JUMPING AND SCHOOLING BITS
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It is in my opinion very important to have good signals and safe control of your Horse or Pony
The only way you are going to achieve this from a Bitting point of view is to have access to ranges of comfortable bits with a variety of mouthpieces and Cheek pieces to suit different
Horses and Ponies
Stages of training,
Conformation
Sensitivities
Hands on the end of the reins
and to compliment the
Variety of things that we do with our Horses
It is sometimes unrealistic to think that one bit is going to do it all if we are multi-tasking with our Horses,
For example: In a Dressage test the Horse must be in a consistent frame and it must wait to be told what to do it is not allowed to take matters into its own hooves ! Or we lose marks
Whereas over Cross country fences we expect a completely different frame and behaviour with the Horse working in more of a partnership with us jumping and adapting as you go around a course so it seems odd that we feel that one bit will give us all the signals and importantly rewards that we need for everything that we do with them
The way of looking at it is if you can do everything you need to do in a snaffle that is super.
If on the other hand you feel that all your schooling and lessons and Dressage tests are super in a Snaffle but you struggle a little with your jumping or when out in company in the same Snaffle then the addition of a well-balanced bit with more signals, more release and reward and more control will be a good addition to what you do
If at the other end of the scale you have a Horse that is not in control and you feel compromised when riding it then look at it the other way around choose and good Schooling Bit to improve the way it goes and then you can dip in and out of a Dressage Snaffle if you need to for your lessons and arena work realising that the Schooling bit is probably the one you will ride the most as it will always have the best signals in more exciting situations
Remember our goal is to improve the way our Horses go not ride the same Horse with the same difficulties every day and a strong Horse that has been allowed through poor training to get very strong is still a creature of flight and responds badly to ill-fitting harsh bits but could potentially be trained to be much more responsive in a better balanced more comfortable bit and clearer signals
Remember if your Horse comes out every day and is More Responsive More Flexible and Lighter over a period of time with patience and repetition this will become the new way of going
The Hand Test
This say this at all my Bitting Days and Clinics but its worth reminding people of a simple check to see if the bit you have is a comfortable as you think
When you are assessing the comfort of the bit your horse is wearing despite the advertising and the claims that some companies make just try this simple test
​Face a friend and hold your hand up knuckles facing them Get them to place your horses bit around your hand and get them to pull the bit closed
​Your hand represents your Horses lower jaw and your friends hands represent your hands on the end of the reins
If the bit you are using on your horse pinches your hand with finger pressure imagine how it feels to your horse when you are applying more pressure with upper body weight applied to your signal
​Now decide whether the bit you have on your Horse is fair, comfortable and fits your horses mouth conformation well and therefore gives him or her the right signals and reward or whether it is restrictive and pinches.
Also look at your bit critically is it symmetrical and even all through the mouthpiece a Horse will not go evenly forward into your hands if the mouthpiece of its bit is uneven and asymmetrical.​
Two pictures of the Edgeware Fitted with a strap and a chain
The Harmony Mini Edgeware
Was the first Jumping Schooling bit that I made I had a good range of Snaffles and Doubles and Pelhams but nothing in between it took a while to get the balance of the cheek right but after lots of trailing it ended up exactly how I wanted it to work
The Harmony mouthpiece is 13mm in diameter and has a round lozenge and joints that go with the shape of the tongue it encourages a horse to move towards the mouthpiece but because of the balance of pressures discourages the Horse from getting too strong or set on the mouthpiece. As the reins are used together the whole mouthpiece wraps around the tongue and lower jaw, it has a structured feel in the centre of the tongue to dissuade the horse from leaning on the bit. It has a generous forward curve to go with the conformation inside the mouth and to stop the mouthpiece pinching the sides of the jaw
Very useful for Horses or Ponies that need to
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· Pay more heed to the mouthpiece
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· Are just a little strong for a Snaffle and need a little more
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· That block on one side as you flex or turn
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For young or retraining Horses that are strong in a Snaffle and need comfortable signals to train them to be lighter in the bridle
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For Horses that are polite in the school but more enthusiastic when they are out and about
Mini Edgeware Cheek
​It is exactly the same proportions above and below the mouthpiece so it sends the Horse to the end of the rein
It is very important to have good balance when you create a cheek piece The part of the cheek above the mouthpiece [the purchase] creates upper head and upper jaw pressure and the part of the cheekpiece below the mouthpiece [the shank] creates lower jaw pressure
In order to send the Horse to the end of the rein and give good release and reward for work done these two measurements must create balance This cheek must always be used with a balance strap or chain never without as this brings to bear a third point of pressure on the upper part of the lower jaw as the bit is used without a balance strap the bit will not work as it was designed to
The Precision Mini Edgeware
After the success of the Precision Mouthpieces with an Eggbutt, a Loose Ring and a D Cheek I added this Mini Edgeware Cheek into the range in 2022 and I am thrilled with the feed back on it
The Precision mouthpiece is a combination of a generous forward curve to the branches of the mouthpiece, small non-invasive turned joints and an Oval Lozenge that is rounded on the roof of the mouth and Oval on the tongue side
The feel for the Horse and into the Riders hand is one of encouraging the Horse forward into the bit but when it gets there they should lighten up and yield and flex to the Riders signals ​
Very useful for Horses or Ponies that
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· need to Pay more heed to the mouthpiece
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· Are just a bit strong for a Snaffle and need a little more
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·Are in a Precision Snaffle and need another bit added in to the equation
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For Horses that are polite in the school but more enthusiastic when they are out and about
Mini Edgeware Cheek
​It is exactly the same proportions above and below the mouthpiece so it sends the Horse to the end of the rein
It is very important to have good balance when you create a cheek piece The part of the cheek above the mouthpiece [the purchase] creates upper head and upper jaw pressure and the part of the cheekpiece below the mouthpiece [the shank] creates lower jaw pressure
In order to send the Horse to the end of the rein and give good release and reward for work done these two measurements must create balance This cheek must always be used with a balance strap or chain never without as this brings to bear a third point of pressure on the upper part of the lower jaw as the bit is used without a balance strap the bit will not work as it was designed to
The Clarity Edgeware
The Clarity mouthpiece is one of my schooling mouthpieces it is 14mm in diameter and has a round lozenge the joints are turned to give a little more feel to the action of the mouthpiece it encourages a horse to move towards the bit but because of the structure of the joints discourages the Horse from getting too strong or set on the mouthpiece. As the reins are used together the whole mouthpiece is pulled around the tongue and lower jaw, the mouthpiece has a structured feel in the centre of the tongue to dissuade the horse from leaning on the bit. It has a generous forward curve to stop the mouthpiece pinching the lower bars of the mouth
Very useful for Horses or Ponies that need to
Pay more heed to signals and to yield in the frame
Are quite strong for a Snaffle and need a little more
Have a history of stepping up the pace when it powers up
Edgeware Cheek
It is very important to have good balance when you create a cheek piece The part of the cheek above the mouthpiece ]the purchase] creates upper head and upper jaw pressure and the part of the cheekpiece below the mouthpiece [the shank] creates lower jaw pressure
In order to send the Horse to the end of the rein and give good release and reward for work done these two measurements must create balance This cheek must always be use with a curb strap or chain never without this brings to bear a third point of pressure on the upper part of the lower jaw as the bit is used
​The strap is put on the same ring as the cheek piece on purpose so the action is carried high and is therefore well balanced
Rein Handling and options
This bit will come with a pair of Pelham Roundings of your colour choice and a leather jaw / balance strap in the same colour
It can also be ridden with two reins instead of Rounding’s and instead of a jaw / balance strap Quick links and a Chain
~I think it is important to have options so you might consider Schooling with two reins and Jumping using the Roundings and using the Jaw Strap sometimes but having the option of using a chain if the Horse is quite strong
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Contour Beval Bit
The Contour mouthpiece was an experiment in 2019 to see if I could get a different feel from another curved lozenge mouthpiece. I lengthened the lozenge a little and plumped it up in the centre and curved the mouthpiece in a slightly different place thinking it would make another starter bit or a long and low mouthpiece. But it did not turn out like that, it encourages an Horse to be higher in the frame and to take a more even contact it is a generously curved longer oval Lozenge covering more area inside the mouth designed to encourage the Horse forward into a higher contact. It went into the range in 2020
Very good for
Horses that like the slightly thicker mouthpiece
Horses that are reluctant to take the contact forward and lower the neck to avoid Encouraging the Horse forward into a higher contact
Horses that have been in restrictive mouthpieces and have tongue issues
Horses that you want to create a more consistent contact with in a slightly higher frame
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The Beval cheek gives a small amount of leverage by capturing the mouthpiece so it cannot roll around the ring you get instant leverage action and putting the cheek piece of your bridle in the top slot and your rein down in the bottom slot meanes and good understandable signal for the Horse