Full cheek bit query

[nagblagger]

Looking for a 'bit' of advice!
I have always been taught that a bit with full cheeks should be worn with keepers, however recently I have seen many pictures of horses in full cheek bits without the keepers.
Can anyone tell me why and which is the milder option?
My unschooled (ex travellers) moody mare is ridden in full cheek, with keepers to aid steering, but i don't want to use them if, without keepers, is milder.
Thank you experts, in anticipation...

 

[Dave's Mam]

A fulmer should be used with keepers, a full cheek does not require keepers. Depends on which one you are using.

 

[nagblagger]

French link snaffle with full cheeks

 

[Dave's Mam]

Then you don't need keepers. A fulmer needs them for stability, as it has loose rings, but a full cheek is fixed, like an eggbut.

 

[nagblagger]

Dave's Mam Thank you

 

[Tiddlypom]

I prefer to use bit loops, as I think they are safer. They do alter the position of the bit in the mouth, though, but my mare doesn't seem to mind.

This is a fulmer snaffle.

 

[Dave's Mam]

I prefer to use bit loops, as I think they are safer. They do alter the position of the bit in the mouth, though, but my mare doesn't seem to mind.

View attachment 87596


View attachment 87597

That's a fulmer though & should have loops.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Looking for a 'bit' of advice!
I have always been taught that a bit with full cheeks should be worn with keepers, however recently I have seen many pictures of horses in full cheek bits without the keepers.
Can anyone tell me why and which is the milder option?
My unschooled (ex travellers) moody mare is ridden in full cheek, with keepers to aid steering, but i don't want to use them if, without keepers, is milder.
Thank you experts, in anticipation...

That is a Fulmer snaffle that has the keepers.

Personally I don't see the point of a full cheek as not much different that a normal snaffle apart from steering. Then again you might as well buy a fulmer to aid steering .

 

[Zuzan]

I use a fulmer without the keepers.. with the keepers the bit is always acting on the mouth. If you wish to ride in release / Descente de mains then a fulmer without keepers works well.

Some horses do prefer more stability and then I would use a full check with Egbutt ends instead.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I prefer to use bit loops, as I think they are safer. They do alter the position of the bit in the mouth, though, but my mare doesn't seem to mind.

This is a fulmer snaffle.

View attachment 87596


View attachment 87597

Wow in my day Fulmer snaffles were thinner at the end of the long cheek and also turned out at the top to aid steering. like this one https://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/p_434_fulmer-jointed-snaffle-jointed-fulmer-cheek-snaffle-
mouth-bit




Boy things have changed unless it is the photo angle.

 

[Zuzan]

Wow in my day Fulmer snaffles were thinner at the end of the long cheek and also turned out at the top to aid steering. like this one https://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/p...naffle-jointed-fulmer-cheek-snaffle-mouth-bit


Boy things have changed unless it is the photo angle.

Real ones still are. The straight non tapered arm seem to have been adopted by some of the cheaper bit manufacturers..

 

[Melody Grey]

I was taught (rightly or wrongly!) to use loops with both fulmer snaffles and full cheek bits to keep the bit more secure in the mouth and have always done so. Thinking about it, that would seem important if the bit is double jointed, like a French link as it would alter the position of the plate part on the tongue. Single jointed or nathe, I can’t see the importance but happy to be corrected.

 

[Tiddlypom]

The fulmer I showed above is a modern version, of unspecified make. It does have slightly tapered arms.



My chiro vet did a bit and bridle check on the mare last time she was here, and pronounced them both a good fit, though I've upgraded the bridle since I took the pics.

I have a bucket full of more modern bits that I have tried on her, including various anatomic neue schule lozenge mouth bits. When I looked back on a photo taken when I tried her out at her breeder's yard before buying her, I saw that she was in a fulmer without loops. Hence me trying the fulmer again, and she prefers it over all those new fangled bits .

Horses, eh.

 

[Nudibranch]

That is a Fulmer snaffle that has the keepers.

Personally I don't see the point of a full cheek as not much different that a normal snaffle apart from steering. Then again you might as well buy a fulmer to aid steering .

Full cheeks work well with youngsters and are simpler to fit than fulmers as there are no keepers. Win win really.

 

[Cortez]

You don't "have" to use keepers with Fulmers, I prefer to use them without for horses that don't like the rather rigid feel. Full cheek snaffles are good for young horses, or those with less educated mouths; they prevent the bit sliding through the mouth and give a rather insistent hint when turning. The full or bar cheek has been around for a very long time, certainly before the 18c.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

We had a horse called Cavan in the 80's at Stag Lodge, he needed the fulmer for turning, as once he set his neck and went it was ruddy hard to stop him. With the keepers on it aids turning. You would take a hack out, go up the hill to pen ponds, look round and he was gone. Straight back to the yard.

 

[Gloi]

I stopped using full cheek bits after I saw someone get a nasty injury from one while untacking a scatty young horse. I moved to D rings to help with steering.