Any experiences with the Bombers "happy tongue" bit?

[IPEsq]

My horse has been doing weird things with his mouth lately in playing with the bit more than usual, moving his tongue around a lot. Not really trying to put his tongue over the bit but moving it back and forth in his mouth under the bit (in the foreward/rearward direction). He doesn’t stick his tongue out. He had his teeth done less than 5 months ago, but if anything the issue has gotten worse. He’s always been incredibly mouthy and tends towards wanting to put everything in his mouth, grab his reins, the lead rope, whatever. To ride, he’s gotten much softer in the contact than when I first got him, as he’s started to understand what contact is.

He goes in a HS Dynamic RS Sensogan mouthpiece usually. Most of the time a loose ring, sometimes a short pelham. This seemed to be his preferred mouthpiece after some initial playing around with a french link, slow twist, single joint pelham, and Myler level 2. He liked the Myler mouth ok (sometimes got behind the contact), but the rings pinch the sides of his face, so that wasn’t good. Only thing I’ve changed about the HS is gone up 1/4" because he’s gotten bigger this year.

Thinking of trying the Bombers “happy tongue” mouthpiece. I can only find it in a dee in the US so far. I’d tend to lean towards a full cheek for this horse before a dee given what I’ve tried so far on him. Just looking to help him quiet his mouth/tongue. I’ve thought about the HS Flex Control bit as another option, but it’s 2mm thicker than the pelham and 4mm thicker than the snaffle I have. Not sure that he’d like a thicker bit…he’s got a smaller volume, fleshier mouth. The Bombers comes in the same thickness as the current snaffle (14mm).

[Bogie]

I bought one and had it shipped from the UK. Sad to say, my horse didn’t like it.

[Engage]

I strongly suggest contacting Bomber themselves and talking through your horse’s issues with them. They are very good at suggesting which bit would be best for your horse, and if the first option does not work, they will continue to work with you until you either find a Bomber you like or they can no longer suggest one of their mouthpieces.

I used a Bommber Happy Tongue 2.5 Ring on one of my previous jumper mares. She hated tongue pressure, and would either giraffe or chuck her head from side to side. She used to bolt on landing and ran straight through bit aids. She was 100x better in this bit. Much softer, and more willing to take up the bit and bend with me. Unfortunately that bit was stolen.

I subsequently got a Happy Tongue Loose Ring, which I’ve used on several horses since. Most of them seem to like it, but it does seem to work better with hotter horses, as it cuts out a lot of the busyness in their mouths.

[NoSuchPerson]

I have used both a Happy Tongue and a Bomber Blue, which also provides pretty good tongue relief but is non-metal. Both in loose ring. I love these bits. My mule, who has been the most difficult to bit of any equine I’ve ever had, tolerates these bits better than any other I’ve tried. He seems to appreciate the tongue relief and the non-jointed mouthpiece.

I bought both from Sweet Iron Bits (http://www.sweetironbits.com/default.asp), which is really Tato’s Mallets down in Wellington.

Just give them a call. They are really nice and very helpful. And no, I don’t work there.

[IPEsq]

Thanks for the site reference. Is the Bomber Blue like a rubber or more like a plastic (like Happy Mouth)?

[NoSuchPerson]

More like really hard, but very light, plastic. My mule put tooth marks in a Happy Mouth on the first ride with it, but has not (or at least not yet) done so with the Bomber Blue. He really doesn’t chew much on the Bomber Blue or Happy Tongue. When I first put the bridle on he chomps for a minute or two, but then settles down and holds the bit quietly, aside from occasionally pushing it up the rings (it’s a loose ring) a little bit with his tongue and then letting it fall back.

[FEIwannabe]

IPEsq,
I know this is an older thread, but I was wondering if you found anything that worked, as I have a similar situation.

[Jackie_Cochran]

I have a Happy Tongue Bomber’s bit with a titanium mouthpiece. I bought the one with the titanium mouthpiece because all the horses “told” me that they really like the taste of the titanium, so much so that I could use mouthpieces I had avoided for years.

The horses were sort of content with it at first (they took contact easily), then they “told” me that they did not particularly like the way it operated when I used a single direct rein or a leading rein.

I went to the Bomber’s site and in their FAQ’s I discovered that the middle “port” may be too wide for the horses I ride (back then a 6 yr. old 15.3 hand OTTB, a 33 year old Arab 14 hand mare with a very sensitive mouth and an Arab-Welsh 14 hand mare.) Since I blew my money on the original bit I really did not feel like spending more money before I knew if they would like the bit with a narrower “port”.

So now it rests in my bit collection. Someday I might run into a horse for which this bit is the answer.

[IPEsq]

@FEIwannabe

IPEsq,
I know this is an older thread, but I was wondering if you found anything that worked, as I have a similar situation.

I wound up going with a Neue Schule eggbutt snaffle. The trans angled bit. Briefly also went to a Myler eggbutt, which wasn’t bad, but it seemed he responded to the change in cheek more than the mouthpiece.

He’s gone up another bit size so maybe his mouth was just changing.