Help me to shop for a bit

To be more specific, I'm looking for D-ring snaffle for my quarter horse.
I want to be clear on a couple of things... My horse is 2 years old right now and I haven't had the chance to find out what size a bit would fit best in his mouth.

Is there even a different sized bits anyhow? I'd like to start familiarize him with the bit down the road. I've started him off with just rope halter with reins attached to it. It's working just dandy so far. All he needs is more rides and become stronger for longer rides!

Any tips or recommendations for a novice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

Run a sting through his mouth and measure it. He'll probably be somewhere in the 5" range. 4 3/4", 5", 5 1/2" are some standard sizes. His comfort level will also depends on the thickness of the bit...some like thicker mouthpieces, some thinner, or you can try rubber. Just remember he's only 2...let him have his childhood before he has to become an adult

Yeah... I don't want to put a bit on him yet but would like to familarize myself with how to measure and so on. I think its a good idea to know. Right now I'll stick with rope halter since its working well at this point. I'd like to use a bit before I do hit the trails which will be a quite long while from now.

His childhood would be more fuilfilling if I had other horse around his horse for him to frolic with! Its not easy finding anybody who is willing to take the time to do so. I own only one horse and he's boarded :)

Oh, you can definitely start to familiarize him with having a bit in his mouth at this age. Just keep your rides easy and infrequent, he's still got a lot of growing to do. When he's about 3 1/2 to 4, you can start asking for more. Good luck on finding him a companion :)

Just put string in his mouth and measure from corner to corner. Then you have to add 1/4'' on both sides and you'll get the size. I recently started mine in bit (got this one http://www.doversaddlery.com/product...157&ss=albacon

You can put bridle with bit on him (no reins attached), and let him go graze for half hour or so. And just keep doing this for several days. This way he'll get used to the bit and also wull learn to keep his tongue under the bit.

Good luck!

I break all of my young horses the same way...allowing him/her to 'wear' the bit in the mouth for a couple of hours each day. The only difference is I use a breakaway halter (not bridle) and attach the bit via baling twine (double sided snaps work well too). Safety is my first rule of thumb. I normally use a snaffle bit that has a thicker mouth piece as they are more gentler to the bars of the mouth. Hope this helps you :)