Viva Carlos Magical Blog Hop: Bit It Up

This week on L’s blog hop, we are discussing what bits our beasties go in and used in the past.

Stampede

Well when I first started with Stampede I put him in a simple single jointed racing D since that was my mildest bit of the couple I owned.

Young Stampede in my racing D. I still like to carry my hands like that…

After I moved barns in 2007, the trainer wanted Stampede in a loose ring bit, so I got him a happy mouth mullen mouth loose ring bit. Then it liked to grab the corners of his mouth, so he got ugly bit guards. He wore this for a couple of years, until after I moved to my current barn.

Ugly bit guards

Finally I got smart and bought Stampede the same mouthpiece but with D rings, so he looked much more like a hunter…

Special needs…

I always thought the happy mouth mouthpiece was a bit thick, so when I found a thinner mullen mouth D bit on consignment at a tack shop, I snapped it up and it’s been Stampede’s favorite bit since. I don’t see a stamp on it, but it looks like something Sprenger or Nathe.

Showing off his handsome face

So basically Stampede’s journey has been just to find a soft enough bit that he’s happy in, he really has the most sensitive mouth I’ve ever felt. If you hold too much he will literally hop up and down in place, which is usually what happens when he gets scared of something and tries to run away. I really love his current bit, but at some point I will get him a new Sprenger Duo for his every day bit and make his current bit his lunging bit since I keep a separate bridle without reins on it for our weekly sessions.

Sprenger Duo

Phoenix

Honestly, I could ride Phoenix in anything these days. When he was younger he did go through a strong phase while learning flying changes where he wore a slow twist doctor bristol or a rubber pelham for a bit, but otherwise he went in the racing D most of his life with me. Oddly enough, when I got him back they had been riding him in high ported kimberwick, which still blows my mind.

I’ve played around with his bit some since he came back into my life, as he can be really fidgety with his bit. I’ve ridden him in Stampede’s rubber bits, in my friend’s loose ring Sprenger, and in a double jointed Happy Mouth (which was chipping plastic after two weeks with no chew marks so I returned it) before settling on a rotation between a short shank hackamore and a copper lozenge D bit.

P’s copper lozenge D

P in his regular bit earlier this week

Sporting his Sprenger short shank hackamore

I tend to use the hackamore more as my let’s go have fun and relax bit, but it’s also good for reminding him to slow down if he gets strong.

So that’s all my bits, I really have a small collection!