# How long does it take for a horse to adjust to new bit? and the problems with old bit



## manca (Feb 23, 2011)

Just bumping this up...


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## christopher (Feb 11, 2011)

how tight do you have the bridle done up on her?


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## jwells84 (Mar 29, 2011)

if it was me, i'd go back to a snaffle(i prefer a fullcheck snaffle) she how she does in it then progress fwd. id make sure she know how to give with whatever bit you decides she needs or likes. it may take a while to find out for sure,but lots of flexing will help you be able to decide how she takes to it..


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## manca (Feb 23, 2011)

> How tight do you have the bridle done up on her?


Two wrinkles. I'll take a pic tomorrow and put it on.

Thanks for advice jwells84. 

I was riding her today for the third time in the french link bit and I have to say she did better in it, especially today. I didn't ride on loose reins so much as we are used to and she opened her mouth when I shortened the reins. But after few steps she closed them and was ok. Well every time I did the transition from long to short reins she opened mouth, but closed it very very soon. I'm quite sure the snaffle was a problem and it bumped her in the palate.
I'll work on flexing


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## mapleridgefarm (Sep 20, 2010)

i had a gelding that did this also that i just sold. he did best in a myler bit. i contacted myler and showed them videos of her, ect. they recommeneded a bit and i got a used one off ebay. worth a try.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

try lowering the bit a little one wrinkle


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## rc82 (Jun 16, 2011)

My general rule of thumb when I was playing around with bits on my horse, was if he didn't seem to get along with it in one ride, I need to try something new. Thankfully, I've invested in a lot of bits so I always had plenty of options to try. 

I agree with what jwells suggested. Go back to square one. Start back at a snaffle (I tend to stick with a medium twisted wire snaffle). True plain snaffles don't offer enough on a truly broke horse. My both my show horse now and my old show horse from when I was a youth kid were fussy with their bits. Wound up my old show horse was a dream in a myler that had about 8 joints in it. Phenomenol bit. My show horse now, even though he's 8, can't stand any kind of port or breaks in a bit. Just a basic mullen type bit keeps him happy. 

You know when you get the right one.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I really don't think it's the bit that is causing your horses problem. Horses adapt very quickly to things that they can't change. In my opinion your horses is expressing outward signs of inner termoil. Like when a person chews thier fingernails or constantly drums thier fingers. There are likely many holes in your horses training that need to be filled in before he will feel like he can calm down and trust you. 

When I get a horse like that I work on softening them and getting them to give to pressure. I want them to break at the poll when I pick up a rein and give me vertical a lateral flexion with relative ease. More impotantly I want to be able to direct the horses feet and control the life in them. This means I have to be able to move each part of the horse independently.

An excellent book to read is "True Horsemanship Through Feel" by Bill Dorrance and Leslie Desmond. He talks at lenght about feeling your horse and letting your horse feel of you. When you get that feel happening really well then they can feel when you want them to be calm and stand and you can feel when they just HAVE to move and can't stand any longer so you direct them where you want them to go.

It took your horse a while to get like this and he has been like this a while so progress will be slow but it can be made. Look at what your horse has going on inside his head not what is going on inside his mouth and you will have much better results.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I just changed my horse's bit yesterday upon discovery that his previous one seemed to be causing him some discomfort. While he immediately did seem more comfortable with the new one, we walked him on contact in hand for a good half hour before he was convinced it was okay to reach into the contact. Once he realized that all was good, he was fine with it. If you ride your horse normally on a loose rein, I'm not sure how exactly you figure out how much your old bit came into play.


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## manca (Feb 23, 2011)

> Try lowering the bit a little one wrinkle


I did and it was actually a bit worse...



> My general rule of thumb when I was playing around with bits on my horse, was if he didn't seem to get along with it in one ride, I need to try something new. Thankfully, I've invested in a lot of bits so I always had plenty of options to try.
> 
> I agree with what jwells suggested. Go back to square one. Start back at a snaffle (I tend to stick with a medium twisted wire snaffle). True plain snaffles don't offer enough on a truly broke horse. My both my show horse now and my old show horse from when I was a youth kid were fussy with their bits. Wound up my old show horse was a dream in a myler that had about 8 joints in it. Phenomenol bit. My show horse now, even though he's 8, can't stand any kind of port or breaks in a bit. Just a basic mullen type bit keeps him happy.
> 
> You know when you get the right one.


Ugh... Then I have A LOT of bits to try... 

@Kevinshorses: When you put it like that, it makes sense. This bit I have now shouldn't be hurting her in any way, I had a vet here yesterday for some things and I asked him to check the fit. It fits ok, mare also has no sores in mouth and her teeth are fine. Since she is in my country (I don't know about before, she is from Germany) she always seemed nervous horse and she always did that. The previous owner sold her because of the mouth oppening issue, because it got worse and worse and she couldn't control her anymore. She is MUCH better now, as long as I have loose reins... And nothing scary is happening around. I can ride her with loose reins. I don't need some extra contact to make her stop or turn. She is great just with weight transition and with changing position of my legs. But I would really want to make her stop being so afraid of the bit pressure. 
Today for example, she was perfect, also when I was holding reins. She actually get herself 'on the bit' and without any opening mouth.. Until... Neighbour's dog ran barking under her legs. After that I couldn't get her to relax and she didn't stop opening her mouth if I hold the reins or not. She was nervous and she was hurrying on that place every single time we passed the spot and 30meters away. I was doing circles, and other things to get her concentrated, but it didn't help. She finally relaxed when we went for a walk in the nearby forest (she was ok as soon as she knew she wouldn't have to pass the mad dog spot). 
I think that this is a big issue. I don't know how to get her to relax when she gets so nervous and scared. 
I was very pleased with her and the bit until that **** dog :S

@MyBoyPuck: I rode today with nonloose reins and she reached into contact  It was great until that dog... With snaffle she never went into contact, she was opening her mouth nonstop. So this bit seems to help  Until no crazy dogs are around.


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## jwells84 (Mar 29, 2011)

maybe she is just sure of her self, and that is her way of showing it. since the dog spooking her made her nervous, and then she was acting up toward the bit, maybe some desentizing with a very easy snaffle briddle in stead of a halter? thats about all i can think of.


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