At least I started the New Year right, I got to ride Mia on Jan. 1, the only time I got to ride this week.

On Tuesday I saw a few Bradford Pear trees in bloom in Charlotte, NC.

After three inches of rain and unseasonable warmth, a cold front finally pushed the rain off to the East.  It was brisk on Friday with a cold breeze and it was still cloudy so there was no sun to bask in.  When I was using my slicker brushes on Mia’s coat I found out that Mia has already started shedding, my brush was FULL of fine hairs from her undercoat.  Oh, no, a much colder January has been predicted down here, and the last thing I wanted to see was Mia shedding her winter coat!  Worried I took my slicker brush full of undercoat hair down to show Sam, warning her that Mia might need temporary blanketing when it got down to the 20s F.  Sam told me that ALL the horses had started to shed and that she was already planning on doing extra blanketing if the weather warranted it.  A lot of extra work for everyone involved.

Last week I had an idea.  The last few months, wearing the 5” Wellep snaffle bit, Mia has allowed me some contact, maybe a quarter ways around the ring, before she tells me that it is IRRITATING her.  Of course I have been following Mia’s lead on this, because of my MS my hands can change without warning and I often don’t really notice it until a horse tells me all about it!  I had recently gotten a 4¾” Wellep snaffle but it has been lying on a pile of other bits because I was reasonably content with what I was using on her.  Then I finally remembered that Mia has a 4¾” mouth and started thinking that Mia MIGHT be finding the 5” Wellep bit, even with the leather bit guards, too wide for true comfort.  I really did not see why that would be so, together the leather bit guards are ¼” across, so that would turn the 5” bit into a 4¾” bit wouldn’t it?  (Just so you can follow me better, the Wellep bit I am talking about can be seen here:

Wellep.com, and it is the first one, the Full Cheek Single Jointed Snaffle.  This is a very, very mild bit, upon establishing true contact the bit effectively becomes a Mullen mouth, with some room for the horse’s tongue.  All the joints are ball joints, the full cheeks move freely to conform to the horse’s head, and the cable that goes through the mouthpiece of the bit can move 3/8” from side to side enabling the horse to somewhat make up for uneven hands while obeying the seat and legs.)

I thought on it some more, then I took the plunge; I put the 4¾” Wellep bit on the bridle.  It looked way too narrow to put the bit guards on, so for the first time in years I am not cushioning her lips from the rings/sides of the bit.  On Friday I used my bit warmer so at least the bit was warm against her skin when I bridled her.  Mia was not particularly pleased with the prospect of going out in the cold wind so she was not very cooperative when I bridled her, and having a narrower bit made it a little bit more difficult for me to get it into her mouth.  However by the time we got out to the ring Mia apparently decided than, with the Back on Track poll cap, saddle blanket, butt blanket, and regular ear bonnet, that she could survive the wind in some comfort.

After a minute of walking on sagging reins I established contact.  Mia accepted contact just as promptly with the 4¾” bit as with the 5” bit with the bit guards, so there was no difference there.  But as we walked half way around the ring then ¾ of the way around the ring I realized that Mia was STILL keeping good contact voluntarily.  After a break of doing turns using my seat and legs I picked up contact again.  Same result, Mia picked up contact willingly and KEPT on contact willingly for as long as I wanted it.

This is a BIG difference!  I am still sort of sick in my gut so I am not in top form physically, for instance I was too weak to rasp Mia’s toes down.  I was not expecting Mia to give me better contact at all, much less for 3 times longer than usual.

Mia did not even seem to mind the bare metal on her sensitive face, something she usually abhors.

So now the 4¾” Wellep bit is staying on Mia’s bridle.  The old lady has “spoken” and I, her obedient servant, will obey.  Hopefully Tercel will like it too when I finally get to ride him again. 

People, if your horse is not particularly fine with your hands even with carefully selected and often very expensive bits check to see if you could use a ¼” narrower bit.  If it is an expensive bit that does not come in your horse’s size, look for options with a cheaper bit, whose mouthpiece somewhat resembles your expensive bit which DOES come in your horse’s size.

Several decades ago I picked up a reprint of an old book “On Seats and Saddles:  Bits and Bitting and the Prevention and Cure of Restiveness in Horses” by Francis Dwyer, originally published in 1868 by a European cavalry man.  In it he puts forth a strong argument that curb bits (and Pelhams) must not be wider than the horse’s mouth for the comfort of the horse, though he was not as picky about the snaffle.  Now in my riding life I have been quite good about getting the correct size bit for the horses I ride, for instance I have a decent collection of 4½” bits that I got for my Arabs back when I had horses.  I haven’t run into a 4½” wide mouth horse in the past decade, but, by golly, when I finally do run into one I have several bit options for that horse including bits for a double bridle!  Now, with Mia’s favorable reactions to the 4¾” Wellep bit I will, when I can finally afford it again, concentrate on getting a bigger variety of 4¾ bits instead of relying on bit guards on 5” bits.  This will severely limit the mouthpieces I will be able to provide the horses, but if a ¼” wider mouthpiece than usual can negatively affect the horse’s contact, both I and the horses will just have to get used to what is available.

Some horses are picky about their bits.  I just try and make them happy.

Have a great ride, weather permitting. 

Jackie Cochran