I have been struggling to find a bit fitter that will travel out to my neck of the woods, but I have found several that offer virtual bit fittings. This seems to consist of analyzing a riding video and several pictures of the horses head.
Has anyone had success bit fitting this way? In my mind, I imagined the fitter would need to do at least some examination of the horses mouth and tongue in person…
To me, the benefit of a bit fitting is that you get to ride the horse in a selection of bits and see what the horse goes best in.
If you need guidance on where to start based on the conformation of the mouth, I could see that being done virtually.
They do send out bits for you to try over a few days. Then you send back the ones you don’t want and keep any that you do, kind of like one of those clothes subscription services lol.
Hello, where do you live? Fager Bits USA has a team of fitters who can come to you, depending on location.
Spoke with the bit fitter over the weekend, who analyzed several videos and pictures of my horse, bridle, and bit. I was impressed with the amount of information she was able to get without being in person.
She recommended several bits, is putting them in the mail today, and once they arrive I have 10 days to try them, send additional videos with the new bits, and go from there!
I’m looking for a similar service. Would you mind sharing who you worked with?
Thank you!
Please update after you try them, I’m curious how it goes!
Unfortunately I paid for the video analysis but never received any information or was contacted about doing it. I have emailed and contacted through the website repeatedly with no response. I will update if I manage to contact someone about getting the service fulfilled but I don’t recommend currently! Luckily I’m only out $35…
I recently did a phone consult with a professional bit/bridle specialist. If you want the person’s name, PM me.
It was NOT a good experience. After I paid my fee online, it took nearly a month before she finally contacted me. I gave her about 10 business days before I called, emailed, facebook messaged, and finally had to threaten contacting my credit card company to report fraud before I finally got a response. After that, it was another 2 weeks before my 30 minute phone call was finally scheduled. So I had my call. It was GREAT. She diagnosed both bit and bridle fit issues, and we decided on 3 bits that she would send. She asked me to provide her with updates as soon as I tried. So the bridle and bits arrive, I try everything, settle on my favorite, and let her know. I send her photos with a note that I think the bit is the right one, but too small. No response. Ride the next day, chaffing at corners of the mouth- send her photos- no response. Ride again the next day, this time we end up with an open blister. I send her a photo. She calls immediately and says oh hey that looks too small, I’ll send you one size up. She says she’ll get the new size out immediately so I don’t miss ride time. I wait a day. Hear nothing. Have a clinic coming up, so rush order the same bit from SmartPak. It arrives, it fits, love it. Great. Three more weeks go by and I still receive no bit and no communication from the fitter. I finally reach out to tell her to please cancel my order.
The real kicker?? She had been recommended to me by a friend, who also guessed which bit the fitter would suggest. That’s the bit we ended up with. I would have saved myself the $50 consult fee and nearly 2 months of wasted time had I just purchased the bit myself from the beginning.
Curious how long you can keep trying the bit’s before purchasing? Having attended a variety of riding Clinics over the years, many promoting “Their Magic Bit” that fixes all issues. In my experience, watching friends experiences, the MAGIC usually only lasts a couple weeks. Time for Clinician to be GONE! Ha ha
I see bitting problems in horses wearing wrong sized bits, protesting the tightness or slopping around of a too big bit. Mouth never got measured for correct width, checked for rubbing metal on teeth above or being to tight where the bridle goes into upper rings (branches). Bits often need “personalizing” by flaring the tops to accommodate wide cheeks even if the mouthpiece is the correct size.
It can be very surprising to guess a mouth width and then measure mouth to find you are WAY off. Guessing is most often too small, which makes horse crabby with pinching, disobedient in over reacting to reins, getting hard to bridle. Mouth measuring was one of our Pony Club lessons in keeping your horse happy. Also did body measurements in that lesson. The little horse was very oddly sized, though very proportionate to look at. Nicely balanced overall to use in various performance activities. No one ever guessed her bit size, girth or blanket sizes correctly. The big horses also confused people. MUCH larger in bits and blankets, girths, than they guessed, though still balanced and having good proportions. Not a lot of variety in 6" bits without going custom. True even on simple styles, not even having exotic mouthpieces. We have found improving ourselves in rein/bit handling to help the most. One of those “be a better rider or driver” in getting horse to understand what we are asking of them. A “magic bit” would be so much easier and faster!! Ha ha
Good luck hunting for a useful bit.
2nd Update: all three bits arrived, I had ten days to try them and then make a decision. I used the following process to narrow them down, which worked pretty well for me.
First I rode in each bit on separate days, doing what I would have normally done during that ride (lesson, trail ride, schooling session etc.). I didn’t judge my horse’s reaction to the bit, just rode around and let him feel it out.
Next, I had three rides on three consecutive days where I directly compared one bit to another, including my own original bit. I warmed up in one bit and schooled for a couple minutes (no more than 5 - 10), then hopped off, let him have a quick break while I changed bits, put the new bit in, and schooled him for another couple minutes. There was a pretty noticeable change in him from bit to bit when I rode this way and I was able to easily rule out one bit each day. I would recommend having a friend on hand for these rides as a pair of eyes on the ground, cameraman, and extra hands to hold your horse in between bits.
I ended up with the Trans-Lozenge bit from Neue Schule. It’s an expensive bit, but made a big enough difference to be worth it, and so far my horse has only responded better each time I ride in it.
Definitely would recommend Florence from Try My Bits. She was very responsive to texts and calls, even on evenings and weekends, and spent a lot of time talking me through the different options.
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