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You could try a smooth mouh short shank Jr. cow horse bit. I use one on my gelding who is very sensitive with his mouth and it works great! Google them to find a pic. Cause alot of people use them on young horses for barrel racing as the next step up from a snaffle as it isn't a harsh bit at all.

Ya! That's the one!! And my guy LOVES his!

The Horse Source-

Not EVERY horse can go into Plain snaffle. Especially when your needing control in barrel racing. Ya on a rare occasion we have a horse that can go in a snaffle but other times they need something more when running barrels. When I ride mine just riding I use a snaffle but when I run I use a bit that I have control! And gags are not harsh, or else people wouldn't use them on young horses. The more gag you have the more leverage for lifting the shoulder. But the JR cow has barely ANY gag!

I've run barrels and poles, flags, and plug races in full cheek snaffles, galloped racehorses, showed in western performance, studied years of intensive dressage with an olympic trainer and USDF judge, and worked with the hunter/jumper pursuits of 3 daughters for decades. The strongest, biggest stallions can be fully trained and competed in the simplest of snaffle bits, and it is done every day by knowledgable horsemen and women. Anyone who doesn't know that fact actually is revealing their own limited knowledge of horsemanship.

The Tom Thumb "snaffle" is a potentially severe and poorly designed bit, and not one I would ever recommend for any reason. Before any leverage bit ever enters the mouth of a horse I am training, that horse is so well trained in the snaffle that the only time leverage is engaged is while I'm in the process of adapting the horse to the signal it affords so it will ultimately be effective without using the leverage. A leverage bit shouldn't be used to control speed, and a rider who thinks it is used for that reason needs more training on horsemanship. Bits are tools of communication that should be used secondary to the body aids. You ride the horse, and not the horse's mouth.

Bits are not brakes.

Snaffles are really different from other snaffles. I would also recommend using a snaffle shank. My gelding has a very sensitive mouth, and he works great with this. And if someone that isn't as kind or pulls on a horses mouth rides your mare, you can just switch where the reigns are. Its a nifty idea.

Good Luck!!

You could use a shank bit.. If she neck reins. Shank's are mostly used for neck reiners because they are not supposed t have pressure on the mouth expect for light pressure to stop or back up.

If she doesn't neck rein I would train her to in a snaffle, and then go to a shank.

Edit - I would use a snaffle to barrel race her in. Don't use a harsh bit for that.. She will become completely unresponsive if you do that.

If you have problems controlling her in a snaffle you need to retrain her to have a soft mouth.

Edit two - I am going to be training my high strung arabian cross to barrel race--after I get him past being green--in a d-ring snaffle.

I have tried to lope/gallop the pattern with him, and he grabbed the bit and took off.

I haven't even walked the pattern since then, just been working on resposiveness in the small arena. Maybe in another month or two I will try the pattern again.

Definitely worth retraining him than using a harsher bit to get him to listen.

Why would you need a shank bit? What you need to do is research bits and what they do. You owe it to your horse to be educated by professionals about the metal you are putting in her mouth. Some of them will give the horse 20lbs of pressure on their mouth for every ONE pound you apply! A direct reining bit is the kindest way. If those don't work, then you need to work with your horse more. I don't even use a bit.

Tom thumbs are a VERY serious bit and should only be used for its original purpose, to train western horses.

The idea that tom thumbs are snaffles is just ludicrous. They aren't.

And NO NO NO on the gag bit. They are a very serious bit as well, and they aren't snaffles either.

Just go for a simple French link snaffle or eggbutt snaffle. They are some of the mildest bits out there and there really isn't a way to hurt a horse's mouth with them.

And not to be rude, but next time you choose a bit do some research first.

Good luck!

personally i dont think tom thumbs are bad at all . its the handlers way of using the bit correctly . if you have soft hands you should be fine its not like you jerking her head around . but if you were that worried then just go to a plain snaffle . i have a tom thumb copper roller grazing bit it looks like .. http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Thumb-Copper-Roller-Graz... and i tried to switch him over to a regular D ring one like that for english . it worked okay but i didnt have ANY brakes what-so-ever . try stopping an appendix .. not so fun . it looked like .. http://www.kathys-show-tack.com/Bits-/-Spurs/Coppe... . but like i said that didnt work out so good . so if that happens with you i would go to a regular kimberwick . its just a step up from a snaffle its a straight bar . mine looks like ..http://www.sstack.com/English_Bits_Kimberwick/FES-... . it works really well ! but i still use my tom thumb for western .

i use a plain old curb bit no thumbs, but i never knew tom thumb was harsh. i am thinking of using a snaffle, but my mare is hard mouthed. she has never had problems with her thumbless curb bit

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