Book Three saddle fittings for £180.00 in one location.
Equine Saddle Services Horse and Pony Bit Consultancy
Our ethos is comfort
Equine saddle services whole ethos is based around tack and saddlery being effective in doing what it is supposed to do. In order to do that we have to work on equine comfort as primary goal number one, before we can understand how effective it is remembering the saying "you dont run well with a stone in your shoe".
Horse or Pony Bit fitting can be a challenging task for all riders. Top showjumpers, eventers, dressage horses, riding club level, or the leisure riders hack can all need a change of bit from time to time or a complete re think about what is being used.
Historical thinking and breed development
Some purist riders or trainers believe that all horses should go in a snaffle and you are accused of not being able to ride if they dont, its ironic that this is forgetting everyone started with the same knowledge which was zero. This viewpoint has been circulating since the 1950's and the humble snaffle was the common bit of choice, for the more traditional breeds.
Much of this thinking is to do with the riders ability to ride the horse up to the bridle from behind with an independant seat and light hands, under these circumstances some horses will go well in a snaffle.
My question here is why are we so focussed on making the horse go in a snaffle if we have a better solution that the horse excepts more readily. Not everybody has accomplished this relatively high level of riding skills to achieve such riding prowess described above, and so should we just allow the horse to suffer untill they do?
Two things have happened over the last 20 years or so. Horses breeding has been refined and now have much more complex considerations to take account of in terms of the horses mouth, jawline, and tongue conformation, for instance a lot of warmbloods have finer jawlines and larger tongues occupying the available room in the interdental space.
Secondly we have a much better understanding of bitting through manufacturers extensive scientific research involving biomechanics and the action of bit design profiles within the horses mouth which has kept pace with the changing mouth conformations.
Some bits are regarded as harsh or more severe, and it is likely that these tend to be the older designs that were not well thought out.
More modern bitting solutions work on changing points of pressure, removing or introduce more points of pressure, or reducing pressure in other areas.
The idea that bits are graduated to bring more pain to be more effective used to have some truth in it but not any more as the horses head anatomy has been better studied to understand where nerve pathways and blood vessels pass around the horses head and face, bit manufacturers have moved forward due to understanding that pain is the last thing we want in order to acheive a more compliant horse and be a more effective rider.
It is now well understood that horses run from pain and modern design efforts are focused on applying levels of pressure acceptable to the horse (through research) in order to communicate the riders desires better. For the rider to be effective it is understood that they need a relaxed and willing horse for it to be as expressive as possible and concentrate fully on the task in hand.
Manufacturers we represent
We carry all of the major manufacturers bitting solutions, including Bombers Bits, Neue Shule, Myler, Sprenger, Nathe. WTP (Winning Tongue Plate)
What is involved with a Bitting Consultation
A bitting consultation involves taking a history of the horse and its training so far and understanding the problems the rider is having.
We visit your stable to carry out a physical assessement and conformation of the horses mouth to understand the horses mouth conformation, check for any injuries and confirm bit size.
We would look at the horses movement in walk and trot in hand and assess the horse gait.
Then we would look at bit options giving consideration to the horses age, health issues, and use. Consideration of any rider difficulties mentioned before giving the reasons for the choices we are making.
We would then move to the ridden assessement and trying the bit designs in a ridden situation. Once tacked up we would check for other issues that are related such as the bridle and noseband fit before trialling diffferent bit designs to see which is most effective.
Depending on the horse and rider feed back we would consider further options if the outcome is not as positive as expected.
Contact Us
Have a question or need more information call me, or send an email with your contact details.