Horse Bits
Horses Bridle Bits

From: Equestrian and Horse Riding Tack

Horse Bits
Bits allow the rider to communicate with the horse as to direction, bend, pace, speed, amount of engagement and give general overall control.

There are five main types of bit and they all effect the horse in different ways by acting on different areas of the horses head.

Which ever bit is chosen, the horses level of training must also be considered along with any past injuries or sensitivities in the mouth itself.

Types Of Bit:

• Snaffle Bit
• Double Bit
• Gag Bit
• Pelham Bit
• Bitless Bit

Where Bits Affect The Horse:

• Corners
  Gag,Pelham and snaffle for example a french link bit.
• Bars
  Gag,curb,pelham and snaffle for example a Eggbutt snaffle.
• Tongue
  Gag, curb, snaffle and pelham for example a jointed pelham.
• Side
  Snaffles for example a Fulmer snaffle.
• Chin Groove
  Curb chain for example a single link from a pelham.
• Nose
  Bitless for example a Hackamore or Kineton noseband.
• Poll
  Gag or Curb for example a Balding gag.
• Roof Of Mouth
  A bit with a ported mouthpiece for example a high port correction bit.

Materials:

• Stainless Steel
  Long lasting and silver in appearance.
• Cupro Nickel And German Silver
  Light gold in color, the taste encourages the horse to relax and salivate.
• Copper
  This causes the horse to relax and salivate in its mouth due to the warming nature of the metal.
• Sweet Iron
  Gives the horse a sweet pleasant taste in its mouth.
• Rubber and Plastic
  These are gentle and flexible in design.

Bit Sizes
Horse bit sizes are measured by taking the distance between the two bit rings in either centimeters or inches:

Either measure an existing bit that your horse wears or put on your horses head-collar and with someone holding them get a piece of string approximately 9 inches long. Gently pressing on the bars of there mouth and when they open carefully holding the string at both ends insert into the mouth to where the bit should sit up at the corners of the mouth, move your fingers to where the bit rings will go, then keeping hold of the string remove it from the horses mouth and mark on the string where you were holding it,you now need to allow quarter to half an inch to this measurement to allow for the bit to sit clear of the lips and corners and then measure the total distance.

Fitting A Bit
The bit should fit snugly into the corners of the mouth and leave a slight wrinkle in the edges. The bit should allow a clearance of a half to a quarter of an inch spare on both sides of the horses mouth.

Fitting A Double Bit
The Curb bit for example the Weymouth should sit a quarter to a half an inch lower in the mouth than the snaffle or bridoon bit which sits in the corners of the mouth again just wrinkling the corners of the horses mouth,this allows the curb chain to be fitted into the chin groove.

The curb chain acts when pressure to the rein of the Weymouth is applied, the rein pulls the curb chain and it in turn causes pressure to be applied to the chin groove in combination with pressure also being applied to the poll, the longer the shank of the bit the more severe the pressure. When fitting a curb chain it must have all the links smooth and lying flat and when pressure is applied to the rein the shank of the Weymouth should be at a 45 degree angle to the mouth.

Varieties Of Curb Chain

• Single Link Chain
  Fairly strong in its design as the chain acts directly on the chin groove.
• Double Link
  Quite strong in design as the curb acts directly on the chin groove.
• Elasticated Curb Chain
  Mild in its action due to the flexibility of the curb chain the pressure applied is not that strong.
• Leather Curb Chain
  Mild in its action
• Rubber Covered Curb Chain
  Mild in its action due to the rubber softening the action of the chain.

All curb chains should have a lip strap which passes through the fly ring on the curb chain or through the fly ring on the chain covering, this secures the curb chain in position.