# How do you assemble a kimberwick bit?



## purplefrog55 (Mar 31, 2011)

One of the horses I ride, Red, had problems with stopping. At first I was riding her with a snaffle, but I had trouble stopping her with it, and so I recently upgraded to a curb bit (kimberwick) so she will stop when I ask her to. I have been using it for quite a while, but today I noticed I accidentally had it upside down in the horses mouth. I don't know if it was something I did or not, but I never noticed it like that before. I thought I had it correctly assembled, but now I'm having doubts. Can someone tell me how to attach one of these to a bridle?


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

purplefrog55 said:


> One of the horses I ride, Red, had problems with stopping. At first I was riding her with a snaffle, but I had trouble stopping her with it, and so I recently upgraded to a curb bit (kimberwick) so she will stop when I ask her to. I have been using it for quite a while, but today I noticed I accidentally had it upside down in the horses mouth. I don't know if it was something I did or not, but I never noticed it like that before. I thought I had it correctly assembled, but now I'm having doubts. Can someone tell me how to attach one of these to a bridle?


Kimberwicks come in a variety of mouthpieces. Some are obvious in how they fit and some may not be.

Can you give us an idea of what your bit looks like by showing us one similar?


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## purplefrog55 (Mar 31, 2011)

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think about that, lol... It looks just like this.








I just use a basic bridle as well. So is which way is it suppose to face in the horses mouth?


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

The port - the bump in the middle - goes up, toward the roof of the horse's mouth. The cheekpiece of your bridle goes through the vertical, oval slot at the very top, your rein can go through either of the slots on the dee, or around the whole dee. The lower slot means more curb action, more severity, upper slot, less. 

I can't let the opportunity go by to let you know that this is one of my least favorite bits and one that is not legal in USEF hunters or dressage. If you really feel you need the stopping power of a curb for your horse, please consider a pelham or a three ring snaffle; both give you the option of riding with a snaffle and curb rein, so you can ride on the snaffle and only engage the curb when you need it for the extra stopping power. 

By riding a curb bit like the kimberwicke on constant contact, you're "upping the ante" essentially deadening the horse's response to lighter aids and pretty much guaranteeing that a some point you'll have to have to an even harsher bit. 

Sorry for the unasked for lecture, hope you can now attach it to your bridle correctly.


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## purplefrog55 (Mar 31, 2011)

maura said:


> The port - the bump in the middle - goes up, toward the roof of the horse's mouth. The cheekpiece of your bridle goes through the vertical, oval slot at the very top, your rein can go through either of the slots on the dee, or around the whole dee. The lower slot means more curb action, more severity, upper slot, less.
> 
> I can't let the opportunity go by to let you know that this is one of my least favorite bits and one that is not legal in USEF hunters or dressage. If you really feel you need the stopping power of a curb for your horse, please consider a pelham or a three ring snaffle; both give you the option of riding with a snaffle and curb rein, so you can ride on the snaffle and only engage the curb when you need it for the extra stopping power.
> 
> ...


Thank you this helps a lot!  
I also am aware of the severity of this bit, and that is why I have been using a snaffle for a while. I am very gentle with the horses mouth, and I have been practicing using a lot more leg movement instead of reins, unless I have too. The horse responds very well to stopping in the bridle since she now knows she can't get away with it, where as I had to use more pressure with a snaffle since she thought she could get away with it, and so I don't have to use much pressure at all to get her to stop with the kimberwick, so I am pretty gentle with it.. I just want to let you know. I love horses and I try to be as gentle in their mouth as possible 

And I gladly accept your "lecture" as well, lol. I like to hear that stuff in case their is something I didn't know that I need to worry about.


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## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)




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## purplefrog55 (Mar 31, 2011)

Thank you very much! I think I had it on wrong the whole time...


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