve grove of the upper part of the horses lip. Right in the hollow of his check. Example just behind the corners of the horses mouth is where these lip muscles are. The nose button operates evenly across the nose unlike with the hackamore. With the two rein bosal you should not have to move your reins as far as what you would with a hackamore in order to get a response.
If your bosal is to long so that you have to use 5 to 6 wraps under your reins to make it small enough to work this creates to much heel weight. This excess heel weight creates< bends> your 3/8 bosal at the bottom <heel> forward from the weight when its on your horse. It doesnt move the bars that much because of where the bosal fits in the hollow of the horses cheek,but it moves the heel. The more heel weight, the farther the heel bends down, the farther your going to have to move all that back up when you move your reins to send the signal. This heel drop slows down your signal because when you pull back on your rein the heel part of your bosal has to move all that much more before it moves the bars of the bosal or before it gets to the normal position where you would normally start your signal with it.
My understanding is that with the two rein we want or signals to the bosal to be fast because the bosal signal is our primary signal before the signal from the bit. Now I know this is controlled to a large degree by the length of our bosal and bit reins but if the bosal is to long <heel bends forward under the weight of your wraps>and sends to slow off a signal this expands the movement that we have to make with our hand which is also holding the bit reins. Since the bit has shanks that provide leverage, the more we have to move our hand to send the signal to the bosal the harder it will be manage both sets of reins in the same hand at the same time.
Example if your loping a left circle and say the horse doesnt arc his body into the turn. If your bosal is to long and slow that you cant signal the horse by turning your wrist with three fingers between the bosal reins and moving your hand over a little bit to the left. Then you are going to have to reach under your reins with your right hand and grab the left bosal rein and move that rein independently more over to the left. If you where to not use your right hand with the to long of a bosal and if you just moved your left hand with all the reins to far to the left because of the leverage of your shanked bit, your bit is going to send a signal to the horse to tip his nose to the right which is the opposite of what is wanted. So the better your bosal fits, the faster the signal or the signal gets to the horse with a less amount of hand movement which should make things easier in the two rein where you have 4 reins in your left hand all at once. I was taught that when you first get in the two rein you should think of your hand position as having a box thats 10" long and 7" wide just ahead of your horn. The idea is to keep your left hand inside this imaginary box. Then as you and your horse progress farther and farther along in refinement, the bridle box keeps getting smaller and smaller.
