Bomber Blue Catalogue 2012
Fitting The Correct Bit If you are having problems with finding a bit that is suitable for your horse there are a few steps that you need follow to get the right bit in its mouth. First you need to make sure that it doesn’t have any mouth, back or neck problems. No bit will help if the pain or discomfort lies in the mouth, back or neck. The most important part of fitting the correct bit is finding the right mouth piece for a particular horse. Here it is what the horse is doing with its head that tells you what bit is needed.
• The horse sticks his nose up in the air the moment the reins are taken up. This is the horse telling you that it is experiencing pain in its mouth. If using a Snaffle, you need to change to a threepiece bit such as a Control Plate. • The horse shakes its head, which means that he does not want tongue pressure. From the Snaffle or Control Plate, you would go softer to the Happy Tongue, designed specifically to take pressure off the tongue. • The horse bringing its chin up to its chest in an effort to evade the bit is a sure sign of too much bit for the horse and it trying to relieve the pressure. The solution is to either ride on a looser rein, or use a softer bit. From the Snaffle one could use the Lock Up. • The horse that pokes his nose forward, trying to pull the reins out of the rider's hands in an effort to relieve the pressure of the bit. Once again the solution being to use a softer bit. We have also introduced colour coding of our bits to make this process easier.
The next step is to measure the horse's mouth. This is a crucial aspect of fitting the correct bit. Using a bit measure or straight rod, put it in the horse's mouth and lift it to the correct place in the mouth, and mark the bar on both sides just outside the lip crease.
This measurement can then be used to determine the size of the bit required. The bit size will differ depending on the type of mouth piece required. Most horses are fitted with bits that are too tight and this just adds more pressure points. With a fixed mouth piece bit the size required is the measured size, and with the single and double break bits this should be the measured size plus 10 mm to take into account the set. In addition to this add 5mm if the bit has a loose ring cheek piece. Nothing additional needs to be added for fixed cheek pieces. Once you have established the mouthpiece and the width, then you have to establish which cheek piece would be suitable. This is dictated to by various things including the discipline the rider is participating in and the skill level of the rider.
Bit Measure
Increasing Pressure
Colour Coding Sensitive Tongue & Head Shakers
Bomber Blue Happy Tongue McHardy Lock Up Waterford
Neutral
Snaffle
To Drop Head Down
Control Plate Elliptical Colin Miles
To Lift Head Up
Sara Grills Buster Roller Barrie Smooth Barrie Reversible
Specialised
Mullen Johan du Plooy Spinner Petros Control Plate Petros Elliptical Petros Colin Miles Petros Buster Roller
Bomber Blue The Bomber Blue is a unique bit which produces amazing results for the majority of horses. It is ported for tongue relief and very light.
2½ Ring
3 Ring
Big Ring Gag
Dee
Eggbutt
Fulmer
Kimberley Dee
Kimblewick
Loose Ring
Medium Ring Gag
Pelham 55
Polo Pelham
Taylor Tom Thumb
Williams
Bit Rubbers All of our bits can be fitted with bit rubbers which we supply in a variety of colours.
Bit Measure Essential for getting the perfect fit.
Contact Us
Web Site
GPS Co足ordinates
340 Victoria Road Pietermaritzburg 3200 Kwa足Zulu Natal South Africa +27 (0)33 3454669 +27 (0)33 3425860 info@bombers.co.za www.bombers.co.za Latitude: 足29.59337 Longitude: 30.376354 息2011 Bombers Equestrian Equipment. All rights reserved.