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which_chickDressage people listen to the Dressage Rules. Dressage Rules now say that you cannot have any sort of a bit with a flat plate in the middle of it. No Dr. Bristol, no French Link, none of that sort of thing. All those bits are now verboten in dressage-land.
I hate bit shopping. Bit shopping is a pain in my ass. It's trial and error where you just have to keep buying bits and trying them out on the damn horse until you find something that you can both fucking live with.
Bird got started, like all horses I start, in a full-cheek snaffle. It's a decent-ish basic bit, nothing fancy, that is used for a lot of horses in their early work days. For Bird, work in a full-cheek snaffle lasted one actual ride beyond "here is a bit, this is what it feels like in your mouth, wear it for a while".
He did not like it. I don't know precisely what the problem was, but if I did anything with the reins, anything at all, like EVEN TOUCHED THEM, boy stuck his head straight up in the air in a somewhat abrupt and violent and alarming way.
Okay, Bubbins. Message received, loud and clear. You no likey the bit. I will buy you a different bit.
Because Bird is a horse and not good at talking, all we have are my theories. My theory with the bit was that he had a shallow mouf. Like, not very much room in there. I thought maybe the single joint of the snaffle was whacking him in the roof of the mouth. So, I bought him a two-joint bit to see if that was any nicer for him. I bought him a french link because it was permitted and deemed "reasonable" where the Dr. Bristol was not. It was also in stock and I could have it by the weekend for twenty bucks. Sold!
This is the French Link that was on Bird. It's an eggbutt because that's what they had.
When it got here, I put it on Bird's bridle and he was immediately *whew* in expression. Picked up bit, put his head down, and we went onward. Things were fine for about five years, until the dressage people deemed the French Link an illegal bit.
Well, shit.
Of late here I've been bit shopping for Bird to find something he can live with that is also dressage-legal.
Here are some bits that I tried on Bird. Since I knew in advance that single-joint snaffles were not his deal I stuck with the two-joint kind. From left to right, here's how it went...
Leftmost bit: Loose rings = bad. Horse doesn't like. Bean too large. Horse doesn't like. Overall too chunky, horse doesn't like. (It is surprisingly hard to see how "chunky" a bit is without buying it. Since I'm doing my shopping online sometimes I get surprised when I open the box.)
Second one from left: Eggbutt = OK. Bean in middle too long side to side. Horse DOES NOT LIKE, will not take contact on this bit and there was some head flipping even after four rides. (I wanted to give it a fair trial.) Overall thickness seemed OK.
Third from left: Loose Ring = NO GO. Also too thick. Bean in middle seemed OK but horse not happy overall.
Rightmost bit: Eggbutt = win. Narrower mouth parts = win. Short bean = win. Horse acts like he does in the French Link. Takes contact. Steady, comfortable, happy doing all his tricks. It's a keeper and I'm only down four purchases. I'm scoring it a win.
I hate bit shopping. Bit shopping is a pain in my ass. It's trial and error where you just have to keep buying bits and trying them out on the damn horse until you find something that you can both fucking live with.
Bird got started, like all horses I start, in a full-cheek snaffle. It's a decent-ish basic bit, nothing fancy, that is used for a lot of horses in their early work days. For Bird, work in a full-cheek snaffle lasted one actual ride beyond "here is a bit, this is what it feels like in your mouth, wear it for a while".
He did not like it. I don't know precisely what the problem was, but if I did anything with the reins, anything at all, like EVEN TOUCHED THEM, boy stuck his head straight up in the air in a somewhat abrupt and violent and alarming way.
Okay, Bubbins. Message received, loud and clear. You no likey the bit. I will buy you a different bit.
Because Bird is a horse and not good at talking, all we have are my theories. My theory with the bit was that he had a shallow mouf. Like, not very much room in there. I thought maybe the single joint of the snaffle was whacking him in the roof of the mouth. So, I bought him a two-joint bit to see if that was any nicer for him. I bought him a french link because it was permitted and deemed "reasonable" where the Dr. Bristol was not. It was also in stock and I could have it by the weekend for twenty bucks. Sold!
This is the French Link that was on Bird. It's an eggbutt because that's what they had.
When it got here, I put it on Bird's bridle and he was immediately *whew* in expression. Picked up bit, put his head down, and we went onward. Things were fine for about five years, until the dressage people deemed the French Link an illegal bit.
Well, shit.
Of late here I've been bit shopping for Bird to find something he can live with that is also dressage-legal.
Here are some bits that I tried on Bird. Since I knew in advance that single-joint snaffles were not his deal I stuck with the two-joint kind. From left to right, here's how it went...
Leftmost bit: Loose rings = bad. Horse doesn't like. Bean too large. Horse doesn't like. Overall too chunky, horse doesn't like. (It is surprisingly hard to see how "chunky" a bit is without buying it. Since I'm doing my shopping online sometimes I get surprised when I open the box.)
Second one from left: Eggbutt = OK. Bean in middle too long side to side. Horse DOES NOT LIKE, will not take contact on this bit and there was some head flipping even after four rides. (I wanted to give it a fair trial.) Overall thickness seemed OK.
Third from left: Loose Ring = NO GO. Also too thick. Bean in middle seemed OK but horse not happy overall.
Rightmost bit: Eggbutt = win. Narrower mouth parts = win. Short bean = win. Horse acts like he does in the French Link. Takes contact. Steady, comfortable, happy doing all his tricks. It's a keeper and I'm only down four purchases. I'm scoring it a win.
