Hi All,

I'm a Senior Bitting Specialist for a British Bit Specialist Retailer
I lecture on bitting and work with clients all over the World in all disciplines and all levels. I have worked with horses for 35 years and competed myself in many different areas. I am qualified through the Society of Master Saddlers in Bridle and Saddle fitting.

I have joined the Forum incase I can help anyone that maybe having bitting problems or need any advice just let me know.

Cool! It's nice to have someone with so much formal training on board. Do you recommend your best bit, or the best bit that is made by your employer?

Welcome to the forum! It is great to have someone with that expertise here. I have some questions.

1. If someone were to buy a horse with an unknown history, a horse that had already been started under saddle but just had an unknown history, what bit would you recommend trying first, and why?

2. How can a rider tell if a bit is bothering a horse? I mean, let's say the horse is acting up or acting like it is uncomfortable, what would I look for that would tell me "this bit is not working," as opposed to saddle fit is bad, horse is in general pain, etc?

Hi There, In answer to your question we are completely independent and stock all brands of bit so we are not biased. When I give people advice on their bitting problems, it's about finding the best solution for you and your horse and my reputation has been built on that and not that I am swayed by manufacturers or profit margins on products we sell.

Hi there,

Thank you for your reply. When starting a horse with unknown history I'd always recommend going back to the beginning and putting in the groundwork yourself then you known what you are working with. Obviously to be accurate with bit suggestions it would be important for me to know the age, breed and a little more about the horses purpose and mindset. However I have a couple of go-to bits that I use in horses that a young with little education to find out what we need to improve on. One is the Eldonian Balancer D-Ring : https://www.thehorsebitshop.co.uk/pr...php?xProd=1164 (Hope its ok to include the link so you can see the bit I'm referring to) It is a loseng D-ring in a copper composite mouthpiece. It is not too thick, and not too thin so suitable for a lot of breeds. From the use of this bit we would be able to see how much the horse uses the rain for balance, how much more flexion we would need etc.

There are many different tell tale signs that a bit is incorrect for a horse which includes common signs such as tongues over bits, inconsistency in the hand, too high head carriage, heavy in the hand, lack of brakes, head shaking just as a few examples. Bridle lameness is also a very common, lack of balance, and delayed changes in transition are also issues that can often be resolved with rebitting.

I hope this helps.