Jumping bits!!

Hey I was just wondering what everyone jumps in.

Personally I show jump in a waterford eggbut.

I go cross country in a western bit. It's a myler level 2 low comfort barrel port mouth piece with a western dee with hooks for a tiny bit of leverage as the cheeks. http://www.toklat.com/myler/mbits_04.html


He seems to really like it. So who am I to argue with my horse?

Loose ring snaffle (copper bradoon/sweet iron type)


On every occasion....whether it be on the gallops, or going cross country.

I spend so much time concentrating on my youngsters flat work that I have yet to need anything else......I say 'yet' though! Im sure there will be one in the future. Every horse is different and a brand new test! But 5 out of 5 so far....hehe

Although I am aware that many like a 3ring dutch gag bit for jumping in.....everybody especially those that didnt need one seemed to jump in that or a pelham at my old yard- awful!

Elz x

Personally, I believe that if you are having to use a harsher bit to jump then you do in flat work, you don't have solid flat work down.

I could preach this all day and it would never get through to some people.

I use a copper, loose ring french link snaffle for ALL occasions. IF I ride my older horse western, (no jumping, he's semi-retired), he is put on a curb. However, he always has loose rein - no contact - because he is trained to both direct reining and neck reining. He can also be controlled by the seat only as well.

Regular D ring snaffle.

To kristy yes I know you should be able to jump in your flat work bit and I can and have. I simply prefer to use the waterford because he rounds out nicely in it and I would do dressage in it if I could!! It is actually milder than the mullen mouth eggbut I use yet lightens him at the same time personally I think whoever invented waterfords should get a award.

As for the cross country bit. We can go in a waterford, but I prefer a little bit of leverage if I have to get us out of a sticky situation. He flats really well in that bit as well. It makes me sad that neither of our jumping bits are allowed dressage because he works so much better in them than the mullen mouth.

Of course he hates jointed snaffles and were not allowed to ride in a double bridle yet. Anyone have a suggestion for a dressage legal bit that has no nutcracker action and won't touch his palate?Thanks!!

Elz~Thats horrible about those people using dutch gags and pelhams!! I have used both and watched people who do and in my opinion its training backwards. You know what the most awful thing is there is a hunter jumper "trainer" at my barn she'll not ride her horse for a week, then get him out put him in a dutch gag or some other contraptions and proceed to jump 5 ft without warming up properly then get bucked off. This is pretty much the pattern with all of her students as well. I don't know what they see in her. I do know though when she let me take care of her horse I rode him 5 days straight in a rubber single jointed dee ring and he was an angel. When she got back I told her he was a poo though so she wouldn't be angry that she's wrong and I get to ride him again.Anyways I think they can work for certain very special mule headed horses. The majority of them though do not need those things and it's only making them mental.

Thats awful futolympeventer327, why o why is the dutch gag the first thing poeple chuck in a horses mouth if they are having a slight problem, if at all!
They are so dangerous to a horses mouth. When my poor old boy had to be used in the riding school to work off some of his huge livery bill for me I put him in the fattest, rubber coated, straight bar you could find....if they were going to tug and be severe then at least that would help! Was very scary for me though and I was panicking the whole time! Nothing went wrong though thank god.

Yes the guy at my old yard likes to put horses in severe bits and then give the kids spurs too! Sad! Very sad! But of course the majority of horses would buckle and round into a false outline if they had those bits in, and so the girls think he's wonderful as he can get their horses working in an outline in under half an hour (HAHA- yeh right!). Trouble is he doesnt know how to teach them to aks for an outline so that's the only way he can do it!

As for a bit for dressage.....i havent got a clue. I use a very small group of bits, and buy in the occasional new one just to try (its an obsession I recok! Hehe) I can't use the snaffle in my last post for dressage due to it having rollers, so I tend to train in that at home and then stick them in a very similar sweet iron/copper bit but without the rollers and most of the time, for the test, they don't notice the difference.
I have straight bar/loose ring nathe bits to start my youngsters (its simple and doesnt give them too much to think about), then usually they have a D-ring copper roller, to aid with dirrection and keep them soft/salivating or maybe a full cheeck version, and then when training progresses they usually get abit cocky and strong so they have the loose ring copper bradoon and the rollers prevent them from taking a hold more.

Sorry I can't help......will think on it though.

Elz x

To answer you question about what bit to use in dressage- I use a French link snaffle it is perhaps the softess bit ever apart from your rubber bits. For yous who have never seen one it looks like this:


For Showjumping and cross country I use just an ordinary snaffle the next hardest, cause he is a big fella and goin around that x country course at 620m a min it can be quite frightning, I just like to know I am in control. Thanks

[quote="futolympeventer327"]To kristy yes I know you should be able to jump in your flat work bit and I can and have. I simply prefer to use the waterford because he rounds out nicely in it and I would do dressage in it if I could!! It is actually milder than the mullen mouth eggbut I use yet lightens him at the same time personally I think whoever invented waterfords should get a award.

I would question whether or not your horse was actually sucking back or evading the bit by rounding out due to the waterford. They are bits meant to "treat" horses that pull.

As for the cross country bit. We can go in a waterford, but I prefer a little bit of leverage if I have to get us out of a sticky situation. He flats really well in that bit as well. It makes me sad that neither of our jumping bits are allowed dressage because he works so much better in them than the mullen mouth.

Leverage is leverage, though. The amount of pressure you pull is multiplied when using the bit you do for xc.

Of course he hates jointed snaffles and were not allowed to ride in a double bridle yet. Anyone have a suggestion for a dressage legal bit that has no nutcracker action and won't touch his palate?Thanks!!

This is what double jointed bits, such as french links, are for.


*shrug*quote]

Yeh cause I use a French link and they are the best! When I go out to compete I see all these bloody big horses with these massive leverage bits on, and with all mine I just have a ordinary snaffle on, I can not figure out why they would ride a horse that needs a big leverage bit to pull up. My opion re mouth them, if I had my way I would make every one have a bitless bridle!

Cheers Mates

I'm a fan of pelhams when they are used correctly. When I did equitation, I hated seeing riders use the pelham as a crutch. So long as you can use it effectively, instead of just hanging on the horses mouth, pelhams are great. They help a horse frame up - especially one with a less-than-supple body.

On the pony I ride now, I originally used a twisted snaffle. She was a freight train. So I switched to a straightbar pelhem. Still a freight train. A joined rubber pelhem helped a bit. However, when we went out foxhunting, she would just get plowing and pretty much rip my arms off. And trust me, we did our fair share of flat work.

So, then I tried a double-bar-jointed gag (i don't know what the real name for it is, but yeah. That's pretty much it.) She was a dream out foxhunting in it. Perfect, and I have pretty light hands so I wasn't cranking on her or anything. But I didn't want to have to use the gag all the time at home, because I didn't want it to lose it "edge" with her. So I would use the rubber pelham at home. Well, then the rubber pelham got chewed by her a bit, and roughed up her mouth. So I tried a loose-ring hollow mouth bit, so that I could still ride her. And miracles of miracles, that's the one she goes best in. Sometimes, less is more xP