Bit sitting to one side in mouth?

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Scot123

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I can't work this out! I have a snaffle brifle and bit (lozenge style). I usec it on my previous pony and always thought ithe bit seemed to stick out a little more on the right than the left side. I thought the pony must have a tiny bit of a lopsided head!

I'm now using the same bridke and bit on my new pony. It really protrudes further on the right this time - the lozenge is almost at his lip!

It's all the cirrect size for him. I've examinec the bridle and bit and neither loojs squinty or is bucled oddly.

What is going on?! Thanks!
 
Scot123 said:
I can't work this out! I have a snaffle brifle and bit (lozenge style). I usec it on my previous pony and always thought ithe bit seemed to stick out a little more on the right than the left side. I thought the pony must have a tiny bit of a lopsided head!
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I'm now using the same bridke and bit on my new pony. It really protrudes further on the right this time - the lozenge is almost at his lip!

It's all the cirrect size for him. I've examinec the bridle and bit and neither loojs squinty or is bucled oddly.

What is going on?! Thanks!
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2 mounth
 
Fold the snaffle in half. Are both sides equal. Some of the cheap foreign bits on the market (especially the older type bits) have unequal mouth piece lengths. If the bit doesn't fold in half and each side is a mirror image of the other then you have your answer.

Otherwise I would say you use your right rein more than your left and pull on it more whilst riding without noticing.
 
I've measured the bit so many times and I was sure it must be uneven but it's totally symetrical.

And it's not even when riding (well, sure if is then too but can't see!) but just when tacking up and he's not being ridden. I was standing in front of him today and lozenge about visible at his lipm

Weird! Could the but be evenly sized but uneven in weight?
 
Scot123 said:
I've measured the bit so many times and I was sure it must be uneven but it's totally symetrical.

And it's not even when riding (well, sure if is then too but can't see!) but just when tacking up and he's not being ridden. I was standing in front of him today and lozenge about visible at his lipm

Weird! Could the but be evenly sized but uneven in weight?
Click to expand...

Its a total mystery to me!
 
I've measured the bit so many times and I was sure it must be uneven but it's totally symetrical.

And it's not even when riding (well, sure if is then too but can't see!) but just when tacking up and he's not being ridden. I was standing in front of him today and lozenge about visible at his lip.

Weird! Could the bit be evenly sized but uneven in weight?

PS sorry about the awful spelling in last post. Trying to write on my phone and can never manage it..!
 
Yes! All checked and equal. Makes no sense - unless I've got 2 ponies in a row with wonky heads?! I was wondering about loosening the side where it seems to be sticking out more, but then that might lead to more problems?
 
Has to be your hands. If the bridle is already wonky when you put it on, then it must just have been like that from the last time you rode. Think about it, if you put the bridle on straight, how else can it move? We all have a 'strong' side.
 
It's either the way you put the bridle on, or what you do with it once it's on.

If you straighten it up does it return to being squint?

Or is the bit too big.
 
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Yes I was wondering if I'm doing something funny when I put it on. But it seems almost impossible to adjust - I've tried evening it out on his face and it seems to then just pull the other side up and then returns to squintiness about straight away.

I don't think it's too big (there's approx 0.5cm either side of mouth when I've got it straight) but am starting to wonder if it could be too small?
 
Have you measured the bridle as well as the bit? It's possible that it wasn't made correctly in the first place or has stretched over time. I used to ride a horse with a knock-off version of a comfort headpiece and the dratted thing was always skew-whiff. One side was longer than the other.
 
How random! I've been having this issue with a Myler Comfort Snaffle. I spent about 15 mins looking at it with my instructor. We couldnt find anything wonky, the only thing that might have been causing it was he has a comfort headpiece and a lot of hair so we thought that might be a bit wonky. I swapped it for an ordinary snaffle in the end as it was driving me mad and couldnt have been comfortable for the cob either
 
Thanks all! I'll go along later today and pop it on him and take some photos. Perhaps that will help solve it?! (as far as I can see, bridle is even as well...!).
 
From the photos it looks to me like the cheek piece on the right hand side is sitting higher up the face than the left, thus pulling the bit through the mouth on that side. I would doubly check that cheekpieces are all attached at same holes, and take the cheekpieces off to check for stretching and uneven-ness.
Is the headpiece of the bridle sitting evenly behind the ears?
 
Glad you could see the photos. Yes, same holes and have examined bridle when he's not wearing it and seems totally even. Trouble is, if I try and shoogle it around when he's got it on so that it's even, it goes back to looking like the photos within a moment.
 
What are his teeth like? Could he have uneven growth on one side of his mouth?
I don't know, it just looks like the cheekpieces are off to me. If it were me I'd take the whole thing apart and put it back together, then refit to his face and see if that helped at all.
 
Thanks. Good idea. I'll take it apart tonight and try again tomorrow.

Interesting thought about the teeth. He's just had a 5 stage vetting which said nothing major with the teeth but waiting on dentist's visit, so maybe there could be unevenness with them.
 
No problem, I only say as I had a problem a few weeks ago where I put my bridle back together the wrong way and the bit was sticking out my mare's mouth.
He looks a lovely cute boy anyway, good luck with him and hope the bridle issue gets sorted.
 
It definitely looks like your right cheekpiece is higher up. Could your headpiece have been made wrongly so when it sits centrally the holes are uneven? Try taking your bridle apart, lining up the ends of the cheekpieces and checking that the half way point is the middle of the headpiece and that the points at which it splits into cheek pieces and throat lash also line up. That's all I can think of.
 
Make sure your browband is long enough, and the length of the headpiece between the splits for the throatlatch is enough to sit well below the ear on each side
 
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Personally, I think the bit is slightly too narrow and also rather high in his mouth. Have you tried letting the bridle down a hole or two on the "short" side to even it up? Not the perfect solution, but at least your pony will be comfortable. Could you borrow another bridle to see if you have the same problem?
 
Hi. I had wondered if it was a bit narrow, he was ridden in that size previously and I got this to start us off but did think maybe a little small (though when it sits evenly I then think it looks OK!)...

I've tried loosening it on the short side by one hole. All the really happens is it 'balloons' out - meaning it doesn't just sit flat on his cheek and the bit move to the right position (well, it does initially but moves after a few seconds) but the cheek piece bulges out away from his cheek and therefore the bit stays squinty!

Arrgh. I think from this advice maybe I need to see if I can borrow another bridle to try (do you think browband looks OK - it's a cob size and he's only 13.2hh-ish?), and a bit a size up and get the dentist out to check. Honestly, there has to be something that's easy to sort/diagnose with horses??!
 
The cheek pieces are on different holes or different lengths, if you look at pic 4 the ends of both the headpiece and where the bit buckles on are almost overlapping whereas in pic 3 there is at least 1 cm of a gap, so it is higher on the right which is why it is pulling through on that side, the holes may seem to be the same but leather does stretch and it may be that one is longer than the other, to me they dont actually look like a true pair as the left one seems to have less of a loop around the bit ring which makes it shorter as well.
You need to check the whole length of the cheekpiece not just the holes to see if they match up.
 
Thank you. I've had the bridle apart, measured and remeasured and although from the pics they don't look it, they're exactly the same!! It's hard to believe and would make a great solution but all is even in length...?!
 
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