Height of bit in horses mouth??

georgiegirl

georgiegirl

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Do people find somehorses prefer their bits higher or lower that others?

The reason i ask is that I ride twig with her bit fairly low, but she works completely hand to leg and beautifully soft. Mum mentioned last night it looked too low so i put it up a hole and today on her lesson she was much more 'gobby' and resistant and snatching. Now she is 5 so she may well have been feeling her teeth today so cant rule it out. Im going to drop the bit again tomorrow and see if she is any different. I just think she may find it more comfortable as she does have a very small mouth - so much so she wont go nicely in our nice kind fat snaffle we bought her so had to swap to a much thinner french link!

Anyone else had a similar experience?
 
Yes, my horse also prefers the bit a hole slightly lower in his mouth. I think it depends on mouth confirmation and the horse's personal preference.

He also prefers a thinner mouthed bit with a link and loose rings.

What breed/type is your horse?

Mine is a Clydesdale X Highland with a thick tongue and low palate. He does not have a lot of room in there!
 
shes full tb - 16.2 and very lanky! hence the name twiggy! She has a very small mouth and although we thought we were doing the kind thing rebreaking her with a chunky lozenge bit she seems much happier in the more 'nasty' looking thin french link. That said, she is very slow in developing her teeth as we still have a couple of caps at the front. Will try a hole lower agin tomorrow and see if it makes any difference.
 
Oh the name definitely suits her then.

TBs seem to have small mouths and low palates, so this may explain it.

My horse didnt like the happy mouth snaffle I tried him in, but prefers a thin NS trans-lozenge universal (gag) which definitely is not kinder! Its a matter of trial and error and she is lucky you are prepared to do this.

Good luck
 
My TB goes better with the bit slighlty lower in his mouth. Again he will work beautiful in an outline like this. This was suggested to me by my instructor. I use a loose ring snaffle for schooling and hacking.
 
This is really interesting stuff. I've got a 5 yo Tb ex-racer and he's really 'gobby'. I'll try dropping his bit a hole and see if that makes any difference.
Thanks Guys!!
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