Warming the bit?

lisan

lisan

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Fylde Coast, Lancs
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Do any of you warm your horses bit up when its really cold like this? Or am I just sad and too soft?
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I boil the kettle (not the brew making one!) and dip it in for a few seconds to take the chill off.
 
Yes I pour some warm water over it and then check its not too hot, its just to take the chill off it. As I'm the only one on the yard that does it, I reckon I'm probably a bit soft.
 
Only if really cold - tend to stick it between my fat warm thighs - soon nice and toasty - Cairo's is 6" (the bit) so too big for my hands.

They certainly do seem to appreciate a warmish rather than freezing bit.
 
Gosh bit warmers were all the rage a couple of years back, can't find any now.

Um no I am a mean horrid mum and have never warmed up a bit before I put it in my horses mouth, there again I don't warm my cutlery up before I use it either (Ok not a direct comparison I know
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I do feel guilty sometimes about how cold the bit is ... have only ever warmed it in my hands tho', never gone so far as boiling water. But if you can start mollycoddling too much.
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No I don't warm bits up. When it gets really really cold here, like -40c, then I generally won't ride in a bit; I just ride them out in a headcollar and reins and bareback, or pop a hackamore on the ones who are a bit more lively.
 
I was going to ask you about that Tia, but you've answered my question anyway. I have always warmed bits up, reckon if it sticks to my tongue then it will to theirs. OK, so I'm a closet weirdo going around licking bits!
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I rode the grumps away, halter and NZ job through the woods for 20 minutes, lovely and sunny here and relatively warm today apart from a very lazy wind.
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Hi Lisa - I thought we were the only ones to go for the kettle! I know about the hand-warming thing but it freezes your mitts off. We pour hot water over the bit, then test it by hand then cheek for suitability. If we are in the lorry, we put the bits on the heaters for a while. It's not soft - it's kind. It doesn't seem to occur to many people we come across.
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This probably isn't any use to you guys in England because it isn't very cold there.....but if you were over here, the VERY WORST thing you could do would be to put hot water on your bit! Once hot water hits freezing cold air it freezes so much more quickly than if you were to run your bit under cold/cool water. This can cause tongue freezer-burn...so be careful.

People would think you were crazy if you did that where I live.
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I don't mean to harp on but the biggest thing (if you do ever get seriously cold temperatures) is NOT to wet the bit! If you choose to warm it, do so by all means but not using hot water - you really can injure your horse's tongue by doing this in freezing weather.
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If it were THAT cold, I wouldn't be riding! Seriously, though, we re-check it to make sure it is completely OK. I still think a freezing-cold piece of steel is not a pleasant thing to put in a horse's warm, wet mouth with no pre-warming.
 
LMAO!! That made me chuckle Theresa....
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I doubt it does get that cold over there. I'm just saying that it is dangerous over here and IF England ever were to have a weird and very cold winter one year, then please take care.
 
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