The Horse Bitting dilemma
If you are confused about bitting your horse, you are not alone even many top riders find they need a little help.
With our horses it is usually never just about the bit either and we have many more things to work on in tandem to improve the ride and in respect of the bit question we should examine what is it we are trying to control?
So, is this a horse “in balance”, or one that is unbalanced, or one that is young and a little green, or one that is just being naughty and taking advantage?
With children or more in-experienced riders, often clever ponies or horses who have experienced a jockey or too will just take advantage and test the riders ability as they have learnt how to evade the riders instructions, and this is when the rider needs some help to understand what problems need to be overcome or corrected before you buy another bit.
Having decided the current bit you are using is not working, which bit do you change it for? Different bits have different actions and use various contact points on the horse’s mouth which can be confusing when you are trying to work out from the saddle what is happening, and so get some help because eyes on the ground can be an enormous advantage.
The first thing to do is check other possible causes of your horses discomfort relating to the bit problem you are finding before you throw the old bit out and get a new one, as usually when something is not working it comes out in the bridled horse’s mouth behaviour to some extent.
The often overlooked but obvious one is the question of whether your horses teeth are checked regularly by your vet or qualified equine dentist? If so, how long has it been since the last visit? These visits can come around fast when you busy competing and just because they are checked every six months does not mean they don’t need checking earlier if there is a problem. Routine checks are no guarantee that everything will stay ok between appointments.
Sharpe edges can develop because horses teeth are not like ours and are constantly growing. Question, are there any signs of bruising, ulcers or mouth soreness that could also arise between your regular horse dentist checks? Perhaps a bruise from a bitten tongue?
Next up.
- Does your saddle still fit properly? Horses can change weight and different saddle pads can vary in thickness and this can cause a narrowing of the space under the withers and along the spinal column where the saddle gullet runs which may causes pressure when the girth is tightened or after you mount. A pinching saddle can cause a horse to run away from the pain.
- Are there any signs of a sore back that may be affecting the horse?
- Poll alignment issues. A poll that is misaligned is usually due to tightness in the muscles of the poll, behaviour such as seeming heavier in one rein or the other, or a reluctance to your request to bend in one direction, or a reduced level of tracking up and stepping through from behind can all signal discomfort and a change in the way the horse is going or behaving from its usual movement pattern.
- The Temporomandibular joint can become sore, and this can be very painful for the horse, including suddenly stopping dead or running backwards quickly. Rest and anti-inflammatory drugs usually help during recovery so check this with your vet.
- New Farrier. Has your farrier recently changed from the previous one? If the new farrier has made changes to the horse’s feet with adjustments such as your horses foot shape to alter the break over point at the toe, altering the rotation point under the horses foot. This can result in temporary muscle soreness as the horses muscles adjust to this new alignment in foot symmetry.
- Is the horse fully sound, have you checked as slight lameness can be hard to detect especially low degree pain in the knee, fetlock, hock, or pastern joint pain which can make the horse move differently to accommodate the pain it is experiencing which may cause the ridden experience to change.
If you are satisfied the above issues are all fine, then we can move on to discuss bitting.
Bits work in different ways and varying degrees of action when acting on the horse’s mouth. Main topics are tongue pressure or tongue relief and also the contact in relation to the bars of the mouth.
We have a plethora of bitting options that make it difficult to reduce the list of options down to pinpoint your individual circumstances and this is where a bitting consultant can be worth their weight in gold as they have the experience to help.
That said we can lay out a few thoughts and observations,
- Snaffle bits have what is often called a nutcracker action which can bring excessive pressure on the bars of the mouth in a horse that is not listening, and the result is often that they run through the riders hand to pull the rein free to release the pressure.
- Double jointed bits have a lozenge or a flat plate joining in the middle which breaks the nutcracker action, and this can be all you need to change to in order to improve matters for your horse which allows contact with the bars of the mouth and brings the action of the lozenge on to the tongue earlier with a wrapping action through the mouth which is more comfortable. This results in the fight for control ending and the horse now accepts the bit and the riders instructions.
- There is also what is called ergonomically designed mouth pieces which are designed to wrap around the horse’s mouth shape. These bits act on the bars of the mouth earlier when the rein is taken up relieving tongue pressure to an extent with the pressure coming onto the tongue slightly later than with a conventional snaffle bit arrangement.
- Now, bringing into the mix of options are bits that offer poll leverage. This helps lower the top line and can assist with greater acceptance of the bit given the change of acting pressure between poll and mouthpiece. The effect of changing the angle of contact through the reins as a result of a lowering of the head in high head carriage horses brings the horses head more onto the vertical line and into the riders hands. There are a range of bitting options that add leverage to the action starting from the poll such as the two and three ring bits which are especially good for riders who are slightly over horsed (often lady riders on big horses and not a lot of weight in the plate) who need more effective control brought about by some leverage.
- Combination bits have become quite popular where the bit type is combined with the action of the hackamore. The combination bit also has the poll pressure facility, bit leverage, and tongue relief is available in certain combination bits, so that pressure is spread around different contact points including the nose, reducing any one area of concentrated pressure.
- Traditional bits such as Pelham's, kimblewicks, and gags are all alternative solutions that should be considered in light of the issues that need correcting, and in some cases the use of a curb chain can make a big difference to the outcome of the bits action and success levels.
Remember always if a horse is uncomfortable, it is more likely to pull against the riders hand and so we don't always automatically select a stronger bit as stronger bits may bring more discomfort and we are looking to avoid that at all costs. Relieving pressure and re-distributing the necessary pressure concentrations required when the riders rein aids are acting on the bit is essential to achieving success.
A good place to start is to consider tongue relief as this is something that is quite a common issue for horses. Some horses accept tongue pressure well and others resist it, and so whichever situation you encounter largely depends on your horse’s mouth confirmation and tongue size. For instance, current sport horse breeding is producing horses with finer jawlines but with proportionately larger tongues and in these cases you would do well to consider bits that offer tongue relief and be extra careful about assessing bit size given the smaller jawline profiles as the bit size needs to be spot on to ensure the bit profile is acting exactly where it is intended. We also need to be careful about horses with big soft lips that flood the available space making it look like it is space that is needed when really a smaller size and an eggbutt side piece would be better for fit and comfort purposes otherwise the port may impinge on areas it is not meant to reach if the bit is too wide.
So, question whether you need more tongue relief, or the removal of the nutcracker action? Or a more ergonomically designed bit for greater comfort? Alternatively, if tongue pressure is accepted one of the lockup bit designs may be the answer as this limits the extent of the bar pressure before the pressure is brought on to the tongue.
When dealing with bit action, most bits involve the bars of the mouth which are very sensitive as they are basically fine bone covered in a thin layer of gum which is why they are so sensitive. Ergonomic designed bit profiles often provide the tongue relief and are profiled to wrap around the bars of the horse’s mouth so that there is some lip stretching momentarily before the surface of the bit contacts with the bars of the horse’s mouth. This gives the horse a little forewarning of what is coming next, and so confidence is established in the bit and the horse starts looking for the contact. The tongue relief allows the horse to seek out the contact without pressure piling onto the tongue (which it does not want to go looking for).
Myler offer an extensive range of options for tongue relief in different degrees of tongue relief which also allow for independent side movement rotation. Most popular is the eggbutt or loose ring Myler MB04, MB06, MB33 are very popular.
Bomber bits have a different range of options that also work very well and work in a slightly different way with great success. The Happy Tongue range, Ported Barrel with independent side action, Elliptical snaffles, Elliptical Lockup bits, Bomber Williams, as well as the two and three ring bits which are highly sort after especially because of the sweet iron bit effect that aids salivation.
Neue Schule bits offer designs with tongue relief and bits that work well for those horses that accept tongue pressure as they have some great options for young horses right through to grand prix dressage level, from the Starter bit, Team up, Verbindend, and Turtle top and Turtle Tacio bits. Neue Schule use their own patented Salox Gold copper-based alloy material that aids warmth on acceptance and quickly reaches mouth temperature.
The important thing to do is to consider the current bit fit and if it is the right size, you may just need the same bit again that fits correctly but being as you have probably checked this out already it is important to consider what the symptoms are you are trying to cure and why they are happening, and this leads us into the controversial area of training and higher equitation.
A horse working correctly is more likely to be better equipped to cope with ridden work and upward or downward transitions, if your horse is going in what we call an upside-down manner with a high head carriage and dropped back it will find transitions much harder and is likely to appear to be more difficult to change pace in a controlled manner with downward transitions requiring more rein pressure.
Consider your horses training level and assess this from a critical view point as any initial bitting solutions can change as your horse develops better movement, balance, and strength. What you need now may have to be changed later on to accommodate your horses progress which may mean a stronger of milder bit option given the level of work they are doing and the feeding regime prevailing. Sometimes it is necessary to keep a more sophisticated bit for competition days for various reasons.
Straight Bar, Single link, or Double link?
Is your horse happier with a straight bar type of bit or a single link snaffle type of action? Or the double link bit that breaks the nutcracker action that some horses object to strongly.
Many horses go well in a single-jointed bit, but its nutcracker action means the central joint could make contact with the roof of the mouth, especially in horses with a low palate so you need to check this point for your particular horse or pony.
The straight bar type of bit removes the bits wrapping action within the mouth space and some horses like the straight bar action acting evenly on both sides under equal sided independent rein pressure. Some straight bar bits have been “design modified” incorporating tongue relief and slightly angled mouthpiece wrapping the bars of the mouth. The Bombers bits happy tongue is a highly successful option of this design type.
Consider loose ring or eggbutt side options to your horse’s mouthpiece as some horses with plump lips can experience pinching of the lip against the loose ring and the bit mouthpiece connection. This is especially important in sports horse mouths as often the bit is fitted too big because the lips flood the mouthpiece sides and so you think the mouthpiece size is correct, when really the horse needs and eggbutt bit that can be fitted more snugly which means these larger lips do not get pinched on a loose ring side piece. The use of protective rubber bit guards can help on loose ring bits if you need to keep the benefit of a faster release that the loose ring bit provides over the eggbutt option, and because you need to prevent any pinching of the lips.
Bit thickness can also play a part in taking up vital mouth space, bit mouth pieces that are thick offer more surface area and a lower pressure level on the bars of the mouth, but the bit thickness can be too much for some horses especially over the tongue area competing with it for palate space and so we have a trade off between a thicker bit for the low pressure surface it provides and a thinner bit offering more tongue space but with a high surface pressure concentration.
Bit material can also be instrumental in finding the key to comfort and acceptance,
- Stainless steel has no taste and is inert, offering a consistent high-quality finish.
- Copper alloy bits offer a warmer mouth feel and get up to mouth temperature quickly,
- Sweet iron bits offer a sweet iron taste which is liked by the horse encouraging salivation.
- Plastic material bits offer a softer mouth feel when they come into contact with the horses teeth and are suited to horses that do not like metal in their mouths.
The key to successful bit selection is to understand that when a horse accepts a bit (because they are comfortable in it) they will often become lighter through the contact and so it is important to remove the thought that you need a stronger bit when you are considering bit selection. Work on finding the most comfortable bit for your horses needs as this will take you to an improved level of control, and only then will you know if it is strong enough.
Bridles and Nosebands.
A bridle that fits properly is essential to comfort for your horse. Often bridles come in standard sizes and that may not suit certain breeds. Especially in horses the cob and the full sizes might both fit badly in certain places and so there is a need to look at a handmade bridle made to measure.
Ergonomic bridle options go a step further in terms of comfort and consider the pressure around the ears, face, and nose.
Nosebands play a big part in comfort and the noseband type may also need to be changed to improve your horses comfort, good results are found with flash nosebands, grackle nosebands as well as the Collegiate or Micklem bridles that are designed to close avoiding facial nerves that may become compressed by nosebands especially if the rider/groom is used to closing them too tight.
If you need to clamp your horse’s mouth shut tight this should be a warning sign that more needs to be looked into as no horse can ever be comfortable with a piece of metal in its mouth being pulled around without being able to open it sufficiently to avoid any moments of discomfort that may be caused in these instances.
The obsession with closing a horse’s mouth is often the case, and yet some horses go better with the restriction removed completely and this is rarely considered by riders in pursuit of improving the result.
In Summary
If you work on solving the “bit fit” and comfort issues relating to mouth conformation. Carefully consider the riders level of experience. Think about your horses particular stage of development and training, and then examine the various options that different bitting designs bring to the subject of rider control for your horses situation. Then you are likely to be on the road to success.
We are always available to discuss and advise with bitting options.
Saddlemasters Equestrian – Bitting Consultants.
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