I don’t know why everybody isn’t using this bit

[dixie]

Because according to the blurb it will solve nearly every problem!
whilst browsing for a bit for my youngster I came across these bits. As he’s currently putting his tongue over the bit and hanging it out sometimes I thought it was interesting.
Its off putting in that they’re claiming it’s a miracle worker but for the price of hiring it for a month, I’ll still give it a go.
Anyone else used them or come across them as they’re new to me?

https://www.horsebitbank.com/products/wtp-lightweight-dee-ring-eggbutt

 

[SEL]

Because according to the blurb it will solve nearly every problem!
whilst browsing for a bit for my youngster I came across these bits. As he’s currently putting his tongue over the bit and hanging it out sometimes I thought it was interesting.
Its off putting in that they’re claiming it’s a miracle worker but for the price of hiring it for a month, I’ll still give it a go.
Anyone else used them or come across them as they’re new to me?

https://www.horsebitbank.com/products/wtp-lightweight-dee-ring-eggbutt

Given they say they stop displacement of the soft palate I think I'll be joining you on a trial. If they can help my little native then I'll be over the moon.

 

[DirectorFury]

If I had a quid for every time I’d read a blurb for a bit that promises to solve all possible problems I’d have enough money to pay for all the times I fell for it and bought the damn things ?.

I’d be interested to hear how you get on with it!

 

[dixie]

If I had a quid for every time I’d read a blurb for a bit that promises to solve all possible problems I’d have enough money to pay for all the times I fell for it and bought the damn things ?.

I’d be interested to hear how you get on with it!

yes exactly ! I’ll let you know. He’s only young and new to me, so probably schooling and time issue but I would like to knock the evasion on the head. (teeth have been checked !)

 

[ihatework]

Amazing what a bit can solve huh ??? Good god

 

[dixie]

Given they say they stop displacement of the soft palate I think I'll be joining you on a trial. If they can help my little native then I'll be over the moon.

I think for £9.50 hire plus postage for 30days it’s worth a try.

 

[Lipglosspukka]

Keep us updated how it goes

 

[cobgoblin]

Erm... Where's the eggbutt? Looks more like a loose ring. Hasn't got the extensions for protecting the corner of the mouth.

 

[maddielove]

I bought one of these last summer for my mare who has a huge fat tongue (squeezes out of her lips with a bit in) and low pallet. She likes to play with the bit a lot and thought this might pacify/chill her out. The shape was definitely to her liking but think the link/plate took up a little too much room in her mouth because it's so tight for space anyway. Switched to the Hilary Vernon Symmetry snaffle and she seems to have a tiny bit more room in this but she could probably use a quarter inch bigger which doesn't seem to exist.
Good luck with your trial! When looking into them last year there wasn't a lot of recent reviews so be good to have more info about what type of issues they work best for.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I'm confused as to how a bit can stop a horse rearing?

 

[SpotsandBays]

Can somebody explain why this bit wouldn’t be dressage legal? Interested to know!

 

[Cortez]

Would buying a Ferrari make me a better driver?

 

[AdorableAlice]

Would buying a Ferrari make me a better driver?

Probably put you in a ditch.

 

[Cowpony]

Would buying a Ferrari make me a better driver?

It's interesting that the better I learn to ride, the less relevant the type of bit becomes......

 

[Cortez]

It's interesting that the better I learn to ride, the less relevant the type of bit becomes......

I was once told by a superb Spanish trainer (and completely not famous; very modest man) that a well trained horse will go in anything if the rider knows how to ride. He demonstrated this by riding all the GP movements - plus a selection of higher level ones - with a piece of rope in the horse's mouth. I've also seen the same with nothing at all on their heads.

 

[Rowreach]

Well most of us are just your average, tipping along, doing the best we can sort of riders, and while no one bit is going to work miracles, it makes sense to me to find something that the individual horse is happiest in.

 

[Cortez]

Well most of us are just your average, tipping along, doing the best we can sort of riders, and while no one bit is going to work miracles, it makes sense to me to find something that the individual horse is happiest in.

Agree, but would be nice if people made the effort to learn.

 

[milliepops]

It's interesting that the better I learn to ride, the less relevant the type of bit becomes......

Well most of us are just your average, tipping along, doing the best we can sort of riders, and while no one bit is going to work miracles, it makes sense to me to find something that the individual horse is happiest in.

i sit somewhere in between this I think, i've definitely spent time and £ experimenting to try and find the best choice for each individual. There are definitely some with specific physical needs or ingrained training problems where the bit choice can be really important. but my experience has been that my fairly averagely made & trained horses have gone about the same in anything I've chosen therefore I'm either not sensitive enough to notice or they aren't

I am sceptical when some people post that they've tried a newfangled thingumyjig and the horse "loves it", i wonder sometimes whether we always appreciate the difference between a bit that the horse actually likes vs one that tips the balance of control over to the rider regardless of the horse's choice... i've definitely arrived at a tack combo that gives me the last word when it counts on the XC and the horse is sort of defeated... they've stopped fighting the rider but that's not the same as liking the tack

 

[Rowreach]

i sit somewhere in between this I think, i've definitely spent time and £ experimenting to try and find the best choice for each individual. There are definitely some with specific physical needs or ingrained training problems where the bit choice can be really important. but my experience has been that my fairly averagely made & trained horses have gone about the same in anything I've chosen therefore I'm either not sensitive enough to notice or they aren't

I am sceptical when some people post that they've tried a newfangled thingumyjig and the horse "loves it", i wonder sometimes whether we always appreciate the difference between a bit that the horse actually likes vs one that tips the balance of control over to the rider regardless of the horse's choice... i've definitely arrived at a tack combo that gives me the last word when it counts on the XC and the horse is sort of defeated... they've stopped fighting the rider but that's not the same as liking the tack

It’s interesting because I verge on the less is more approach, so if a horse isn’t relaxed in the mouth I go milder/more comfortable shape/warmer material rather than “stronger”? And then the happier horse is more responsive (aka controllable)?

I have to confess I have around 120 bits here and probably fall back on three of them, with the odd exception. I’ve lost count of the horses I’ve been told “pull”, when they’re actually leaning, and by using something the horse likes the “pulling” stops instantly ?

 

[Rowreach]

Agree, but would be nice if people made the effort to learn.

But I think a lot of people are trying ...

 

[milliepops]

I'm sure it depends on the individual as usual
Kira is super strong until she is in self carriage. Pulls, leans, yawps, you name it I have not found any bit that improves her mouth (most recent experiments were last year, trying to find an alternative to the french link we settled on, after FEI banned them), the only thing that makes her nice in the contact is getting her in balance. To achieve that I need a curb, and once achieved you could ride her in a nathe. a double works well!

 

[Rowreach]

I'm sure it depends on the individual as usual
Kira is super strong until she is in self carriage. Pulls, leans, yawps, you name it I have not found any bit that improves her mouth (most recent experiments were last year, trying to find an alternative to the french link we settled on, after FEI banned them), the only thing that makes her nice in the contact is getting her in balance. To achieve that I need a curb, and once achieved you could ride her in a nathe. a double works well!

Yeah but Kira ????

 

[Flowerofthefen]

It's interesting that the better I learn to ride, the less relevant the type of bit becomes......

This is what my trainer said to me. Its the hands not the bit!!

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I was once told by a superb Spanish trainer (and completely not famous; very modest man) that a well trained horse will go in anything if the rider knows how to ride. He demonstrated this by riding all the GP movements - plus a selection of higher level ones - with a piece of rope in the horse's mouth. I've also seen the same with nothing at all on their heads.

This is true. I'm no world beater when it comes to riding, but my horse will go in a double, snaffle, sidepull, or neck ring. Same results, really.

We hack in the sidepull because it is convenient if we stop somewhere and I let him graze. Someone noticed one of the first times I rode him in my newer side pull and asked "if I had done this before" I mean, I had, but would it matter? They thought because he had no bit he would take off. Erm, they (and I) had never seen this horse take off before, why would he start now ? I guess when you take the bit away, they suddenly lose all training and go out of control, who knew.

Similar story (running away is really a concern with a lot of people apparently) when I was riding without a noseband, which I do more now that my horse has a bump on the side of his head where the noseband sits...and I realized it is one less thing to clean/get sweaty. Someone said, "what if he runs and opens his mouth?" I just said "What if he does" *shrug*

I don't get why all of these behaviors, never before seen in this horse, would suddenly appear dramatically the minute I change his bit and/or bridle set up. I ride primarily with my body, he's in-tune to that, and I wouldn't set us up for catastrophic failure so...



I am all for finding something the horse is comfortable in. Mine prefers fixed rings (an eggbutt) and a single joint. Otherwise he's a bit chompy and busy, even just standing still with no rider. Some have low palates, fleshy lips, big tongues, and so on. Bit fit is important, and so is training.

 

[milliepops]

Yeah but Kira ????

there are many things that can be explained with "yeah but Kira" haha

though in that respect she is just a front-heavy thug of a horse and when she agrees to engage and try, the bitting ceases to be a problem. I have ridden others like that, that need to learn a more desirable way of going. So i think the same apparent problem can have different solutions. sometimes it is just that the pair of you learning to do better riding together

i also think that riders pull as much as horses, I know myself that you can get fixated on lightening the *horse* in the hand and forget that you can lead by example, the give and retake can be the most powerful aid in the rider's toolbox sometimes.

 

[scats]

I thought Millie was happy in a Myler, until her vet chiro noticed, on a couple of visits, that her hyoid and attached muscle was extremely tight. We decided to try something with a bit of tongue relief and settled on a bomber happy tongue. Her general way of going hasn’t changed, but the hyoid issues resolved.

I really wouldn’t have known there was any problem as Millie gave no outwards signs that the myler didn’t quite suit.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I was once told by a superb Spanish trainer (and completely not famous; very modest man) that a well trained horse will go in anything if the rider knows how to ride.

I was also told similar by a list 1 dressage who was getting frustrated by my fussy mouthed dressage horse - she said that a horse should go in any bit.

I completely disagreed with her. Differently conformed mouths will suit different shaped bits. That horse hated a traditional single joint joint snaffle, wherese the current horse loves them, and despises all the funky lozenge snaffles ?‍.

I'm a 'less is more' person for bitting, too.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

there are many things that can be explained with "yeah but Kira" haha

though in that respect she is just a front-heavy thug of a horse and when she agrees to engage and try, the bitting ceases to be a problem. I have ridden others like that, that need to learn a more desirable way of going. So i think the same apparent problem can have different solutions. sometimes it is just

that the pair of you learning to do better riding together

i also think that riders pull as much as horses, I know myself that you can get fixated on lightening the *horse* in the hand and forget that you can lead by example, the give and retake can be the most powerful aid in the rider's toolbox sometimes.

That last part reminded me of a friend I've been helping lately. Her and her horse get into pulling matches, a lot. Or the horse gives up and p's off. She is often exhausted when she is finished riding and they're both frustrated and feel like they're being forced into something. I've given her a variety of exercises and she said that suddenly riding is much easier and takes far less energy, but the main thing missing when I first really watched her ride was the give and retake. Without having and using that tool, it would forever be an uphill battle to nowhere.

She would always say "she's pulling" and I would say because "you're pulling" people (I've been guilty of this too) get so fixated on the horse. "She's doing x or he's doing y or he won't stop doing z" but what are YOU doing? Our bodies can do do much or so little on the horse.

I also do think my current horses "type" makes some things easier.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I was also told similar by a list 1 dressage who was getting frustrated by my fussy mouthed dressage horse - she said that a horse should go in any bit.

I completely disagreed with her. Differently conformed mouths will suit different shaped bits. That horse hated a traditional single joint joint snaffle, wherese the current horse loves them, and despises all the funky lozenge snaffles ?‍.

I don't take it as "the horse should accept anything you put into its mouth" since we need to do our due diligence to make sure the bit fits the horse, and this involves more than just bit size. Instead it's that the horse should show a certain relationship to the bit. The horse should accept the riders aids regardless of in the double or the snaffle. That person might expect that the rider already did the leg work to find the best bit for the horse, the trainer isn't there to help you find a bit, but to work on the relationship with the bit and contact. So the trainer might have seen purely resistance in the horse. I mean, why would you, the owner, ride your horse in a bit that it doesn't like? To put it simply, even though finding the right bit can be a bit of a journey with some horses.



Sort of related, but I do wonder though if it is about the rider sometimes. Perhaps some bits "mute" some riding habits more, such as instability and whatnot. So the horse likes that bit because it accommodates that rider, maybe. Not sure, something to think about, I guess.

 

[oldie48]

I definitely think it helps if the bit suits the conformation of the horses's mouth. Mr B had a tiny mouth with a very fat tongue and fleshy inner cheeks, there was also something a bit unusual about the shape of his muzzle and teeth. He was the first and only horse I've had difficulty finding a bit that he was comfortable in but they do exist.

 

[Upthecreek]

No bit is ever going to be ‘the answer’ or magically transform the horse, but finding one that is comfortable for the horse can certainly increase the chances of creating a successful partnership. I’m not saying this completely eliminates evasions or unwanted behaviours because these can of course also be in response to how the rider is riding.

I think the number of bit options available these days is truly mind blowing; there are so many different mouth pieces and then you have different cheek options.......

Still often see horses wearing bits that are the wrong size or too high/too low in the mouth. Owners probably waste money on loads of different bits when the one they have would probably be fine if correctly fitted!