What do I call my Bit?

When you book a fitting, you will receive a link to a survey that asks a few questions about your horse and it's background, this is to help me gain some information on the situation so we can make the most of the Fitting.

One of the questions is "What Bit are you currently using?", this should be a simple answer right? You'd be amazed to hear the amount of times this is answered inaccurately, in fact rarely is it answered correctly.

Here's some examples-

"I use a Waterford"

Both Bit's ARE Waterfords, however to be correct Bit 'A' should be called a Waterford EggButt whereas Bit 'B' is called a Waterford Loose Ring.

Lets look at another example- "I ride my horse in a Fulmer"

Bit 'A' is a Fulmer, and so is Bit B however these Bit's do totally different things! The Bit is not just determined by the side peice, the mouthpeice is the most important thing to describe accurately.

Bit 'A' should be described as a "single jointed loose ring Fulmer" where as Bit 'B' should be called a "Double Jointed/Elliptical (ported if your getting technical) loose ring baby Fulmer".

Heres another example- "I use a Mullen mouth"

Now, these are VERY different Mullen mouths!

Bit 'A' should be described as a '2 1/2 ring ported flexi Mullen mouth', otherwise formally known as "2 1/2 ring Limo Portsmouth" (also one of my favourite mouth peices of ALL time ;) ). Bit 'B' should be described as 'Flexi Mullen mouth Eggbutt'.

One last example- "I ride in a Double Jointed Dee ring"

The cheekpeice (Dee rings) on both Bits is correct, and they are both double Jointed. HOWEVER, Bit 'B' is Ported which makes a considerable difference as it provides tongue relief. What may appear as very similar Bit's, have very different effects on the horses mouth.

There are literally THOUSANDS of different Bits, meaning it is unpractical to know every. single. name. Especially when the names are completely unrelated to the features of the Bit!

The best way to describe the Bit is firstly by the cheekpiece, is it a loose ring? Or a Pelham? Or maybe a Bevel? Or a Boucher/Hanging Snaffle? Then, the mouthpeice, this can get really difficult so sometimes just describing the mouthpeice is your best bet if you don't know the offical name. Think is it single jointed? Has it got a port? Has it got a double joint or even 3 links (in which case it could be a Waterford)? Has it got a barrel connecting the cannons of the Bit or are they connected by a link? Can it fold up completely or does it have a lock up mechanism?

As for the material the Bit is made up of, this can get tricky as 'metal' doesn't quite cut the mustard now days. You can have Sweet Iron, Titanium, stainless steel etc that all fall under the umbrella of Metal. Physically describing the material is your best bet if you aren't sure, is it Blue, has it turned Brown over time, is it light grey?

Not sure what to call your Bit? Feel free to pop me a message and we can talk through the name and the features of your Bit. This business isn't just about Fitting Bit's, it's also about educating people on the very complicated world of Bit's!