Big fat tongue... talk to me about bits!

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chestnuttyy

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My TB has a fat tongue and a sensitive mouth. His tongue bluges like this (this isn't actually my horse, his tongue is quite similar though):

horse_tongue_200.jpg


I've yet to find a bit he seems really happy with.

Currently ridden in a thin NS Trans.

Teeth, back etc all up to date.

Any help much appreciated :)

Thanks x
 
I'm using a NS Universal with my Draft mare who has the biggest head I've ever seen with a very fat tongue, incredibly fleshy lips and a very deep jaw. She wears a NS Tranz for schooling. Other horses (Clydie and ID) that I've had with fat tongues have responded well to a PeeWee bit. I would have used that on the Draft mare but I couldn't make the bridle cheek-pieces long enough to accommodate it. I first got a PeeWee because it was the only 7" bit that I could buy 'off the peg' but I was very glad that I did because the horse went well in it.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I'm using a NS Universal with my Draft mare who has the biggest head I've ever seen with a very fat tongue, incredibly fleshy lips and a very deep jaw. She wears a NS Tranz for schooling. Other horses (Clydie and ID) that I've had with fat tongues have responded well to a PeeWee bit. I would have used that on the Draft mare but I couldn't make the bridle cheek-pieces long enough to accommodate it. I first got a PeeWee because it was the only 7" bit that I could buy 'off the peg' but I was very glad that I did because the horse went well in it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I should have added it needs to be dressage legal too.

Would be interested to hear anyones experience with the NS Verbindend
 
I almost put 'but it's not dressage legal', lol!
How about trying the PeeWee at home and then when you have your horse comfortable you could ride your tests in the NS Tranz. Equally you could contact Heather Hyde and ask her opinion. She recommended the Universal to me - and she was right, even though she hadn't seen the horse.
 
I have used the ns verbindend on my Arab its the only jointed bit he will just about tolerate, he has a large tongue and a shallow mouth so not much room, he goes best in a cambridge snaffle or a mullen mouth snaffle so I dont use the ns anymore, I find a thin mouthpiece suits him best anything thick does not work, tried a straight bar happy mouth and it made his mouth bleed, I would try some sort of straight bar or the cambridge, I find horses with not much bit room are not keen on jjointed bits.
 
Pinkvboots said:
I have used the ns verbindend on my Arab its the only jointed bit he will just about tolerate, he has a large tongue and a shallow mouth so not much room, he goes best in a cambridge snaffle or a mullen mouth snaffle so I dont use the ns anymore, I find a thin mouthpiece suits him best anything thick does not work, tried a straight bar happy mouth and it made his mouth bleed, I would try some sort of straight bar or the cambridge, I find horses with not much bit room are not keen on jjointed bits.
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Funny in a way.. we have spent years being told how thick bits are 'kinder' yet the reality is that a lot of horses simply don't have the space in their mouth for them. A mullen mouth sounds a good alternative to me. We use a Rockin S bit for our fleshy mouthed Sec D's and it is brilliant, as well as being a thin mouthpiece it is designed to keep very still in the mouth and only acts on the parts it is meant to.

Sadly I don't think they can be bought in the UK any more although you could import from the US if all else fails; hopefully something like Pinkvboots suggests will do the trick.
 
I use a universal ns Verbindend on my cob x tb. She too has a low palate and fat tongue. It is the only bit that she prefers. She hates straight bars and Cambridge mouth pieces and certainly single jointed bits.
 
I also have a tb with a big tongue and very small mouth.

He wasn't 100% happy in the ns starter i was using. I contacted ns and they recommended the team up in the thinnest mouthpiece. Before I got round to trying it, I came across a Myler comfort (the dressage legal one without a port) and that worked well so never got round to trying the team up.
 
chestnuttyy said:
Thanks, but I should have added it needs to be dressage legal too.

Would be interested to hear anyones experience with the NS Verbindend
Click to expand...

I have one. I did a big search and tried a number of different bits but this one I noticed a difference in her straight away. She has a fine TB head and tiny mouth but a really fat tongue that also bulges as you say. First time in the verbindend and she was actively seeking the contact as you can see here...

[youtube]TLAub7ZvAII8s[/youtube]

I rode on a super light contact just to let her get a feel for it and as you can see, she has a good old play with it which was unusual for her...she would normally be tense in the jaw which you may hear a comment about if you have the sound on. She would before changing to the NS go really well, but tense totally in downwards transitions and if I used any rein aids to help keep her, she would fight them. In the NS, she remains relaxed in the jaw and relaxed in the contact though all of the work so it leads me to believe that she just braced against what she expected to be uncomfortable...a bit that didn't fit her mouth. This bit fits beautifully and I have not looked back.

I really rate it, I've recommended to quite a few people with certain issues now and it has always given great improvement.
 
I've used the NS Verbindend on my ISH who has a very large tongue. He went well in it and it is a useful bit to have on a forward going horse when you need to use something which is Dressage Legal as I refer to it as 'the snaffle with built in breaks' as he gives you extra control whilst still being a Snaffle. :)
 
I use an NS universal with the versibend mouth piece on my boy with a big tongue. Also use a bomber bit happy tongue which he likes too :) I tried the pee wee bit but for some reason he didn't get on with it.
 
My warmblood has tried every bit under the sun and the only one he's happy with is the myler. I use a level 2 for schooling at home and a snaffle one for when we do dressage.
 
I tried the NS verbindend on Fabio and he didn't go well at all in it. The best i've found for him and his big tongue, although sadly not dressage legal!, is the PeeWee. As a schooling/dressage bit though he goes really nicely in the Myler toklats with the comfort mouthpiece. Got him in the hanging cheek version at the moment but did have the loose ring with sleeves that he also went well in.
 
Thank you everyone, some really helpful posts! Looks like the NS verbindend or Myler snaffle seem to be most popular. Just not sure which to try... Both so expensive! I do like my NS so ill maybe try the verbindend... I'm unsure as to which Myler snaffle everyone means... I've not had any experience with Mylers

Oh and width, 12mm?

Thanks again :)
 
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