bit advice needed

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kateandjewel

New Member
Nov 17, 2008
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Hello! My fairly green friesian mare is currently in a loose ring snaffle with the lozenge (termed a "training bit" when i bought it) which is made of german copper I think, or something similar to encourage salivation. She constantly is moving it about in her mouth and salivates way too much, which suggests to me that she is not happy in it! As I don't know anything about bits I need some advice on what might suit her and help her to be comfortable enough not to chew or mouthe the entire time.
She constantly evades the bit by overbending, which apparently is something that friesians do a lot at the start of their schooling. My teacher expressed concern the other night though, about the way that she seems so hesitant to accept a contact. She definitely needs something mild as she is not too strong...

Any advice gratefully received.
 
Is it possible she's not liking the metal trying to encourage salivation? Some horses love it but one of mine really doesn't like bits like this having thought I'd be kind and try one lol...

How thick is the mouthpiece, and what sort of mouth does she have? A generalisation with bits is the thicker the mouthpiece the milder - but sometimes horses don't have space for a thick bit and so are uncomfortable, at which point a thinner one is milder for them. Equally, some might find a thinner mouthpiece 'sharper' due to smaller surface area etc...Does she have thick fleshy lips and tongue or thin ones? A low or high palate etc?

If she's playing with the bit too excessively she may either just need time to get used to it, or a bit which helps stay a little stiller - which can be done either through mouthpiece or cheekpiece. A mullen mouth has no joints and so can't be 'jingled' so to speak, the way a lozenge or french link can. An eggbut cheekpiece is a little more stationary so won't shift as much as a loosering etc.

Sometimes overbending is also a response to less drive from the back end - ie she's not working into the bridle gently because the 'engine' of the back end isn't carrying her forwards. That's a training issue of course (and might not be relevent anyway, I don't know) - but just to remember that not all overbending is a result of problem with bitting =] x
 
hello, thanks for the replies (sorry its taken so long to log in again, have been here there and everywhere! )
This all sounds really helpful, thanks... yeah Peaches, I agree, I definitely don't think that the bit is causing her to overbend, my teacher wasn't suggesting either as we are both aware that overbending is a training issue, but I do think that shes not happy with what I have her in.

She has a fairly narrow mouth with fairly thin lips and tongue, i'm not too sure about her palate, will have a look tonight when I see her... The mouthpiece of the loose ring seems to fall quite far down her tongue. It has medium width bars (not the thick ones nor the thinner), with the lozenge. Studying exactly what she does when she mouthes it, it looks like she is moving her tongue around, up and down under the lozenge, trying to get her tongue over it.. A friend suggested she may have problems swallowing with this bit in.

I think I will try a mullen mouth first, if it means that she can't move it about as much without it being a harsher bit..

thanks again!
 
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