What bit works well for your horse? / advice?

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Alflora

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im currently re training a racehorse and he has always had a single jointed plain eggbutt, but he opens his mouth and chews on it ll the time, especially now that im encouraging a rounder neck and the bit sits differently in his mouth than to when he has his head & nose in the air! i brought a hanging cheek snaffle with a french link for him recently. Any advice before i try it? ive heard it encourages a lower head carriage & rounder outline and it exets sligh poll pressure which i think may help with the outline/ opening & munching on the bit. Could it be because of the single joint bit hitting the roof of his mouth? also is the hanging cheek more severe than the egbutt?

Thank you for any input :-)

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what he has now

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what i have brought him
 
Is your racehorse an Alflora baby by any chance? If so, snap :D

Reg goes in a loose ring happy mouth snaffle with a lozenge in. Bee has a plain eggbut snaffle. They had those bits pretty much from the get-go and have just stuck with them...

There's no poll pressure from a hanging cheek- the higher set bits allow the bit to sit stiller in the horse's mouth, even if the contact isn't very still. This is why so any horses go well in them- they have something consistent to work into. But if he's inconsistent in the contact, the hanging cheek is a good place to start I suppose, as if he improves you know there's a reasonable likelihood it's you who is causing the inconsistency and you can go from there...
 
my horse used to be very unsettled in his mouth in a french link or anything moveable at first, so I got him a mullen mouth eggbut which I think is a very gentle, very stable bit, I do really rate it. Then when he got settled in the contact I switched to a myler comfort snaffle.
I think hanging cheek bits tend to encourage the horses to go a bit overbent, so be careful with that.
 
Mine does the same with her bit - I tried her with a loose ring snaffle with a lozenge and that didn't help, so she's back in a plain loose ring snaffle which has a curved shape (supposed to sit better). I find that the gnashing at the bit is a sign of tension or anxiety for her - if she is unsure of what I am asking then she starts gnashing so I know then that I am not being clear enough or not recognising her 'tries'
 
Yes, mine is an alflora foal! Yay we have half brothers!! :D
Mine has always had the single jointed eggbutt aswell, and has always chewed on it! Im hoping a change of bits may help!

Eva, with your myler bit, how does that help? I have seen them but never used a myler bit, what is it supposed to do? I cant work it out.
If the hanging snaffle makes some horses overbend, hopefully he will get the message of what i want him to do! Haha bless him he does try but only bends ever so slightly, and more at the top of his neck near the poll and hes almost got a ewe neck going on at the bottom! :rolleyes:

Ive heard of gnashing as a sign of tension, but i honestly have no clue why my boy does it! Hes not bored and not anxious! Did your curved bit help at all??
 
Reg virtually always shows his teeth, no idea why he does it. Maybe he thinks it adds to the good looks!

What's your boy like? Sorry for the hi-jack :D Ours is a star- he's huge (verging on 17hh, very well built, proper old-fashioned sort) with a beautiful head and enormous ears. He has big doe eyes, and viewed from the wrong angle looks like a startled baby giraffe. If we could have another Alflora without the racing start, we would in a heartbeat!
 
Alflora said:
Eva, with your myler bit, how does that help? I have seen them but never used a myler bit, what is it supposed to do? I cant work it out.
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the myler bits allow the two sides of the bit to rotate independently of the centre of the mouthpiece - which often allows young/novice/reschooled horses to be more settled in their mouth.

if you opt for a myler with the 'hooks' (slots for reins/cheekpieces to sit in) then the bit is positioned in the horses mouth to give the optimum positioning for clear aids and for the horse's comfort. It also allows for a small amount of poll pressure to be exerted on the horse.

both ours have a myler 04 mouthpiece, which has a small raised bit in the centre of the mouthpiece for their fat tongues to fit under. TB's frequently have a shallower palette than many other horses, whereas the heavier sorts often have a thicker tongue (Ron, has a touch of both!).

I really like the myler bits - I think they do a really good range, and with a bit of research and homework it's pretty easy to get the right one for your horse, and I've never found a horse who goes badly in them...
 
JenHunt said:
the myler bits allow the two sides of the bit to rotate independently of the centre of the mouthpiece - which often allows young/novice/reschooled horses to be more settled in their mouth.

I really like the myler bits - I think they do a really good range, and with a bit of research and homework it's pretty easy to get the right one for your horse, and I've never found a horse who goes badly in them...
Click to expand...

Ah i slightly regret going straight for the hanging cheek snaffle now! Should have done my research! Ah well i will try it & if he really dislikes it, i will try a myler, they sound good! Though will do a bit more reading this time!
 
there's no harm in trying the hanging cheek - it may be just what he needs, and it won't have cost you a great deal!

my one bugbear with the mylers is that they aren't cheap - BUT it's worth shopping around as you do occasionally find deals on them, and also there are places who do a sale or return thing (try bitbank) so you can experiment until you get it right. :)
 
My little ex-racer loves his Peewee bit. He has a tiny little mouth and can not cope with a normal mouth piece. I rode him bitless for a while but he got a bit strong. The peewee ticks all his boxes.
 
There is such a variation in shapes of French link/double jointed bits that it really depends of which brand yo buy! I have about 6 French links and they're all different. The cheaper ones esp are not a comfortable looking fit. The more expensive ones like the the Korsteel JP make a nice smooth curve. But by far the happiest both horses have been in in the horribly expensive NS trans lozenge. Don't think the metal type makes a blind bit of difference the the shape if far superior.

It made a huge difference to my Welsh D cross. He was always light and responsive but wouldn't look for a contract and often hid behind it. It was like a light bulb moment for him in his new (£65 :eek: ) NS bit.
 
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