Bit Help

[LJ55]

Hi all,

I am just posting here to see if anyone has some ideas for bits to try with my mare. I usually consider myself relatively knowledgable on bits but am not sure what else I should try - maybe some different metals or maybe I should be playing around more with different bridles?

I have a 4yo TB mare (trialed 3 times as a 2/3yo but never raced) I have had her for a year and still haven’t found the perfect bit (if it even exists). She is a very big chewer and is almost constantly chomping on her bit. I have even tried having it different heights in her mouth. She gets the dentist every 6 months and I have talked to them about this she doesn’t see anything that should be causing it and has been measured for what size bit and said her mouth isn’t particularly small or anything that could cause discomfort.

So far her favourite bit has been a loose ring bomber blue bit (ported) https://www.bitbankaustralia.com.au/bomber-blue-loose-ring/?sku=BO-BLR00BB%20145&setCurrencyId=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA-vLyBRBWEiwAzOkGVASs_dR1NfsPIKBRtKdc5mCrfpHKFvzVmRtUFwmUPUVZAj1oDPtylxoC9IcQAvD_BwE but she chewed it up in about 8 months and they aren’t cheap. secondary to that was a loose ring happy mouth straight bar which she has now started to make dents in as well so needs replacing.

I have had her in single jointed snaffles of different thicknesses/weights which she seemed to really hate and in double jointed snaffles with a lozenge not flat plate which was slightly better than the single jointed. I have though of trying her in a boucher/hanging cheek but can only find them jointed as she is very sensitive and thought she might like how they help keep the bit more still. The only cheek pieces I have tried have been eggbutts or loose rings.

I am thinking a metal ported bit might work well for her? But they are hard to find unless you have $$$$ which I don’t especially when I’m not sure if it will work. Bomber bits do make a sweet iron ported bit but the port seems a bit bigger than the one she was in plus my dentist said to try stay away from sweet iron since she is mouthy.

Also she is currently in a micklem bridle.

Any ideas of bits I may have missed?

Thanks

[MissAriel]

Have you tried a Myler - either with or without the port? When starting my gelding, he loved to try to chew bits until we tried the Myler comfort snaffle (no port). It still gave him a little play, but not enough to become a distraction.

At 7 he is still mouthy anything with too much copper, aurigan, extra joints, etc is just too much for him. He is currently doing well in a JP Korsteel Curve single joint eggbutt and schooling parts of third level.

[NO-CTRL]

Fylde make a lovely hanging cheek in stainless steel with a small port
https://www.fyldesaddleryltd.com/product.php/pip_bit/?k=:::2891505:0

[CanteringCarrot]

I second the suggestion of a Myler. They have a mullen mouth style hanging snaffle that might work. The Eggbutt comfort snaffle worked for my guy with similar issues. He now goes in a Sprenger RS Dynamic - double jointed eggbutt and is quite ok with that.

[Jackie_Cochran]

I have only run into one dedicated bit chewer lately, a 6yr. old OTTB (raced a few times).

On contact he was mostly fine, but every time I went to sagging reins it was a constant, loud, grinding on the bit. It seemed to me that he was trying to chew the bit down to the constituent molecules. This was with stainless steel bits, I tried several, and he finally consented to be controlled by a 20mm thick single jointed snaffle, but he would still grind off of contact.

I tried titanium coated “rainbow” bits on him. The titanium double jointed lozenge snaffle–he did not like this bit but he chewed a lot less.

Titanium coated Mullen Mouth snaffle, he liked the bit better but still chewed but a lot less than with the stainless steel snaffles.

I finally found him a titanium coated 20mm single-jointed snaffle–I heard one of his riders say with wonder that the horse really seemed to like that bit. I’m sure he still chews on the bit some, but more in an occasional reflective manner, like a person that chomps on a piece of chewing gum only occasionally.

I have found that when I or someone else finally finds a stainless steel mouthpiece that their horse accepts, that changing to a titanium coated or titanium bit with the same mouthpiece results in a horse that is even happier with the bit, calmer, less fussy with the bit, and much more accepting of contact.

I found my titanium coated snaffle bits on Ebay, and right now they only seem to come in “rainbow”, really pretty, my riding teacher has no objections to these bits even though they look sort of odd. Warning–not all “rainbow” bits are titanium coated, some are stainless steel. Generally the cheaper “rainbow” bits are stainless steel, the titanium coated ones are a little bit more expensive.

MUCH more expensive are the more normal looking pure titanium bits. Right now I really like the Fager bits, this company has some interesting ideas about bitting (I recommend asking questions, they are quite friendly), and they are cheaper than the Lorenzini pure titanium bits which have more of the regular mouth-pieces. The Fager people also do not charge postage even though they ship from Sweden.

Bomber bits have a few titanium bits including a Happy Tongue titanium bit.

I am gradually moving my stainless bits on, either giving them to my lesson barn or I’ll put a group together to go on consignment in my “local” good tack store. The only stainless steel bits I’ll be keeping are the ones that are sort of unique like the Wellep bit, my precious Dr. Bristol bits (I just can’t find them in titanium), and some which are of the odder, less available sizes.

I have MS, with a few hand problems–hand tremors, lack of coordination, and I lack a proprioceptive sense in that sometimes I do not know where my hands are and they wander off. The horses have voted, with my imperfect hands they ALL prefer the titanium coated or pure titanium bits.

I use a Micklem bridle on all the horses I ride, even when I do a double bridle.

[fargaloo]

@Jackie Cochran

I use a Micklem bridle on all the horses I ride, even when I do a double bridle.

Not to sidetrack the conversation, but how do you do this??

https://shop.horseware.com/can-i-use-the-micklem-as-a-double-bridle/

[Jackie_Cochran]

I do not show so I can do some odder things with my tack.

I thread the bradoon hanger over the top of the crown piece, through the loops of the browband and through the elastic whatever it is called on the center of the crown piece. The bradoon hanger is totally on the outside of my Micklem.

I also had removed the chin strap on the Micklem bridle years ago, so the chin strap does not interfere with the placement of the bits or the curb chain. I would NOT use the Micklem as a double bridle with the chin strap still on the bridle because I would have to put the bits up WAY too high and the curb chain would not be in the curb groove but ride up over the super-sensitive and sharp lower jaw bones that start above the curb groove.

It looks odd, my riding teacher still has not gotten used to it, but it works and I have yet to have a horse tell me that it is unacceptable.

If I was showing I would have to get a regular double bridle without any flash strap.

[Posting_Trot]

I’d try a boucher bit. I had a TB mare who chomped and ground on virtually any bit, until I had her in a Micklem bridle with a boucher (or baucher) bit, double jointed. (It was actually a Herm Springer Butterfly boucher). She was quite happy with that bit and the Micklem set-up.

[alibi_18]

@Posting Trot

I’d try a boucher bit. I had a TB mare who chomped and ground on virtually any bit, until I had her in a Micklem bridle with a boucher (or baucher) bit, double jointed. (It was actually a Herm Springer Butterfly boucher). She was quite happy with that bit and the Micklem set-up.

It’s Baucher, from the French old master François Baucher.

And Dostoïevski. But I digress.

@LJ55 : I would try to get my hands on a KK Eggbutt correction/schooling bit in a no less than 16mm.
https://www.widderstein.com.au/sprenger-kk-schooling-bit-40501.html

I have used Baucher bits as well with horses similar to yours.

I have had great success with the KK Balkenhol single jointed as well. It does create a nice space for the tongue and is surprisingly stable.
https://www.skylandssaddlery.com/products/herm-sprenger-balkenhol-16mm-kk-snaffle-bit

[Posting_Trot]

@alibi_18

It’s Baucher, from the French old master François Baucher.

And Dostoïevski. But I digress.

@LJ55 : I would try to get my hands on a KK Eggbutt correction/schooling bit in a no less than 16mm.
https://www.widderstein.com.au/sprenger-kk-schooling-bit-40501.html

I have used Baucher bits as well with horses similar to yours.

I have had great success with the KK Balkenhol single jointed as well. It does create a nice space for the tongue and is surprisingly stable.
https://www.skylandssaddlery.com/products/herm-sprenger-balkenhol-16mm-kk-snaffle-bit

Didn’t Dostoevsky write “The Bitters Karamozov”?

[alibi_18]

@Posting Trot

Didn’t Dostoevsky write “The Bitters Karamozov”?

Ahahahaha

[Pico_Banana]

Maybe try a Herm Sprenger Duo? I have a mare who chomps or is otherwise very busy with her mouth and this has been a huge improvement. She is still busy but without a center lozenge there’s nothing for her to play with so I think she at least plays less. She also readily accepts it when I put it on, which is new. I thought she would destroy it because it’s plastic but there are no teeth marks at all, unlike some other bits I have tried.

[Jealoushe]

I just recently switched one of my mares to a Sprenger Novocontact and it was the change we needed. She was very uncomfortable with a conventional bit, salivating way too much, opening her mouth, rooting and resisting. The novocontact stopped all of that!

It might worth a shot. I have also had incredible results with a plain D ring single joint snaffle.

Another question I don’t think has been asked, how are your hands? Is the bit the right size in her mouth?

Consider having a bit fitter out if you are not able to properly measure and see if the bit is correct already.