Cotswold Sport bits (vs Neue Schule)??

[Ginn]

Was lent a NS baucher with a lozenge to try on my horse as I was finding her bit had too much play.

Long story short, she went really nicely in it but has had the last 7 weeks out of work in which time my sister pinched it to try on her pony! He also goes very nicely in it....

As it is currently on sister's bridle I have been using madam's old bit (KK 2-type with lozenge) this week and she seems much more resistant to the hand in it. Have also tried her in a nice simple loose ring french link (nicked from my sister ) which she didn't much like so I think I am going to have to invest in the baucher (friend needs hers back soon) and my sister has come to much the same conclusion.

However they are approx £65 a pop!!! So to buy 2 we are looking at upwards of £120

Having scanned Ebay I came across the Cotswold Sport bits - they look very, very similar to the NS but for a fraction of the cost...

Which leads me to the point of this post - has anyone had any experience of these bits? How do they compare to NS? Or am I better getting out the credit card and not looking at the bill?

Ta muchly

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Quote "Having scanned Ebay I came across the Cotswold Sport bits - they look very, very similar to the NS but for a fraction of the cost..."

You get what you pay for, NS bits are the real McCoy & when you find the right bit for your horse they will go incredibly well in them. If you buy a bit "That looks just like the NS bit" you will be disappointed as your horse will go nothing like as well as in the NS. I'm not just saying this, we went through the same thoughts as you & decided tio buy NS & have not looked back.

They are much more expensive................ but they are so much better. There are some companies that will rent you a NS bit to try before you buy. Basically you buy the bit from them & then if you return it within I think a month they will refund you your payment, less £6.00 for the rental. It seems a good idea, at least you should end up with the right bit & not wasted money on the wrong type or size.

I managed to buy a hardly used NS off ebay & save around £20-£25 on the new price, so the bargains are there if you look.

I have nothing against Cotswold Sports Bits, I just believe NS bits are one of the best makes out there.

 

[coloredred]

I've got a couple of the cotswold sport younger saver bits and my pony loves them. I haven't actually tried the NS bits but don't feel I need to now.

 

[TarrSteps]

Out of curiosity, why are NS bits 'better'? To clarify, I use them, like them and know they are well crafted but there are lots of well made bits in the world and the best one is the one that works for the horse.

I trialled a Demi-Anky for a horse recently and was very pleased. I then realised I had a very similar one - probably 20+ years old and not as well known a make but probably slightly more extreme in design and stainless steele not Aurigan or whatever. Horse goes best of all in the latter. For that horse the NS design is better but a similar design in another make is better again. C'est la vie. (Oh, and does that make the NS a rip off of the older bit? )

Get the CS bit on trial and see. It may in fact be the NS suits him best but I don't think you should assume that the CS is badly made or won't work for your horse because is at a lower price point.

 

[Cheiro1]

I have a cotswold sport bit and my horse goes just as nicely in it as she did in the NS version. It wasnt a baucher, just a loose ring, but she's just as happy in both

 

[lucemoose]

Most of my bit collection is CS, bar a Demi anky here and a few obscurities. Fully endorse.

 

[PorkChop]

I would highly recommend the Cotswold Sport Bits. I have several of their bits that are marketed as comparable to more expensive named bits, and whilst they are not exactly the same they are extremely close, and great value too.

 

[Ginn]

T_Z - I think what both horses like is the more steady contact that the baucher provides - the loose rings have been great for mouthing but, particularly with my mare, give too much play which isn't what she needs at this point in her training.

I'm not convinced its the mouthpiece as such though I think the slight curve/anatomical design of the mouthpiece and the lozenge is preferable to the french link. Interestingly she's got a NS starter bit which she doesn't particularly go well in and neither did my sister's pony???

Anyway, back to the point, the general consensus is that they are good value for money and those that have tried them have been very happy with them? So may be worth a try...

 

[Dotilas]

I have the CS tongue saver loose ring, and I find the mouthpiece is more a NS Verbindend mouthpiece than the usual type.

If your horses have fat tongues, the CS bit might be worth a try.

If not, I would sell the starter bit and the KK and buy the bit that you know she goes well in.

 

[flyingfeet]

You get what you pay for, NS bits are the real McCoy & when you find the right bit for your horse they will go incredibly well in them. If you buy a bit "That looks just like the NS bit" you will be disappointed as your horse will go nothing like as well as in the NS. I'm not just saying this, we went through the same thoughts as you & decided tio buy NS & have not looked back.

They are much more expensive................ but they are so much better

Bear in mind your horses don't read magazines or realise whether the bit in their mouth is a £200 or £20 bit (and frankly horses have no concept of money despite being able to spend their owners very ably!)

I am obviously hugely biased, but the tongue saver baucher was made because one of my horses wouldn't go in anything other than a shaped mouthpiece made by NS. At the time NS didn't make anything other than a loose ring, so we made the tongue saver range as my boy had a pigmentation problem and any loose ring chaffed.

My horse couldn't tell the difference between the CS and NS, but maybe he wasn't discerning enough.....

 

[flyingfeet]

I trialled a Demi-Anky for a horse recently and was very pleased. I then realised I had a very similar one - probably 20+ years old and not as well known a make but probably slightly more extreme in design and stainless steele not Aurigan or whatever. Horse goes best of all in the latter. For that horse the NS design is better but a similar design in another make is better again. C'est la vie. (Oh, and does that make the NS a rip off of the older bit? )

Kangaroo made a lot of the designs pre- NS
The jumper bit NS sell is identical to the older Dewsbury jumper bit (although now they have changed the lozenge, but originally was identical except for materials)

 

[burtie]

I have the CS eggbutt lozenge and have been using it for about 4 years as my only bit. Horse loves it.

 

[ThePony]

Have the CS baucher as my mare needed a bit that stayed nice and still in her mouth (and so gets on well with baucher cheeks) but needs plenty of space for her tongue - CS tongue saver is the only one I have found that ticks both these boxes. Mare is happy and comfortable in the bit so we are all happy!

 

[caterpillar]

NS are not the real McCoy, Sprengers are. Cotswold Sport are just as good as NS. Basically if you have money to throw at your horse get a sprenger.
If not get a Cotswold Sport, have never found the NS to be any better than Cotswold Sport.

 

[siennamum]

Just to complicate things, have you tried a single jointed bit. There is the asumption that every horse needs a lozenge or french link. I just put my very fussy mouthed horse in an ancient (imported from German in 1980) thick, hollow, jointed, eggbut snaffle (which of course costs nothing!) and he thinks it's wonderful. He was in a NS tongue saver, team up & really fussed in it, even worse in a normal french link.

 

[caterpillar]

Just to complicate things, have you tried a single jointed bit. There is the asumption that every horse needs a lozenge or french link. I just put my very fussy mouthed horse in an ancient (imported from German in 1980) thick, hollow, jointed, eggbut snaffle (which of course costs nothing!) and he thinks it's wonderful. He was in a NS tongue saver, team up & really fussed in it, even worse in a normal french link.

You put your horse in a single joint? You thought that this was a better bit for your horse than NS?
How very dare you...

 

[siennamum]

You put your horse in a single joint? You thought that this was a better bit for your horse than NS?
How very dare you...

and an eggbut, double blasphemy. Won't even comment on the fact it is plain stainless steel.

 

[kerilli]

my trainer insists on single-joint bits. am slightly at loggerheads with him about it, argh, conflict! my argument with them is that 99% of them are not symmetrical (hold 1 up by central joint to check, 1 arm is shorter and fatter, 1 longer and thinner, to get joint in the middle), i have a big problem with that... but lots of horses don't, i guess!
trainer says you get a far more precise message to the horse with a single joint than with 2.
i would not touch a NS bit, personally. only exception is my double bridle bits which are NS, very rarely used, and which i bought before i heard about NS bits snapping - something i have heard a surprising amount, and i have never ever heard about Sprenger/KK, Dewsbury/Kangaroo (i have a few of them, lovely bits) etc.
imho CS do a good job with their copies except for their 'hippo' bit, which is nasty, the copy of the centre joint is completely wrong, they've left a pointy bit on it so if both rings are and the angle of the joint increases, the point will go into the roof of the mouth. the original is a far better design and has a smoothly rounded bit that cannot do that. if they're going to copy it they should remove that pointy bit asap for the horses' sakes...

 

[flyingfeet]

imho CS do a good job with their copies except for their 'hippo' bit, which is nasty, the copy of the centre joint is completely wrong, they've left a pointy bit on it so if both rings are and the angle of the joint increases, the point will go into the roof of the mouth. the original is a far better design and has a smoothly rounded bit that cannot do that. if they're going to copy it they should remove that pointy bit asap for the horses' sakes...

Kerilli - I have already agreed with you, that this was not a good design, and didn't come out as intended.

On the other hand the point is only circa 2mm and only appears at full bend (which means hauling) and when wrapped in latex is totally solved. This means you can try this design of bit for £18 rather than spending £116 (CHF 170)

For the other points, you can look at a horses confirmation and try and match the bit to the shape and tongue width, but at the end of the day only the horse decide what they actually like!

However I do think what you start them with makes a difference, so a horse that has never had a single joint on basic training is unlikely to accept one. However one started in a single joint, may well seek this bit in the future, as it has a level of "familiarity" for the horse that makes them more comfortable