I have a 5 year old green OTTB with a very slight parrot mouth (under vet/dental care), but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a bit? He has been in a Herm Sprenger KK straight 5". Bitless is not an option as he has a young rider working with him too. Also wondering if anyone has used a Micklem on a parrot mouth horse?
My first horse had a parrot mouth, sort of mild too.
I basically used the normal bits that were around 50 years ago, single jointed snaffle, Fulmer single jointed snaffle, a Vulcanite Kimberwick, a rubber snaffle (instant hate, he could not stand how it tasted), double bridle-ported swivel cheeks, single jointed bradoon, and finally I bought what turned out to be his FAVORITE bit (as in from the second time I used it he voluntarily opened his mouth for the bit forever more, never did that with another bit) a D-ring double jointed "dog-bone copper roller snaffle. This was over several years, mostly changing the bit so he would have something new and interesting to think about while he hung out in the pasture.
With the other snaffles and Kimberwick he basically acted like a normal horse, he just LOVED the copper roller snaffle, but other horses have been “meh” about it. When he activated his tongue to play with the roller he became softer in his mouth.
I did not have a Micklem bridle back then, they had not been invented yet. I would have had no hesitation in using the Micklem on him, but he might have had some definite opinions about the width of the chin strap like the school horses I ride did when I finally bought one (I ended cutting the chin strap off, all the horses I ride became much happier in it.)
With a mild parrot mouth I would concentrate on getting a bit that works with the OTHER peculiarities of his mouth, width, tongue, palate height, etc…
Mine had a very mild parrot mouth (that did seem to be less noticeable as he got a little older, although he still only had about 30-35% overlap with his incisors), and he liked double jointed bits with a more curved forward mouthpiece the best. He also did not have a very roomy mouth and kind of fleshy lips, so he generally liked thinner bits with more stable cheeks and some tongue relief but nothing ported. So, something like a Sprenger Dynamic RS snaffle mouth or the NS trans angled lozenge seemed to tick all the boxes. I started with a 14mm in Sprenger and went up to 16mm (as well as wider bit) after a few years and his whole head got bigger, though I think the NS bits tend to run on the thin side and I only bought the 16mm NS.
My former gelding had a mild parrot mouth and also liked the forward shaped bits. He ended up going best in an NS Verbindend, and the HS Dynamic RS was also noticeably better than a standard double-jointed snaffle. I used a Micklem on him with no issues.
