Shaving cream?!?! 
My mare would be horribly offended and would be fussing and coughing and spitting. I can’t imagine that most horses would respond any differently.
I do give her a slice of apple after I bridle her - and a couple of sugar cubes once I’m mounted.
I mean shaving cream? What a delightful experience for your horse. Not.
But in the many issues with dressage, I think including marshmallow fluff is a bit ridiculous. How is it different from a sugar cube to the horse? And if it does have a foaming effect (hit or miss with my pony) I guess the side perk is that if he bites his tongue, then nobody is going to miss it, given that pink is spread all over. Not to mention I never met a judge worth riding under who mistook white foam for a real connection when there was none…
I used it a few times when the pony decided to boycott sugar cubes (yes, you read that right 
) but it is more of a pain than it’s worth, but this seems like focusing on the problem nobody identified (except for the shaving cream part).
How nice that the FEI is catching up with the 1980’s.
How does that work? Do you smush the bit into the jar? Plastic disposal spoon and glob it into the side of the mouth?
Or are they using the marshmallow fluff to BE the foam. Not produce the foam. That’s what I would think. Same with the shaving cream. Uck.
That’s what I assumed too. But I can’t wrap my head around how you manage either one. I’d expect any horse to shake their head violently at the taste of shaving cream around their mouth, and marshmallow fluff would be such a sticky mess that it would be all over anything the horse touched.
I just put a tiny blob on the bit with my fingertip which then usually managed to get all over the place (chin, nose) as I slipped the bit in the mouth. As sticky as the stuff is I can’t imagine coating the mouth with it. Plus it wouldn’t foam, it would just be there, sticky and dripping in the heat. From my perspective it wasn’t any different than a sugar cube since marshmallows are just sugar.
Will this mean things like Gumbits will be banned?
Yes.
This feels like a reactive response to some sort of social media outrage, and not a move that’s prioritizing actual welfare issues.
I mean, putting shaving cream around a horse’s mouth to make it look like he’s foaming is not great, but I have a hard time losing sleep over a horse getting a little sweet marshmallow treat or sugar cube along with his bit. I’ve never done it, but it seems pretty benign to me and not really worthy of an extraordinary rule change.
FEI has been worried about marshmallow fluff since at least 2021.
The problem with marshmallow fluff etc. is that in addition to trying to making dry mouths look appropriately foamy is that they can be used to hide gaping mouths, tongue issues, and other problems with contact. Not sure how successfully but I believe that’s the reason for the ban.
Why on earth do you want the horses mouth to be foamy? I don’t understand the reasoning behind this…
I guess it’s because a foamy mouth is seen as a good thing in dressage? I personally have always felt like this is a internet rumor and a knee jerk response. It’s not like you score better just because of foam. There have been a few FB posters who have been all over promoting that this is wide spread and rampant.
Can a dressage newbie ask- why are you using fluff and why are you using a sugar cube?
I get foaming etc. but if that’s not what you’re going for why are you using the above?
It sounds like they are giving a sweet treat with the bit, as a reward for taking the bit nicely.
Bingo
@Pennywell_Bay my experience with a single minded fjord is that he can either have a nicely foaming mouth or a bone dry one without a treat… And no discernable change in that pattern WITH a sugar cube, so ultimately it’s just a nice thing for him. Also him coming in from a ride with all the foam or nothing doesn’t correlate to how soft, through, tense, relaxed, happy, pissed or whatever… It’s just a thing that happens lol.
But he does have a low palate and a huge tongue (and that doesn’t change no matter what mental state he’s in) so he is prone to biting his tongue… And I suppose I still think/hope that if the treat helps moisten his mouth the tiniest bit, that’s got to be a good thing for his mouth conformation.
sidebar here…what bit do you use for said Fjord?
$o… Many… Failed experiment$$$$ (This is not an uncommon theme with the breed).
First off, he’s a curb chain kind of dude and as primarily a cde pony I long ago gave up fighting that reality, but most of these mouthpiece options are what I used in a loose/direct ring:
His dressage bridle is a Neue Schule verbindend and the warmblood Weymouth, which is just a Conrad style (big square port, 45 degree forward tilt, great for that big old tongue).
On marathon/cones he uses a trust medium port, which is really just a forward arch. BUT I’m using a direct rein so there’s little to no curb action or bit rotation. Or collection for that matter. But that’s ok, the point is to have zero delay in turning aids which is why you avoid any leverage
In driven dressage we played around with a Conrad, pivot and it was good but he was still leaning which meant the curb was in play a lot (and if you loosened it, he leaned more which is how I started to figure out it was the rotation that was the issue), but then we tried an arch. That was good, but the dude loves his pivot so we found a pivot arch. That’s been the best so far because what I’ve figured while he NEEDS the big space for his tongue and the conrad fits the bill, he’s not thrilled with a Conrad rotating in his mouth, so that bit works best with a snug curb chain. That’s not a huge problem with the full bridle because I can ride off the snaffle and just periodically reinforce with the curb, so that snug curb chain isn’t an issue. But driving aids are primarily off the bit and there is no snaffle relief, so that was harder on him. And you would think that would mean I could just use the verbindend since I ride mostly off it and he collected and light on it… #butyouwouldbewrong One of the worst tests I’ve ever had. HE HATED IT and did everything except fling himself in the dirt to show his displeasure. Does that make an ounce of sense? Only if you have ponies. He’s really not subtle in his response to bits, good or bad. But he goes around a 3* driven dressage test with a fairly loose curb chain with the pivot arch because arch bits just don’t rotate like Conrads and apparently it’s enough tongue relief for him (he would let me know if it wasn’t). At some point I thought I’d look into that as a Weymouth option but I’ve not seen a pivot version, it’s most likely not ridden dressage legal and he’s really happy in the current configuration, so even if it is legal, I’m not sure I’m in the mood for yet another $300+ experiment.
Bits I’ve tried and he really hated: every 2 and 3 piece snaffle ever made, Waterford, happy mouth mullen mouth and assorted myler bits in my box. He sort of liked the bomber tongue relief which led to me trying the Conrad, but the challenge I’ve had with virtually every conrad/tongue relief style out there is they have a one size fits all port. He’s almost a 6" mouth and he has a bigger tongue than a horse with a fat tongue in a 5.25 mouth, but damned if bit makers realize that. Most bits seem to have a small port except for neue schule (it’s at max width and height). So far the trust medium port and the innosense medium port work best on those days I torture myself with a snaffle. Even though they have a forward arch that’s not that significant of an effect in a loose ring.
Probably way more than you wanted to know!
not at all! I have one here and he is trained to third level but owner rides lower levels so need to change it up a bit (no pun intended) He’s a good safe soul but leans on a lot of snaffles I have tried. He is seat trained but will still get heavy…well because he is heavy! Thanks so much for the response!
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