My mare has a funny mouth. Fat tongue, low pallet, and a bit of a parrot mouth. She. Hates. All. Bits. Hates them. This has been an ongoing issue since she was started coming 4. She’s almost 8. She chews them if she can get them in her teeth (in crossties, on a loose rein, when frustrated)…chomping can be heard across the state. So we try bits she can’t get in her teeth. Mylers, Mullen mouths. Now she can’t get them in her teeth but she begins snatching the reins, mouth gaping and occasionally sticking her tongue out. I’ve tried bauchers, loose rings and eggbutts. Ports and no ports. Varied thicknesses. Dropped, flash, figure 8 nosebands. Loose, tight and in between… Either chomping if she can push it into her teeth or fussing and snatching and evading if she can’t. She CAN suck it up when I tell her to knock it off and go beautifully. But it’s a reminder that is needed every 30 seconds. I know she’s uncomfortable and just sucking it up because she’s a good girl and I asked her to. She’s the most willing mare on the planet. I tried a bitless this summer out of curiosity and holy crap is she happy. No fussing. Light as a feather. Collects or stretches beautifully. She is soooooo happy. However we show and bitless is still not allowed. She’s extremely light in the contact and aside from needing to communicate a bend or flexion here or there I hardly use my reins and she’s in lovely self-carriage. I need a bit that is dressage legal but just kind of disappears into her mouth. A nothing bit. I have a Myler Baucher MB04 (Baucher with the curve of the Myler and a small wide low port) shipping over from England in hopes the Baucher will hold it off her tongue and the curve of the Myler and the port will give her plenty of tongue relief. It’s only 12mm thick do hopefully thin enough. But anything else I should try that is legal? Can anyone find a teeny tiny skinny Baucher Mullen? I own the thinnest I could find but its still 14mm. Any other ideas? Just want the girl to be comfortable because she surely gives me her all every single day. Any bit suggestions would be most welcome in case this Myler doesn’t do the job I can have the next one in the wings!
If she goes beautifully without a bit why do you want to put her in a bit? You don’t need a bit to do dressage. You may need a bit to COMPETE in dressage, but competition is not the be-all and end-all of dressage. It is not her fault there are rules about competing in only certain bits.
Ride without one and keep your girl happy.
not sure, what all these bits do… i only used one type of bit for all my horses so far and it worked for everybody. And I did have a horse with a parrot mouth as well, some years ago.
This is my bit of choice. Never had any problems with any horse with that…
https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/herm-sprenger-kk-ultra-loose-ring--14mm-11163?utm_source=cpc&utm_medium=google&utm_content=shopping&utm_campaign=nb_shopping_tes&utm_term=21163
[QUOTE=RPM;8567700]
If she goes beautifully without a bit why do you want to put her in a bit? You don’t need a bit to do dressage. You may need a bit to COMPETE in dressage, but competition is not the be-all and end-all of dressage. It is not her fault there are rules about competing in only certain bits.
Ride without one and keep your girl happy.:)[/QUOTE]
The OP does compete.
Hi OP.
My mare is the same way! Anything with fixed cheeks, and her jaw is immediately vice locked shut and she roots like a 1200lb pig to pull the reins out of your hands (or your tush out of the saddle). But put her in a jointed loose ring, and she pushes her tongue against the bit and gnashes away! About 6mo ago I tried an anatomically curved loose ring Mullen mouth bit (http://horsebitbank.com/informed-designs-loose-ring-mullen-486.phtml), and it changed our world! It isn’t very skinny, but it curves gently forward in her mouth and appears to sit very still. Of course she still tries to root a bit, but usually only if she feels a walk break coming. It might be worth trying. Good luck!
Some of the Neue Schule bits have an interesting curvature that might work for her mouth. All the cool kids ride in them now, I would definitely call them “nothing bits.” They are out of my price range, so I cannot vouch for them personally, but everyone I know that uses them likes them.
Thank you! I will look into those! That Informed Designs bit looks really interesting!
I’ve definitely considered not competing her but not until I completely rule out that we can’t find a bit that she’s alright in. Maybe they will get rid of the silly no bitless bridles rule in the near future as well which would make us both thrilled! In the meantime, trying to find that perfect bit and needing some COTH advice from those that have been in this boat!
Bauchers tend to keep the bit very still in their mouth, but I don’t know if they alleviate pressure, or disappear. I do really like Bauchers though. I also found that some sensitive-mouthed horses don’t like Mylers. I’m guessing it’s because the diameter is pretty small, and it concentrates a lot of pressure over a small area on the bars of the mouth. My guy was a skeptic of Mylers (grinding teeth, ducking behind the bit), so we went in the Stubben, Sweet copper, double jointed baucher for a while until he learned what to do with a bit (he’s an OTTB). He now goes well in the Myler loose ring. It was a learning process for him.
Have you tried a crescent noseband? perhaps try it with a loose ring or eggbutt mullen. Not sure I’ve ever seen a mullen boucher!
The solution for my guy was something along the lines of a stubben ezcontrol bit (it was actually a defective regular double jointed bit that did not collapse all the way) with boucher cheeks and then some training to get him to cowboy up about it as well as me getting a whole lot better about how I carried my arms/hands (even on the buckle, if I am at all tight in my shoulder or arm, he’ll flip his head). This was a horse that could somehow get a single jointed boucher up between his teeth and chomp on it but the inflexable joint curbed that behavior to some extent (mylars were too thin for him). He now goes in a 14mm HS RS Dynamic loose ring and loves it, all because last spring on a whim I took him out of his boucher and tried a fat loose ring double joint without a flash and he made a giant step forward in his training.
With horses like this, I have found that it is important to find something that is at least better and then really work on the training. When there is no longer any improvement or things start to go downhill, it is worth trying something else, even for a day or two. My boy has never gone a year in a single bit and when I’m really drilling the dressage I take off his flash to give him some wiggle room with the worrying. Also it is very very important to hold yourself accountable, what might be a good elastic contact to most horses is not always enough for the really sensitive ones.
Oh and also, perhaps try transitioning her back to a bit with also the bitless option, so two reins and perhaps try to teach her to carry the bit more quietly that way?
[QUOTE=3rottenponies;8567790]
Not sure I’ve ever seen a mullen boucher![/QUOTE]
They do exist. A barnmate has one. (Also, she tried a leather bit for her fussy-mouthed TB. Turns out some of this was a lack of Thou Shalt Go Forward and Through training problem. IME, that’s often a piece of mouth fussiness. But for really incorrigible or frantic horses, I think the is some degree of genuine discomfort in their mouth.
In any case, if you want me to find out where my friend got her mullen mouth baucher, let me know.
There are two that have worked well for my fussy Arab (small mouth, slight overbite). I’ll second the Neue Schule https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/neue-schule-verbindend-loose-ring--16mm-12140, and also suggest the Herm Sprenger Dynamic RS WH Ultra - https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/herm-sprenger-dynamic-rs-wh-ultra-dee-ring-11697.
I did find a Micklem bridle helpful, and positioning the bit higher than normal in his mouth seemed to help as well.
Good luck!
[QUOTE=Keg-A-Bacchus;8567762]
Thank you! I will look into those! That Informed Designs bit looks really interesting!
I’ve definitely considered not competing her but not until I completely rule out that we can’t find a bit that she’s alright in. Maybe they will get rid of the silly no bitless bridles rule in the near future as well which would make us both thrilled! In the meantime, trying to find that perfect bit and needing some COTH advice from those that have been in this boat![/QUOTE]
Sorry – I missed that you compete.
I wish they would get rid of the silly rule.
I just believe in the horse being as happy as possible.
That would be great to find out about her Mullen Baucher. I got one special ordered from England last year and it’s definitely the best bit so far. Mine is 14mm and I would love to just try a thinner one that’s less cumbersome in her mouth. She’s so very light in the bridle I’m not worried about the severity of a thinner mouthpiece with her.
I honestly thought for the first year it was a training issue. I refused to close her mouth and mask the problem and was convinced she was just trying to tell me she was uncomfortable. We had saddle fitters, chiropractors, massage therapists, vets…she’s fine. I finally tried a drop to stabilize the bit and broke down and tried “showing her the way” by closing her mouth and then the snatching and rooting started. The dentist and both trainers all agree it’s a bit issue not a training issue with her. She’s unbelievably willing and would trot off a cliff if I asked her to. If she fusses…something is wrong 100% of the time. I keep trying new bits without much luck hoping one day I’ll find one she says yes to! She LOVED the HS Dynamic Duo Eggbutt but good god did she play with it and chomp on it. She goes alright in the Baucher Mullen but she’s still trying to chomp it or root on it…even on a loose rein. The dentist thinks tongue relief will help hence trying the low port Myler in hopes that works. I tried it in an Eggbutt but it rolls forward on the Eggbutt rings and just lies on her tongue. The Mullen Baucher I have curves around her tongue but it’s not ported and still might be a bit thick. I was looking at the Neu Schule Comfy Contact Baucher but it seems to have been recalled for some reason and isn’t available. It looks very promising though if anyone knows about that one. Really wishing we had a bit fitter with a truck of bits who could come to the barn! Someone start that business!
Sorry I don’t have any specific recommendations (I ride my OTTB in a Myler Level 1), but just wanted to mention some tack stores offer bit rental programs. For example, http://marystack.com/marys-bit-rental-program/
http://www.horse-rider-etc.com/tack/bits/mylerbits.html
http://www.tooshaytack.com/Bitrental.html
Not ideal, but could you pop the chain off this bit (http://marystack.com/figure-eight-pelham/) and ride on just the top? It’s only 11mm thick.
I had a mare like this and the bit she disliked the least was a leather bit (yes, it is dressage legal). Here is the one I used: https://squareup.com/market/winterpast-farm
you can get bits made - a friend had a double made to specification by myler for her boy with fat tongue, low roof etc.
Have you tried some of the old style incredibly thin stock horse bits? they probably arn’t legal but they are super thin and if that works you could then get one made that is a legal version.
As an aside its been a long time since i’ve competed but whats the rule about where the reins attach to? it could you have her in a bit but have the reins attach to the noseband etc? long shot but i though i read somewhere that someone did this and got away with it?? or was it in jumping etc?
Try a plastic bradoon? This - http://www.horsebitbank.com/happy-mouth-dressage-bradoon-straight-381.phtml or this? http://www.horsebitbank.com/happy-mouth-jointed-dressage-bradoon-542.phtml
They’re nice and tiny, and I think the plastic stops them being as harsh as a narrow metal bit. I’ve yet to find one in a french link unfortunately.
It’s legal here to use a bradoon as a snaffle, you might want to check your rules.
Bit of Britain has a knockoff neue schule now, just the plain loose ring. My horse is fussy in the mouth and it is absolutely him voicing his opinion on whether he should have to go forward and through. I put him in a fat rubber d ring to stop the noise because half of it was entertainment for him to play with the bit.
He puts his tongue over a Mullen bit trying to get relief for his tongue and hates loose rings. I’m trying him in a happy mouth baucher this weekend.
