Bitting advice please.

[SALLYT]

Currently my new horse is ridden in a loose ring french snaffle, he is when still playing with his bit it sounds as though he is clanking the bit with his teeth, sorry its hard to explain.
I am not aware of him doing this when ridden, it was the same whilst lunging, the moment he is still he brings his neck in and clanks the bit.

I am wondering if something less jointed without the lozenge would be better, what do you think?

His teeth have been checked and rasped earlier this week, could just be a habit of his, I just want him to be as comfortable as possible .

Thanks in advance.

 

[Hippona]

Is it fitted correctly, not too low in his mouth?

How does he go generally? If he is accepting and mouthing the bit then thats ok - I personally wouldnt take out the lozenge as they tend to be more comfortable than single-jointed bits..

 

[Dressagebabe]

You may find he has too much metal in his mouth so he is picking it up, holding it then dropping it which clanks on the teeth. You need to assess his type of mouth first, you don't mention his breed but if he is of WB, ID Cob type he will probably have a fat fleshy mouth, you can tell this by lifting the upper lip at the side of the mouth and if you see his tongue bulging through the gap where there are no teeth then he falls under this catagory, for this type of mouth a slimline bit is better for comfort and I use a Myler comfort snaffle in one of my horse's that has a fleshy mouth as described, I found the rattling of the bit stopped immediately when I changed to this from a Sprenger.

If he is of a breed with a dished head ie Arab or Anglo then the soft palate on these breeds are very low down and a high port or single jointed snaffle can be quite painful as the nut cracker action is in play most of the time due to the palate being a lot lower than in a normal head. TB's etc with non fleshy mouths ie the tongue sits within the jaw line then a chunkier type bit like a Neue Schule or Sprenger can be tolerated. Hope this helps

 

[SALLYT]

Thank you for the replies, yes he has the right size bit and the bit itself is not too low, he goes ok and I don't feel he fights the bit whilst ridden, yes I have heard that single jointed bits are harsher than a lozenge, and don't want to go down this route if this is the case.

Dressage_Babe, yes your description of him picking it up and then down again in quick succession is what he does. He is a connie x Tb, but looks more Tb than anything he has just turned 5 and he has a small mouth, do you think a Neue Schule or Sprenger would be better for him?
I must admit not to be all that experience in the bitting front.

 

[CaleruxShearer]

My welsh D did exactly the same thing in a french link loose ring. I changed to a fairly small, thin half cheek snaffle, he goes so much better in it because to mouth piece is much thinner. Hope this helps.

 

[OrangeEmpire]

I've found with my TB that he was resenting the movement of a lose-ringed snaffle. he's now in a straight bar egbutt and is much happier. Try getting something with cheeks as this will be stiller in his mouth.

 

[emilyandnessa]

Lossenge and French link bits apply pressure directly to the tongue but depending on the style also can ‘sit’ on the tongue and he may not like the weight of the bit sitting on his tongue, as you have said he brings his neck in so I assume your contact lessens at this point which is when he ‘drops’ it, I would suggest a hollow mouth snaffle you can still find these with lozenges or links the are light weight and tend to be warmer in the mouth I would also suggest removing any flash you have as some TB cross breeds have quite large tongues and find it hard to ‘rearrange’ them at times (just a suggestion from a fellow hyper sensitive TB owner) plus simple bits are cheep start about £9 save you spending £30-£50 a posh brand which may not work out!

 

[Dressagebabe]

Have a quick look in his mouth as per my description just in case he is more on the Con side than TB if it is fleshy and you only want to choose from the two you listed then I would choose sprenger as they are the slightly thinner of the two but I would prefer the Myler comfort snaffle if he is very fleshy. People tend to think narrow bits are more severe but this is not quite the case, it is far more uncomfortable to over crowd his mouth. I use a Myler comfort with fixed rings on my 4yr old and a Myler comfort loose ring on my advanced horse, I have been through every type and make to find the most comfortable one with the lightest aids and hand and these come up by far. Good luck