cool!
Guess i’d better get back down to the barn and take a measurement. Well two measurements (cause Dad always used to say: measure twice/cut once)
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How can a Baucher be a loose ring? Half the point of the Baucher is to reduce that instability.
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I have this horse right now. What bit did finally work? I was told this horse needed a light contact, but it seems he wants very little contact, especially during a half halt or downward transition. (He chews constantly, tosses his head, and braces.) I’m on bit #6, a Fager with a roller. Everything checks out on him: teeth, saddle fit, perfect hock x-rays, no soreness anywhere. I’m at a loss trying to figure this out.
Our horses might be similar. What my horses ended up needing was a Mullen with tongue relief. I currently ride her in a Shires Blue Alloy Loose Ring. I don’t love the blue alloy factor, but it’s a very economical bit.
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Thanks! I will look for that bit. Sometimes, I don’t really know if it is the bit at all or if he is just so super sensitive that he won’t accept anything. He did improve greatly after I got him and had his teeth floated and saddle fitted. He was with my trainer for months while I recovered from a surgery and was doing better. While she had him, the issue did return. The vet did a touch up on his teeth a few weeks ago and noted a canine was erupting. She felt it shouldn’t be an issue, but I do wonder if he is so sensitive that anything going on in his mouth will bother him…
My girl is sensitive about everything. Tack, bit, saddle pads, girths, boots, etc. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure it out, especially because she doesn’t “tell” you in the typical ways. She gets tense and gives you subtle signs she is uncomfortable, but kind of lets her irritation build throughout the ride until she just explodes in a temper tantrum. She did the same thing with pros, they were just better at managing and minimizing it.
Even though she is sensitive about a lot of things, the bit change was the most noticeable difference. She is so pleasant in the bridle now— what was once a battle now is a non-issue.
My horse is actually pretty mellow. The only problem is with the contact. That’s why it’s so frustrating. I’ve had lots of horses and started many myself. Some were born “on the bit” and others had issues with the contact they eventually overcame. This guy is a cutting/reining bred QH who moves like warmblood. (He scored over 70% at his first show despite the contact issues.) If he can get over the bit issues, I will have a very fancy dressage horse!
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I use the Sprenger duo on my sensitive young boy. He loves it. It is different material than the Happy Mouth, softer. It is called Duo because it is straight on one side and has a tongue curve on the other side and you can use it either way. It is 100% legal. Sometimes horses just prefer an eggbutt to a loose ring. Duo comes in both.
And btw, I have a ton of bits that I tried on him: sprenger, fager (including titaniums) and neue schule. He just found a metal bit too much. He also doesn’t like the joints. The duo was instant acceptance for him.
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May be worth a try. I’ve tried the neue schule, Sprenger novo contact, a stubben eggbut, stainless steel, Fager, and a German silver single jointed snaffle. I did order the Shires bit with tongue relief. I’ll keep experimenting. After forty years of riding I’m wondering why horses got so picky about bits. 
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Just out of curiosity which Fager bit with a roller did you try, the tongue relief Sally or the straighter across Bianca?
Right now I am so happy, Fager came out with a bradoon that has the same mouthpiece as the Bianca, now my favorite snaffle bit of all time. I am using this bradoon on two horses and they seem happy with it, this bradoon is called Alice.
Since I ride lesson horses I thought (assumed) that these horses would prefer me to use a tongue relief bit. I was wrong, Wrong, WRONG and the horses were not reluctant at all to cuss me out (the same thing happened to me with the Bomber’s Happy Tongue titanium bit and the Shire’s blue alloy tongue relief bit.)
Jackie, the “Jacob” bit is on loan to me. He did better the first few rides with it, but yesterday the chomping, fussing, and grabbing came back. The Shires bit was not expensive, so if it doesn’t work I’ll find it a new home. I’m on the hunt for the Sprenger Duo. If absolutely no bit works for him, I’ll need to look for anything that is causing him discomfort even though he shows no obvious soreness or other symptoms (eg kissing spine or other body issue). I’m not giving up.
https://fagerbits.com/product/jacob-sweet-iron-bradoon-loose-rings/
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I had a sort of odd thing happen with me when I tried the Fager Alexander sweet iron three piece snaffle on the elderly Arab/Welsh mare I’m riding. I had been using the titanium double bridle bits on her, the Fager Elisabeth titanium Weymouth and the Fager Alice titanium bradoon, which except for the metal, titanium, has the same mouthpiece as the Jacob.
This experiment lasted one ride. This elderly mare has arthritis in her front legs and usually flinches some. I tried the sweet iron Alexander snaffle as boredom relief, and her arthritis got WORSE. She acted like a naked flame was going up the inside of her leg, much, much, much worse than normal. The mare did like the bit a lot, lol, but her arthritis got worse.
After that ride her owner (a Western rider mostly) told me that she wanted me to ride her mare ONLY in a double bridle with the titanium bits. I had used a double bridle on the mare with a titanium Weymouth and the Jacob sweet iron bradoon, and she did not go as well as when both bits were titanium.
I put her back in the double bridle with the titanium bits and now I am only getting the normal, small flinches, which have started improving since I got the mare the Shoo-Fly leggings.
I have experimented with the titanium bits of two types, the titanium “rainbow” bits that are normal types of English bits, and the Fager titanium bits. My hypothesis now is that since titanium is biologically inert (the immune system does not attack the titanium), that using the sweet iron bit on this mare started an inflammatory process that made her arthritis worse. The same goes for stainless steel bits, there is something that gets the inflammation started, the mouth becomes more tender and sensitive, and the horses just put up with it until the horse learns that there is an alternative that does not start and inflammatory response, the titanium bits. Then the horses will “go on strike”, start fussing where they did not fuss before, until I get the message through my thick skull and provide the horse with a titanium bit he can use for his regular lessons. Then the horse goes back to his normal safe-for-beginners, forgiving of beginning rider’s hands, and everybody is happy.
Unfortunately the most of the titanium coated “rainbow” bits are not longer available. They were MUCH CHEAPER than the Fager and other pure titanium bits so it does not hurt as bad when I have to provide the horse with an acceptable bit. I went ahead and gave my titanium coated “rainbow” eggbutt snaffles to my lesson stable and they seem to end up on some of the lesson horses’ bridles even though they look odd to us old-timers’ traditional eyes.
The other horse I ride likes the sweet iron Fager Alexander bit just fine. Go figure. Horses take their bits personally, just like we humans do with jewelry, clothes and shoes. Some are good for most horses, other horses get super, super picky. Sometimes it is the metal of the bit that triggers the unhappy equine responses.
That’s an interesting anecdote. My horse is only five and shows no signs of arthritis. I have seen the less expensive rainbow bits on Ebay and The Connected Rider has a few. Amazon, too! Are they the bits you are referring to?
Yes, but I must give a warning–not all “rainbow” bits are titanium, that treatment is also used on stainless steel bits with no titanium in them at all. That is why some of the rainbow bits are cheaper, they are pure stainless steel.
I am going now to check The Connected Rider. The place on Amazon, Aaliff sports, that I got my rainbow titanium bits from still have some, but I have been waiting and hoping for over a year that they will get a 5" titanium coated Kimberwick back in stock since I gave both of mine to the stables where I ride for horses that needed them.
A Google search finds many different rainbow bits. Sometimes, you can find things on Australian websites that you can’t get here. If they ship internationally, you can save lots of money because the exchange rate is really good. I’ve purchased some items from Australia and they arrived in a week or less.
@sparkygrace, thank you for looking!
I went onto The Connected Rider site and their Rainbow bits are ALL stainless steel, not titanium coated.
On Ebay you have to be careful, if the listing does not specify titanium coated or plasma titanium coated, the bits are stainless steel. There are some rainbow titanium coated bits there, I saw a double-jointed lozenge egg-butt snaffle and a few “comfort” snaffles. If you do not see the word titanium somewhere in the posting the rainbow bit is stainless steel, as described on their Ebay page when I go way down the page, past the first two sets of “related” ads, to get to the text with the full description of the bit.
Bit hunting can be as exasperating as trying to find that “perfect” saddle for your horse.
Ebay does have some regular, non-rainbow titanium snaffles with hefty shipping fees, but they are regular English style bits unlike the Fager bits, and they are not cheap in price.
There are NO cheap pure titanium or titanium coated bits (the titanium coated bits are around a third of the price of pure titanium mouthed bits, but still more expensive than the stainless steel bits unless they are on sale for some reason). I read somewhere that to liquefy titanium it has to get up to 1,500 degrees, which uses a whole lot more energy than softening or melting stainless steel. This is probably why the titanium bits, even just the titanium coated bits, are more expensive than bits made of other metals, it takes a lot more energy to work the metal.
I will try to figure out how to find the Australian stores.
I did find this shop in California and their bit prices are a little lower. I think you just really need to pay the price for a good, well-made bit.
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I forgot to say that I went with Duo vs. other synthetic mouth bits because it is the thinnest one at 16mm. The other rubber mouth type bits are pretty thick. I watched a bit review (youtube??) from an Australian bit fitter who was comparing several different types of rubber mouth bits. Duo is not the most soft of all of them (it is in the middle of softness), but it is flexable and the thinnest in diameter (my boy has a petite mouth). There’s also a new one that is made from a silicon gel that you can change out the rings. It is orange. I forget who makes it though. I just ordered a second duo for my lunge cavesson.
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Thanks! I found a barely used Duo for a super price and will see how my horses does with it.
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