What bit do I recommend?
Hope for the future or despair at the
present?
dedicated to my friend Jennifer in KY a great lady trying to do her
best
dedicated also to the barn I saw only yesterday
in the Carolinas with twisted wire bits, tie downs, tongue ties, flat saddles on the
horse's spines, and harnesses to hold the horse's tails (whose
tendons had been surgically cut) in the air
24/7 just to make them stand up artificially. And in the heat
and humidity of the Carolinas with their "private parts" fully
exposed and the mares having to suffer flies and bugs biting the
"girl parts" the tails were meant to protect. Please pray for those
poor animals in constant pain. Please pray the riders stop
using those horrendous bits with their horrible high and bumping
hands. It's the only hope their riders will "see the
light" and start to be kinder and see the pain they're causing
I am often asked what I think is the
best bit for training young horses, and to start competing in
showing, dressage, jumping or western.
I have long thought about and researched
the answer to this HIGHLY important question and base my advice on
previous information I have received, especially as the Spokeswoman
for WorkCover and all the accidents I heard about, and as the Head
Gear checker at the National Championships where so many illegal
combinations were presented!
I also base it on being bolted on more
times than I've had hot meals. For me it also has to be combined with
common sense and humane, kind and loving
practices.
I have little respect for riders who
control through PAIN and not TRAINING - be that in the dog or the
horse.
How do you know if a bit HURTS?
How do I know if they hurt?
TEST IT OUT ON YOUR OWN KNEE. Put your bit on your knee
and pull. If it hurts YOU it hurts your HORSE! You should
even be able to SEE SAW and it should still not hurt (not that
you'd ever do that to your horse - it's just a test on your own
knee).
My Mum used to say "if they open
their mouth or 'fiddle & fuddle' they they hate the bit, or they
hate your hands, or they hate YOU!". My mother NEVER
let me touch the bit. We turned using our bodies, we
stopped using our bodies, we "went forward" using our bodies.
If you had to use a spur, a whip or the reins it was considered
a "failure".
Want to see something horrible?
See what happens to a horse's jaw when you "see-saw":
http://www.horseyard.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111578&Itemid=146
WARNING - A GRAPHIC VIDEO!
The horse is allowed to QUIETLY
champ at the bit (mostly in halt), but open mouths, crossed
jaws, teeth grinding, wide scared eyes are a dead set sign they HATE YOU - or the
bit - OR BOTH !
How do you know if a bit FITS?
One
of the silliest things I've heard is "make the horse smile not
laugh", in other words check the wrinkles on the side of the
mouth. That's nuts! Think of all the different lips
humans have...and they are in no way related to the dental
work underneath.
Check
the TEETH! The bit should sit exactly in the middle of the space
between the bottom teeth and the top, and if in doubt ask your
equine dentist. Rarely do I see bits that are too high.
If there is a fault, it's normally to low, and on checking the
teeth inside, they are often able to bump on one of the bottom
teeth.
Check
the TEETH - not the lips!
How do I know if it's LEGAL?
You
know the old saying "if in doubt - throw it out!". You
couldn't get much closer with legal equipment. In the barn
I mentioned with the twisted wire bits was also TONGUE TIES.
They have been illegal in most sports for so long I can't even
remember. THEN WHY ARE YOU USING THEM AT HOME?
If the
bit is not listed here:
Official List of Legal Equipment
(Scroll to Page 21) then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that
under no circumstances should you EVER consider using it - at
home - in warm up and obviously never in competition. No
matter what your sport...or you could get SUED!
Easy law suit...
If you
are a coach or a property owner, or even a Mum or Dad allowing
it to happen and you have tongue ties, illegal bits, funny weird
illegal martingales, chambons, riding in running or draw reins.
KNOW THAT IT IS ILLEGAL, AND IF YOU HAVE AN ACCIDENT YOU ARE
NEGLIGENT!
At the
largest horse centre in Victoria I once saw a famous Level 3
Showing Coach have a piece of string from the girth through and
around the nose and back to the bit on a rider. Right in
front of me that horse threw it's head and ran into a steel
pillar. Should the child, or the horse, or a bystander
been injured that coach was TOTALLY NEGLIGENT.
But I,
as a Registered Coach, not mentioning it could have also been
sued!!! You have a moral obligation to stop illegal
practices immediately!
If in
doubt - throw it out!
What else makes a horse "fiddle"?
There
is one other thing that makes horses "fiddle" and that's too
much pellets or too much grain, and that's a whole other topic.
On the
Henneke Scale
I am seeing more and more
horses that are "off the scale", in other words morbidly
obese. At least 1 horse per day per clinic is
morbidly obese, in other words a 10 on the Henneke Scale (10
isn't even on the scale).
People nearly always
say "but we hardly feed anything", or "well he's just started
back after winter". OK, under that theory you don't check
the plane you're flying in unless it's summer, or you have your
own children morbidly obese every winter.
However, when you
really query these people they are perhaps giving 24,000 (2 lbs)
calories a day of grain. If a human eats 1,200 on a diet,
what do you think 24,000 calories does to a horse. It
makes them "fiddle and fuddle" as my Mum would say. (In
scientific terms hind-gut acidosis).
How did I choose the best bit for my
darling (Champion Olympic &
Paralympic) horses?
To be selected for my own beloved
horses, and to recommend to audiences all over the world, a bit
would have to:
-
Not
hurt if you put it on your knee (even if you see sawed like
crazy!)
-
The
best equine dentist I have listened to world-wide of
international standard recommended it in his lectures
-
That
the highest dressage master I have seen used it
-
That
it is on the legal list for EVERY single horse sport world
wide. This means (sadly!) I cannot recommend any
no-bit or hackamore systems. I have used both myself,
but not permitted at this stage, considering insurance and
the legal situation to recommend them. I also cannot
allow them in clinics or in training, for the fear of law
suit.
-
It
can lead to a double-bridle later on. OK I hate double
bridles, but they are mandatory in some sports. I'm
trying my best to work from the inside to get them banned.
All my riders are capable of stopping a horse WITH THEIR
BODY and NOT THE REINS - and they learn it IN ONLY ONE
LESSON.
See downward transition.
To stop with the reins is a sign that you've failed.
It's the sign of a beginner rider who just hasn't been shown
how it can be done without ANY reins. The reins are
like your parachute...or your airbag. Hopefully you'll
never have to experience them, but it's handy, especially
with children to at least know they're there.
-
Be
comfortable for nearly every horse, small or large,
irrespective of the dental situation underneath
-
That
it was safe for horse, rider,
surroundings and other horses (see bits mentioned below)
-
That
in an emergency stop, the ring or side bar would not end up
in the horse's mouth
-
Not a
crazy expensive gadget that's supposed to be a "Mr. Fix It".
(The horse is fixed by TRAINING, not by gadgets!)
-
Have very little or no pressure
on the horse unless it's a real emergency. Chains and
tie downs apply pressure all the time, whereas a good bit
has no pressure if the reins are loose.
A very good friend of mine runs a
large saddlery chain in Australia. I have spent many many
hours sitting in saddles looking at saddles on saddle stands,
measuring angles, discussing saddle and rider fit, sticking my
hand under saddle pads and banging my hand with a hammer just to
see what it felt like - and of course EVERY SINGLE BIT in that
saddlery store has been on my knee. And, if I ever
discover some weird bit overseas - straight on my knee it goes.
Sooner or later every single other
bit in the world has failed in one or more categories above.
However, the loose ring sweet iron snaffle bit, from the bottom
of my heart is the bit I recommend to my own children,
grandchildren, my husband and my friends. But
remember...we don't turn or stop using reins! We use
our bodies! The bit is our "parachute" if ALL ELSE FAILS!
I challenge you! Does your bit
REALLY AND TRULY fulfil all those categories above? Safe,
comfortable and legal in EVERY horse sport and KIND and
recommended by the best international equine dentist I have been
privileged to listen to?
Well this bit does, and this is the
one we use at home....the sweet iron bit. It's not the
iron (I think they're actually stainless steel painted black
these days), it's the CURVE that makes it more
comfortable. I have only started to make them available on
my website because of the horror bits I get to see all over the
world.
Those of you who know me know that
I've got a nutty sense of humour, love to party, have a ball and
love my children, horses and my pupils, and never say ANYTHING
that's not in the rule book. The only thing that ever
makes me angry is people who cause others (horses, dogs, other
humans) pain. So if you come to one of my clinics in those
inhumane pieces of junk - know that you will be going home in one
of these....
The WORST bits I have found
1. Bicycle Chain
(Yes, for real!)
The worst was in Virginia, USA where
a piece of BICYCLE CHAIN was worn to a clinic. It is
unprofessional, illegal, immoral and downright dangerous with
the possibility of a horse rearing from the pain. And an
absolute certainty that that "lady" would have sued my butt if
her horse had reared and she was injured! Needless to say
the rider was instantly told to dismount and change it.
2. The French Link
I have honestly never
seen a horse (considering I teach about 2,000 pupils per year
it's a large group!) that didn't "fiddle and fuddle" with a
French link. The problem is it either fits at the sides,
or fits in the middle, but can't fit both unless the horse has a
super unusually wide mouth (like the traditional French Driving
Horses (around 18-20hh).
I have seen it fit Belgian horses, however they were over 20hh!!! On those
massive wide mouths it pulls the bit straight and wide and it
fits quite well, but for a little Arab or Thoroughbred with a
"tea cup nose" it will always be too low in the centre, and
they'll always be fiddling to try to raise it up to the level of
the sides.
3. A long cheek (and worse
short cheek) snaffle (FM
or Franz Maringer bit)
This is about the most DANGEROUS bit
on the planet, and poor Mr. Franz Maringer must be looking down
from heaven horrified!
Up until recently I had a
photo on this page that I have just pulled off because so many
children read this site - but let me describe it! The long
cheek had gone up inside the horse's mouth and OUT THE OTHER
SIDE, punching a massive hole in the horse's face.
I have put this photo in to give you an idea of how often we see
this bit in the wrong place.
This is a photo of a horse that
arrived for gear check in Western Australia. It's bad
enough that the bit found it's way inside the nose band where
it's not meant to be, but I'll leave it to you to Imagine the bit
punching a hole in the horse's face!
This bit was originally invented
with leather keepers at the top and a drop nose band. The
leather keepers at the top were meant to stop it catching in the
fence, other horses, other equipment, etc., and hopefully
prevent the upper bar going in the horse's mouth. The drop
nose band originally was meant stop the horse opening the
mouth so wide the side bar could go inside the horse's mouth.
But now we see these bits without either piece of attached
safety equipment, and many times at gear check I have found the
upper bar INSIDE the horse's mouth.
It catches on other people's
equipment, has smashed into people's faces, caught on fences,
and even once caught in my bra! I challenge you...put it
on your knee and pull - it HURTS. That's enough for me
never to use one on my horse. My knee hurts!!! It creates too much pain on
my knee to ever pass that pain onto my horse.
4. Twisted Wire, Tongue Ties,
Riding in Side Reins and other Illegal Equipment
Thank goodness I don't need to
comment as all of these things are illegal. If in doubt -
throw it out! Stop being so darned cruel as the
video mentioned above. I bet if we're honest we've all
done it - give the horse a good "bump in the mouth".
When I went to school it was perfectly legal for the teachers to
"bump us" as well! It's illegal now. When I was a
kid it was still legal to kick your dog. It's illegal now.
Seaworld doesn't teach a dolphin to
jump with spurs and a big whip. It's illegal.
If you kick your dog
they arrest you, if you kick & bump your horse
they say you're a good rider!. For years I stressed,
fretted and worried about those poor darling horses out there
and the people who beat them up. I recently asked a
gentleman "what can I do?" to stop them. He said something
that hadn't occurred to me: "pray for them".
So, here's my prayer "I hope before
I die that someone (anyone?) emails me and tells me they've
changed. Admit they've done what everyone else has done,
and CHANGE!" This is my prayer for you today.
Colleen Kelly
UPDATE:
"... the
good news is my mare loves the bit, and is certainly a lot
more comfortable in the mouth. I rode her and had a lesson
and she went very kindly. She is starting to flex and it was
easier for me and her. My instructor is very pleased with
the bit and thinks it’s an excellent choice...at least I
know she is comfortable in the mouth now. It is awful to
think of horses being in pain and being asked to work."
Karin,
Queensland
