Thank you for figuring that out! I have been totally baffled since that rule was implemented. I wonder if it would ever be reversed if a bit check/tag method ever came to pass.
I’m not a huge fan of traditional French links, but it struck me as completely bizarre to throw them out with the Dr. Bristol.
No, that is the Gustave, this was the Nils.
Here is the link to the USEF DR for Bits & Saddlery
https://www.usef.org/forms-pubs/96D17lSsaCo/annex---bits-saddlery-equipment
There are 56 pages!!!..40 pages of bits and 12 pages of bridles…my little brain is going into overload.
I get that some bits are hard to evaluate in horse’s mouth. I also think the checking bridles at stalls is just a little tricky from an execution standpoint. Do I have a better answer, no. BUT a story.
My lusi stallion once got loose at a show - my worst nightmare and the last break away halter I used on him. Thankfully he did not go crazy racing around. He trotted up and down several barn aisles, bypassed the warm up ring, ate some grass, cantered around a field and never looked at another horse. This is not an event I would want to recreate as I take off his bridle for a bit check. 
For many years I was riding 3 different horses, all in a JP Dr. Bristol D-ring. Even with my many hand problems (and balance and proprioception problems) this was the bit that 3 horses decided was the best bit for my hands. I was basically doing equine physical therapy (old weak horses) and out of all the bits I tried this was the ONE that suited my hands the best.
All three horses reached readily for the bit in response to my leg aids, and they kept good contact without any fussing while we walked and trotted around the riding ring.
There are 4 ways one can put the Dr. Bristol on the bridle, and only one way is the correct way if you want a comfortable horse. The other 3 ways can range to minor irritation to a full scale “cussing out” as the horse tells the rider no how, no way.
The gentle way for the Dr. Bristol is to make sure that the cannons’ curve faces upward, then the center plate has to slope UPWARD toward the horse’s nose. Then the plate lies flat on the horse’s tongue, the horse is very comfortable, and the horse has full freedom to play with the bit with truly subtle movements of the horse’s tongue, lip, lower, jaw, poll and upper neck.
This is way too subtle for a bit check in a busy environment. It is a subtle difference looking into the horse’s mouth. I do not think that too many volunteers would willingly put their fingers deep enough in the horse’s mouth to check the angle of the center plate.
To me, with my hands, the Dr. Bristol is the best snaffle to get results that get near the responses a rider can get from a relaxed horse in a double bridle. No other snaffle that I have ridden with comes close with less subtle finger to mouth communication.
@pluvinel Having seen your post - 56 pages of USEF DR rules!?! - out of curiosity, I checked British Dressage rules. BD have a 19 page PDF consisting of photos with a green check mark or a red cross to indicate if legal or otherwise. But then, I suspect, in Britain if a rider is called out for incorrect tack a steward would just say “If it isn’t specifically allowed in the rule book then it is illegal for competition”. I suspect the American response would be “If it isn’t specifically illegal then it is OK”. Makes for a longer rule book.
You’re painting with a pretty broad brush there, implying that all Brits are the same, and all Americans are the same.
If course! It’s COTH, after all. And I’ll add LOL.
I think our British friend @Willesdon is giving a sideways reference to the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights
The Ninth Amendment states that the list of rights enumerated in the Constitution is not exhaustive, and that the people retain all rights not enumerated.
The Tenth Amendment assigns all powers not delegated to the United States, or prohibited to the States, to either the States or to the people.
There is a difference between European systems and American systems.
I echo that this is a solution looking for a problem. I don’t understand the logic between allowing one bit and not another.
Here is a puzzle for you guys smarter than me…the rules forbid a driving bit when used as designed (half cheeks down) …yet allow that same bit, with the same mouthpiece when the bit is turned upside down.
Riddle me this…
I think some people have waaayyyyy too much time on their hands.
I used to volunteer at some local shows that I was not judging. I was a bit checker for one regional championship - I just didnt feel qualified to translate what my finger in the horses mouth was telling me vs what was legal. Seriously. I am an S judge and I couldnt tell. Unless it was a twisted wire lol.
Call me confused. You’d be getting the side eye at the track with a half cheek upside-down.
It want clear from me from the rule language shared in the first post, but after this weekend’s show I understand that the in-barn inspections are in addition to the ringside checks already in place, not instead of. It’s an opportunity for TDs to educate competitors before a rule violation takes place. But post-ride ringside bit checks are still being done and will catch some actually violations.
So what do they do about people who show out of their trailer?
At one of my shows this past season, the TD was going around to the trailers (it was a trailer-in only show) and offering to check bits for the competitors. Ring-side bit checks were also being done.
Ok…I still ask what is the reason for all of this? Is there an epidemic of incorrect bits or a rash of abusive riding with hard bits or something? Who is cooking up this stuff?
Don’t know if there is a rash of incorrect bits except that new rules were recently implemented banning bits that were widely in use. Some people may not have gotten the memo so instead of them being eliminated ring-side after their test, they have a chance to change out their bits before their ride. Just a guess.
I didn’t have anyone come by my trailer and we have lots of trailer-ins around here. So don’t know.
Ok. That makes sense…but I still ask the powers in the great universe what caused bits that were previously legal to now be declared illegal?
The $ spent is relative i guess. I wouldn’t consider it prohibitively expensive to get objective feedback from a good judge. Nor would i mind paying for the whole experience of a show. The stall set up, being around a ton of other horses. My horse getting the experience of riding through my own lack of confidence (normally i’m pretty confident) and having to show up emotionally in spite of that. I would like to give it a go, and to overcome the hurdle.
That said, competition doesn’t make me happy. And winning? Still not great… has usually left me feeling hollow, empty, wanting. So i doubt dressage showing will ever become a thing for me. Plus…well, the people-ness of it.
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