I would definitely work towards the smaller dually, however in the mean time her bucking would be the bigger issue. I would suggest before riding her, run her around a round pen or her paddock or whatever space she's in first. I've found this to be very effective with my horses when they seem to have a bit to much vinegar in them and I feel that they might buck with me. It does two things, first it helps get out the excess energy before getting on and second it establishes you as the boss and the horse will treat you with more respect. I have a horse that this spring was all kinds of vinegar and bucking (not usually with me on) but did because he just couldn't help himself but the next time I rode him I ran him around first releasing his excess energy and he was perfect with me. So try this with your mare I think you'll find you'll have a much better, safer horse to ride, (unless of course there are other issues than just excess energy). I would also suggest saddling your horse in a round pen and cantering her both directions with the saddle only. This actually cured my bucking horses after three days of cantering them with a saddle only and allowing them to buck all they wanted too with the saddle. They found it wasn't productive for them and they quit doing it. They never bucked again. (Except my old horse that had been sitting all winter and just needed out) and he's only bucked once in three years and not hard enough to throw me, he was just frustrated he couldn't get out and run. As far as the dually rubbing sores, hopefully your horse will not need so much correction after running around a little bit but if so I would try making some sort of pad across her nose to protect that area from being rubbed and see how it goes.
I hope this helps...let us know.

Hi EquiAbi,
Working with Arabs I know how slender their noses are! For me the red Dually is the better size, but I see you'll have to improvise right now, due to money-issues.
The idea of padding the noseband ( the one with the buckle, not the training-band) seems very good to me. Furthermore you could add another couple of holes, so that the band sits more tightly, and won't rub the skin. We've been discussing this "hole-making" here on the Uni, someone suggested heating a thick needle or a nail and making the hole from the inside to the outside, to prevent melting nylon form uneven rims to the hole, where it sits on the skin.
You might ask your shoerepairer if he could do it for you.
Still you'll have to wait until the skin is healed...
Keep us posted, good luck,
Miriam

Allow me to be painfully blunt here. There is not a healthy relationship between horse and rider here. Find the problem with the relationship, and the rest will basically disappear. The relationship that I speak of is not one found with mechanical aids, regardless of who promotes it, what it promises, and how or where it is applied. Let me provide something to gauge your issue against. You should be able to sit on your horse, in an open pasture, and not be thrown around by bucking or rearing, WITHOUT a bridle or halter or rope of any kind. Again I say that you will not truly get this harmony with any kind of schooling of the horse, as your horse is not where your problem lies.

Arabians can be sensitive all over. Seeing as you ride bareback - are you sure she isn't bothered by carrying your weight directly on her back without the weight-distributing aid of a saddle?

Hi all,
Thanks you all for your suggestions :) I will try and get a red dually asap! In the meantime I will try and pad the noseband somehow while her skin heals. Next time I ride her I will try your suggestion Kleinne and I will see how it goes! Kicki she bucks with her saddle on and so I don't think it is that she is sensitive but I will keep it in mind and try and make sure that I mount gently and not bang her on the back etc. :)
The Lost Soul, I am able to sit on my mare in a pasture without any tack at all and she will stand perfectly still and I will not be thrown around by bucking (she doesn't rear). She bucks when she has too much energy or gets over excited not because she wants to throw me off (if she actually wanted to throw me off then she would.) I dont feel very encouraged by your response.
Thankyou all for your suggestions,
Abi

Hi All, just a little input from sweden - many times when the horses put on their wintercoat and start to bring out their summer coat they easily loose a lot of hair. Some horses you see it even under the saddle, alongside the head due to the head collar and even under the boots. There are many horses we put fluffy things on the Dually noseband and wetsuit material around the schooling rope, much because if they sweat a lot the easily loose the hair - so it could be you just need to find a nice rabbit (or cheep) skin to put on the noseband and schooling rope, just make sure you got the right size. Some "small nosed" horses you could need to shorten the schooling rope so it fits better. Warmest CI Ann Lindberg/Sweden

Hmmm. This just got more interesting. However, I will maintain that I believe that schooling is not the best answer. Correct me if I am wrong, but are you also rather excited just before or when she acts up? It sounds like there is a good chance that she is acting upon your feelings. If not, then I would guess that (I'm apologizing now, but I am unfortunately quite blunt) she may not trust you to be the leader that she needs you to be. It is hard for me to explain otherwise. Believe me, I have an idea of what it is like to be in that situation. I tried schooling with any number of tactics, but my problem still persisted. Upon finding some very interesting schools of thought on how horses interpret a leader, I found that my problems were (and still are) because of me, and not my horse. However, I am making marked progress on such issues, but it takes time, and a lot of effort on the part of the human.