Which bit?

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karenm

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Hi,

I have a 5yr old ISH mare who is very sensitive. I currently have her in a hanging cheek french link snaffle, but as soon as I check back on the reins she throws her head in the air (I am not a heavy handed rider and don't pull at the reins). I have had her teeth and back checked, all is fine. I believe this is caused by the hanging cheek.

I have tried her in a few bits and was thinking of putting her in a straight bar rubber snaffle as I have been told that they are pretty mild. I wanted to know what peoples thoughts are on fixed ring and loose ring, as I believe loose ring bits can cause pinching, but am struggling to find a fixed ring in a size 5 3/4.

I'm open to suggestions, so please feel free to let me know what ideas you have and what works for you and your horse.

My mare has a bad habit of rearing whenever something happens she doesn't like, e.g. anything new (again, everything has been checked, back, teeth, vet exam... nothing wrong with her). I know why she rears, and (touch wood!!) she hasn't done it for about 6 months now. Due to the rearing I don't want a bit that has a nut cracker effect and so jointed snaffles are out.

I was also thinking about a french link without the hanging cheek, but have read that they are quite strong and thought she might go better in a milder bit. She is not strong, in fact she is quite lazy!

Thank you in advance for any help you may have :-)
 
I'm not an extremely knowledgable bit person and I'm sure many people will have different bit suggestions for you but to put another spin on it have you considered bitless?

My ex racer behaved similar with contact, giraffe neck etc.. She has improved no end since going bitless and is one happy, relaxed horse, doesn't resist contact and collects beautifully.
 
Thanks for replying. Do you know if bitless bridles can be used in dressage and show jumping? I intend to event her (only at low level), so may need to get her used to a bit?
 
karenm said:
Thanks for replying. Do you know if bitless bridles can be used in dressage and show jumping? I intend to event her (only at low level), so may need to get her used to a bit?
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I think showjumping and x country is legal, dressage it's not yet however I found working bitless leads to much better accepting work in a bit, so you could work back to a bit or just swap between bitted and bitless depending on the discipline.
 
I ride all my horses in french link loosering bits, milder than a single joint and I find them more acceptable to them.

I also have all mine in sweetiron as they seem to accept it more and mouth the bit more.

My mare used to throw her head about, it was her IVE HAD ENOUGH protest when she didnt want to work. I just ignored it and pushed her on and now she goes back to it when shes tired but again just push her on and finish when Im ready to. Its gotten less and less.

My last mare was a rearer, she napped horribly when i first got her and this was part of her repetoir :rolleyes: Again I just got her to realise that it wasnt getting her anywhere to rear and be a pratt and that eventually she would be going the way I wanted come hell or high water. Again she stopped it once she realised it didnt get her anywhere.

There were times though that I wanted to shoot her, especially when we were spinning on roads with traffic :rolleyes: Be persistant and firm and they get the drift eventually if its not pain related.
 
Thank you for the advice, but i think I would like to try and get her to accept the bit as I want to try and keep her routine the same as much as possible, so want to find what she is happy with and be able to stick with it. As she is young the first classes I will be taking her to this year will be dressage it sounds like I will need her to be in a bit.

It's a shame it's not dressage 'legal' though, as I have heard good things about bitless bridles.
 
She might prefer a mullen-mouthed bit, softer on the mouth than a straight-bar as they follow the contours. Have a look at the Myler bits, you might find something there.
 
Black Beastie said:
I ride all my horses in french link loosering bits, milder than a single joint and I find them more acceptable to them.

I also have all mine in sweetiron as they seem to accept it more and mouth the bit more.

My mare used to throw her head about, it was her IVE HAD ENOUGH protest when she didnt want to work. I just ignored it and pushed her on and now she goes back to it when shes tired but again just push her on and finish when Im ready to. Its gotten less and less.

My last mare was a rearer, she napped horribly when i first got her and this was part of her repetoir :rolleyes: Again I just got her to realise that it wasnt getting her anywhere to rear and be a pratt and that eventually she would be going the way I wanted come hell or high water. Again she stopped it once she realised it didnt get her anywhere.

There were times though that I wanted to shoot her, especially when we were spinning on roads with traffic :rolleyes: Be persistant and firm and they get the drift eventually if its not pain related.
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Thanks! This is quite useful as I have been reading about sweet irons and wondered about them. I did have a look at a loose ring sweet iron french link recently, but was undecided as I had heard they are quite strong... not sure if this is correct though, as I have read contradicting things on the internet!!

I am with you on the rearing thing. She is just very nervous of things and starts to shake when she is in a new place, so as you can imagine, hacking is fun!! She is getting much better, but as you say, some days I feel like I could shoot her! I am just taking everything a lot slower with her than I would most other youngsters as I don't want to push her to do something too quickly. She is learning to take things in a bit more and so isn't getting so panicky! She is about 17hh now, so when she does go up its pretty terrifying!
 
Pearlsasinger said:
She might prefer a mullen-mouthed bit, softer on the mouth than a straight-bar as they follow the contours. Have a look at the Myler bits, you might find something there.
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Thank you for replying. I don't know much about myler bits and have never known anyone who uses them. I have read mixed reviews about them on the internet and it seems a bit like marmite, your horse either loves them or hates them. As they are pretty costly I think I might try more standard bits first, in case she decides she hates them.

A mullen-mouthed bit is possibly what I meant when I said straight bar... is mullen mouth just a slightly curved bit, normally in happy mouth or rubber?
 
Well this was her throwing her head at me :rolleyes:

NP15.jpg


she would do if for ten mins at a time every other stride shilst trying to stop :mad: she really got on my wick for a while, if working her forwards and lunging her in a harbridge handt helped she was going in a standing for a while as I got a few rather nasty nosebleeds out of it before it stopped.

Yeah they can be a bit worrying when they go up, frenchlinks/lozenges are not severe id say they were very mild on the horse :)
 
Thanks. I think I might try her in a mullen-mouth and a sweet iron french link and see which she prefers. I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks for all your help :-)
 
She sounds like my mare! Although touch wood mine hasn't reared in about 2 years. I have found that she goes well in a sweet iron loose ring snaffle with a copper lozenge, its not strong and she seems to like the taste/feel of it. She also quite likes a neue schule tranz angled lozenge loose ring, although I will have to speak very nicely to my O/H for one of these. Were you having a lesson on the picture where she was throwing her head up? if so what does your instructor recommend? Good luck with her xxx
 
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