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We Are Flying Solo

We Are Flying Solo

December 4, 2009

Home » , , » Bits And Rigs

Bits And Rigs

By  December 04, 2009  4 comments
My expectations seemed completely realistic...
Turns out the KK Ultra is not the uber-magical-fairy-miracle bit the dressage queens of the world would have you believe.

 It apparently does NOT impart instant dressage prowess upon your horsie.  In fact, it is quite possible your horsie may distinctly dislike it, lock his jaw, & pointedly refuse to acknowledge your half halts.

I'll just let you guess which one was us.

Happily, it's a borrowed bit.  So I removed it from bridle & returned to our Happy Mouth boucher last night & now, both of us are happy once more.   But I had to at least try the KK, given its legend, you know, curiosity & all that.

I also wanted to share our "new to us" rig that I realized I skipped over the story, given that it is a relatively recent acquisition.  Rig saga here.  Well, I still have the same trailer, obviously & I LOVE THAT TRAILER.

My Precious with...Other Precious?  Of course I have a blue trailer!
I loved the Tahoe too, but it soon made apparent to me that for regular hauling, a 1/2 ton just can't cut the mustard.   It could pull, & did it well.  Those old Chevy 5.7L engines were definitely made for power.  The problem is the smaller 1/2 ton transmissions are just not really up to the task & between that & the suspension & the brakes on the windy sides of mountains, it growlingly informed me that if I kept it up, I would be purchasing replacement trannies.  And radiators.  And liability policies.  0.0

Why didn't I think of that???!!
So, I decided that it was no longer worth putting $$$ on a vehicle that was only worth about $2000 on a good day, as I'd run it up to 170,000 miles, the A/C was out of freon, & you couldn't move the driver's seat (luckily my freaky long legs paid of for once).  I put on my savviest face & after much research & consulting & then more research (which I won't go into here for the sake of concise-ness, but I am happy to explain if you so desire), I sauntered into my local Ford dealer.

As luck would have it, they happened to have a trade-in that was EXACTLY what I wanted, in beautiful condition.  So I gave the faithful Tahoe a goodbye pat & rumbled home in my new love, a 2001 7.3L Super Duty turbo diesel F250.  And you will have to pry my cold, dead hands off to take it away from me.  It's good to be back in diesel-land (my first car was a 1985 3/4-ton 6.0L diesel GMC Suburban)!


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4 comments:

  1. lifeshighwayDecember 4, 2009 at 9:46 PM

    The truck is as immense as it looks.

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  2. eventer79December 4, 2009 at 10:43 PM

    ROFL, well, not all of us have nice little light horsies!

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  3. FrizzleDecember 7, 2009 at 4:10 PM

    Yeah, I bought a KK Ultra for a green mare I was riding a few years ago. It was a decent bit, but, no, certainly not the Holy Grail of Bits, as some proclaim. I ended up selling it on ebay.

    And, hhhmmm, I have actually been thinking of buying a double-jointed Happy Mouth boucher for Salem. I have heard some say that the center roller pinched their horses, which is why I haven't bought it yet. I've got Salem in a JP Korsteel oval mouth loose ring -- nice bit, but I think the loose ring might not offer enough bit stability for such a greenie.

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  4. eventer79December 7, 2009 at 9:19 PM

    I think that is why Solo didn't like it and why he locked up more even on the D-ring Myler -- too much motion in the mouth. My current theory is that he likes the stability of the boucher and the softer mouthpiece of the Happy Mouth. Mine does not have a roller in the center though. In fact, I have noticed that the way I use it, the brand name is upside down on the mouthpiece and I have wondered if it was in fact a driving bit that I was using upside down (I bought it at a consignment sale, so no label). But it looks like a boucher, and dangit, my horse likes it, so I guess that is all that matters!

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