The Team Up bit from Neue Schule.
The traditional French link bit is designed with the centre link plate siting “edge on” to the tongue which can have a very detrimental effect and cause discomfort. In some cases this has caused bruising or tearing of the tongue due to the fact that the link is not aligned to the angle of the bit against the tongue when the rein is taken up. Note, the Dr Bristol middle link plate is angled at 45 degrees for a reason.
Neue Schule have redesigned this popular bit and modernised it so that it is tongue friendly during its use, opting for the lozenge profile between the two joints, and an ergonomic mouthpiece profile wrapping around the horses mouth form using a 16mm thick mouthpiece to provide plenty of surface area reducing gum pressure for mouths with enough room.
The 14mm version does assist with additional space for horses with large tongues as the tongue will sit under the mouth piece, (as will the mouth piece be siting under the palate) and so if the bit is too large space is at a premium.
The result is a bit that is accepted very well by most horses combined with the Neue Schule copper alloy called Salox gold that provides a warm, softer metal that is less shocking if the teeth come into contact and aids relaxation through greater acceptance of the bit material.
The Team Up bit is a great solution for young horses to be started off in the right way and for older horses that are a little tense as a result of the use of a traditional french link where they may have unconsciously backed off from taking the contact and consequently are not riding up in to the bridle as well as they could do so, especially if they have switched off from behind resisting the riders attempts to collect them using the riders leg aids due to the french link blocking them in front.
The loose ring still proves a fast release and so the bit will feel lighter in the riders hands in preference to an eggbutt bit that offers a slower release and so there is still plenty of scope for horses to be ridden executing precise movements and effect timely transitions.