Bit for Small mouth/short lips.

[CHT]

My gelding has a very narrow mouth and short lips.

Sometimes his tongue gets pulled back behind the bit. Not as an evasion, and he sorts himself out, but I can’t help but think it means he is uncomfortable with the bit.

I had been riding him in a 4.25" Metlab loose ring snaffle, but he wasn’t happy with that, so I switched to a 4.75" Myler comfort Mouth. I couldn’t find a narrower one in Canada. he goes ok in the bit, but does have an issue with his tongue at the canter…and I don’t like using that much too wide a bit as it is harder to keep centered.

I cannot find a bit rental program with 4.25" bits in Canada.

Any advice on a bit that short lipped horses carry comfortably?

[GoodTimes]

No advice on finding a narrower bit. But my gelding has a small mouth/big tongue. If you lift his lip his tongue will often be squeezing out between his teeth. The best bits I’ve found for him are those with low ports, like the Myler MB04. They give some tongue relief.

[Jackie_Cochran]

It might be good for you to look at the Pee Wee bit. The link is https://macsequine.com/macs-equine-pee-wee-bits.

I measured the thickness of the mouthpiece of one of mine. The mouthpiece is 5 mm thick, Mullen mouth, very arched.

Their sizes go mini, small, medium, and large, and they have a table suggesting which height or breed of horses that size is good for. I found a medium one on E-Bay and it said that the medium one was 127 mm wide (5"). My small one seems to be around 4 1/2" wide. I have no idea how wide the mini one is. For your reference 4 1/4 is “equivalent” to the 110 mm size (though 4 1/4" is really 108 mm.)

It has been a while since I rode with one (I learned I greatly preferred jointed bits), but none of the horses I tried it on were upset, not every horse liked it but none of them seemed to think that it was an instrument of torture. If you have an independent seat and soft, relaxed hands this bit should not bother your horse much at all. There is plenty of room for the tongue, and all the horses liked playing with the mouthpiece when I was off contact, moving it a little bit up and down on the rings.

The downward projecting side pieces were a big help in gently telling the horse “yes, I mean turn” when the horse gets a little “iffy” about turning.

[blue_heron]

I agree with the tongue relief sentiment. Low port if you are committed to the Myler. My short mouth mare goes in the NS Veribend but no high speeds or jumping so I do use a slightly larger mouthpiece and it doesn’t pull thru. I find pulling is usually more of a contact issue, whether via rider error or horse inconsistency.

[DiamondJubilee]

I ordered a 4.25" Myler through Bahrs in Ontario. It took about 6 weeks to arrive but it fit my ponies perfectly and they love it! More so than the myler comfort snaffle. I own several myler bits - a level 3 with high port, a level 2 with a low port and a level 1 comfort snaffle. They have all had their place in training with my ponies and they do seem to be happy with them. They also have small mouths and these bits work perfectly for them.

https://www.bahrsaddlery.com/myler-m…s-11849-c.html