Neue Schule turtle top.. Anyone use it?

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J1993

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Hi, just wondering if anyone uses this bit and can recommend it? My horse is currently in a loose ring snaffle with lozenge and a flash noseband. She goes through stages where she goes nicely then goes a bit funny and is very resistant to the contact, in the walk she isn't very connected but this is more due to walk impulsion, in trot she is a little better but sometimes starts messing with her mouth, opening and closing it, having a bit of a chomp, in canter she is really against me and pulls against me, I know this is because she isn't as strong in the canter but she really leans on my hand and leg to balance herself. She also hates the flash being done up, fine with the noseband but puts her head in the air when I do the flash up. She had her teeth checked and rasped 3 months ago. I am currently having lessons and in a few months she had improved massively but is still quite difficult to ride as she is so stubborn to ride into a contact. I have researched bits and this one was reccomended for horses who mess with their mouths and you don't need to use a flash with it, which would be ideal. The price is £95 but you can hire them for 30 days for £11 which would be the route I was going to try. My instructor said I might as well try it and has given me another bit to research into but just wondering if anyone could give me any recommendations/ success with using this bit? Thanks!

Edited to add she is a 16.3 9yo IDxWB
 
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I haven't used this bit, however with a horse that is a bit fussy in the mouth then I would put it in an eggbutt or hanging cheek. They are designed to keep the bit still in the mouth. Informed bitting do a mouthpiece very similar to what you are looking at with either cheek piece.

If she is hating the flash being done up I would remove the flash, loosen the noseband, use a nathe or lozenge hanging cheek bit and see how you get on - she may be better with a drop noseband.

Unfortunately it is trial and error, you don't say how old she is however I would go right back to a mild bit and then build from there if necessary.
 
LJR said:
I haven't used this bit, however with a horse that is a bit fussy in the mouth then I would put it in an eggbutt or hanging cheek. They are designed to keep the bit still in the mouth. Informed bitting do a mouthpiece very similar to what you are looking at with either cheek piece.

If she is hating the flash being done up I would remove the flash, loosen the noseband, use a nathe or lozenge hanging cheek bit and see how you get on - she may be better with a drop noseband.

Unfortunately it is trial and error, you don't say how old she is however I would go right back to a mild bit and then build from there if necessary.
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Sorry I have added in now that she is 9. Is an ex hunter and was always in a Dutch gag on the 2nd/3rd ring. She is a little strong but not overly and it will be mainly for dressage with a bit of jumping/fun rides thrown in.

She was in an eggbutt but my instructor reccomended changing it as she would clamp onto it and throw me forward so we then swapped to the current one. I could imagine the hanging cheek would do similar as she just clamps onto it and throws her head forward, but can't do it now with the loose rings but thanks for the ideas
 
me!!!

i us the turtle top in the loose ring side (can get it in wilkie also i believe)

Levi LOVES! his he has been a very difficult horse to bite as he has a low palette, he was often seen "chomping" away on any bite!

2 mins after putting this in he was drooling! and he fell asleep with it in! i felt him wile i went to fill a hay net!

your welcome to PM me with any questions but i really really like mine and Levi defiantly does!
 
Shavings said:
me!!!

i us the turtle top in the loose ring side (can get it in wilkie also i believe)

Levi LOVES! his he has been a very difficult horse to bite as he has a low palette, he was often seen "chomping" away on any bite!

2 mins after putting this in he was drooling! and he fell asleep with it in! i felt him wile i went to fill a hay net!

your welcome to PM me with any questions but i really really like mine and Levi defiantly does!
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Oh brill! I would be getting it in the loose ring. Did you find you had any of the problems I had mentioned? Has it affected his suppleness/roundness at all? I am also confused on size. She was in a 5.5 eggbutt but the 5.5 loose ring was too small and I was worried about pinching so is in a 6 inch loose ring. And the sizes are in mm. So the 5.5 (139mm) would be size large which is 138mm - 148mm. And the 6 (152mm) would be xlarge which is 148mm - 158mm. Hmmm. I have tried to call but no answer as of yet!
 
My lad normal wears a 5 some times a 5 1/4 (very small tb mouth) so i got a medium so a large round probably be right for your girl

my boy was very unsettled in his mouth throwing his head about, chomping! just so busy trying to get the bit out to even accept it, (and he has the dentist every 6 month)

this bit has changed him completely i only ride with a very loose nose band now and the bit, his head is still high but my boy is 4 and its more balance then the bit now

i also lunge with the bit and he is super happy with it, i us to lunge in are old bit and he would chew on them or open his mouth ect nor he happily goes on nice quiet mouth and some nice drool at the end!!

this bit doesnt "smash" the roof of his mouth which is what i think was the problem for us so its well worth a try for your girl!
 
Neue schule have videos on you tube on how to measure the bit correctly. I was told a long time ago that you need to go up 1/2 inch from fixed to loose ring so they don't pinch.
 
i have one for J, the sizes of the bit are different to traditional bitting sizes, so they fall in small, med, large, x large. J is 5.5inch in normal NS bits, this equates to a large in the turtle top. I currently have one on trial from horse bit hire. Due to the weather i haven't used it as much i would have liked but when it has been used J has been happy with it.

It's hard to explain how it works but the arms lock so they bit stays stable in the mouth when on a contact.
 
Thanks I will definately try one, I have emailed the company about size as that was also what I thought about going half a size up. But then it will have the extra mm so unsure if it will be too big..? I am also going to trial it, for £11 I can't really complain! And if it works and helps me with her schooling then obviously that's a big bonus. Will look for the NS sizing video. Thanks
 
Just thought I would do a partial update... I ordered the large size but it wasn't in stock. It is due to come back in stock with the manufacturer early this coming week and I would then have an update on when to expect it... Hurry up please! End of the week would be brill!
 
Whitehorseslave said:
Hi there OP - just wondering how you got on with your trial as thinking of doing the same - cheers
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Hi! Finally got it, it does make a little difference, she is a lot lighter and I get a lot less resistance, she doesn't mess as much with her mouth as in chewing but she still tends to open it every now and again! I wish I had gone for the larger size tho! I have about a week left on the trial and i am in 2 minds on whether to keep it, as although there is a difference is it £95 worth of a difference...
 
My experience of it thus far is that NS advised me to use a large as my horse is a 5.5 inch normally (although that's normally cos I can't get 5 1/4 easily). It came and was a size too big although he did canter very nicely in it. Eventually got hold of it in the medium which looks a better fit (although tbh if there was a size in between medium and large then I think that is REALLY what he would need... don't really understand why the special sizing if I'm honest as if it was made in the normal range of sizes I feel it would fit better and I would have got the right size first time). Still making my mind up as despite this looking like it's fitting better he doesn't seem to be going as nicely in it as in the larger size. Going to persevere as due to slightly odd circumstances I've ended up with a spare to flog already so don't really wish to sell the one I'm using as well as go back to drawing board just yet (although that may be where things are leading)
 
oldie48 said:
I just wondered how you were getting on and what you decided. I have a horse that is fussy in his mouth and am thinking I might try one.
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Hi, I ended up keeping the bit, I do think it makes a 25% difference in my horse and she happily opens her mouth now to accept the bit, she isn't as soft as I would like but she is a stubborn ****** and it takes a lot to get her going nicely anyway! I wouldn't reccomend buying one unless you were trialing it and could send it back as I think it's going to be one that works for some and doesn't work for others. She ends up nice and frothy but doesn't in other loose ring snaffles so it's doing something right! She doesn't like a flash strap and tends to open her mouth, she still opens her mouth but doesn't stand there and mess with the bit like she used to. Hope that helps. I would also agree with above poster about sizing, I would have preferred a bigger size but believe it would have ended up too big due to the weird sizes
 
Thanks for replying, very helpful!
J1993 said:
Hi, I ended up keeping the bit, I do think it makes a 25% difference in my horse and she happily opens her mouth now to accept the bit, she isn't as soft as I would like but she is a stubborn ****** and it takes a lot to get her going nicely anyway! I wouldn't reccomend buying one unless you were trialing it and could send it back as I think it's going to be one that works for some and doesn't work for others. She ends up nice and frothy but doesn't in other loose ring snaffles so it's doing something right! She doesn't like a flash strap and tends to open her mouth, she still opens her mouth but doesn't stand there and mess with the bit like she used to. Hope that helps. I would also agree with above poster about sizing, I would have preferred a bigger size but believe it would have ended up too big due to the weird sizes
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