At Bit's End: How to Correctly Fit a Bit & Bridle

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By: Dr Shannon Lee, Consultant Veterinarian, Advanced Equine Dentistry

As horse owners, we have a responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of our horses. Every time you ride, your position, posture and aids have a direct impact on your horse. But, how can you successfully communicate with your horse if your tack is creating discomfort or, at worst, causing severe pain? 

Often, we’re confronted with behavioural difficulties that can be fixed by routinely checking our tack for wear and correct fit. Does your horse lug? Do they chew the bit? Do they have more resistance one way over another? Do they tip their head? Do they try to get above or below the contact? The answer may be more simple than you think.

Today, we take a closer look at bits and bitting from the perspective of creating a more comfortable experience for your horse when under saddle.

Before we delve into the topic of bits and bitting, it’s crucial that we begin with your horse’s future in mind. Throughout your horse’s life, they will change and the same can be said of the horse’s mouth from birth to old age.

Horses have hypsodont teeth, which means the horse’s teeth continue to erupt during its lifetime. Unlike humans, horse teeth do not grow - they are fully formed from a young age and they erupt as they wear through the horse’s life. This means that dental management is ever important and markedly different.

Having hypsodont teeth means that, at different ages, there will be more or less space in the diastema (the space between the front teeth and the cheek teeth where the bit sits) and this will significantly impact the thickness of the bit that can comfortably fit in a horse’s mouth at different stages of its life.

Flip the lip!

When fitting or checking a bit, you can only gain so much information from the outside. The number of wrinkles in the corner of the lips is not an accurate indicator of proper bit fit. They simply can’t show you the length, width and height between the bars of the bit and the palate, which is different in every horse. That’s why it’s crucial that you safely ‘flip the lip’ and look at what’s going on inside your horse’s mouth.

Communicating with your horse

The physics behind how we train with bits and bridles, reins and ropes is pretty simple. We communicate with our horses by applying pressure signals. Pressure is the signal that motivates the horse to yield, bend or alter its course or pace, and the release of that pressure is the affirmation they responded correctly.

However, incorrectly fitted bits, especially those that exert a stronger pressure, can cause pain and damage in your horse’s mouth. Indeed, an incorrectly fitted bit also makes our job of communicating clear aids that much harder.

Communication between horse and rider is possible when the horse is comfortable, their bit and bridle fit well, and you, as the rider, can communicate with your horse using deliberate, consistent signals and releasing the pressure at the right time. So, how do you know if the bit is right for your horse?

Fitting the bit

If your horse is exhibiting behavioural problems or isn’t responding to your aids, then one of the first things you should check is your tack. What you may decipher as an issue with behaviour, may actually be your horse trying to communicate they’re experiencing pain or discomfort.

Does your tack fit correctly? Is it rubbing or pinching? Is it in the correct position? If your horse is regularly tossing its head, playing with its bit or showing some other sign of unease, then it’s important to check for correct fit of the bit. Here’s what you need to look for…

1. Check for a small gap

When the bit is correctly fitted, there should be approximately 0.5-1 inch either side of the corner of the lips (the commissures). Any wider and you risk the bit sliding through the horse’s mouth.

2. Check for a comfortable bit thickness

You can check this one of three ways - either by (1) fitting the bit, (2) flipping the lip and looking at the amount of pressure on the tongue and palate without rein contact, or (3) by carefully sliding your finger through the diastema over the tongue, and using it as a guide to how much space exists between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

The thickness of the cannons (the mouthpieces either side of the joint) should be the right fit for the horse’s mouth.

3. Check for any contact

As you can imagine, metal in contact with teeth can hurt. Ouch! Flip the lip and check the bit isn’t sitting too low, i.e. touching the canine teeth in males, or too high, i.e. the horse has a permanent smile and the bit is too close to the molars. Look carefully, sometimes contact with upper canines is not very obvious.

4. Check the bridle

When buying or trying out a new bridle, start with a quick check of the cheek pieces. Ensure the bit is adjusted to have an equal number of holes from the top on both sides. Make sure the cheek pieces are the right length for the horse and the noseband is adjusted so that two fingers fit between the strap and the nasal bone.

5. Take responsibility for every ride

Examine the commissures before and after every ride, for example, when putting on and taking off the bridle. Cutting, bruising or chaffing are sure signs of incorrect bit fit and mean it’s time to review the bit fit and your training.

6. Talk to your Equine Dental Veterinarian

If your horse hasn’t had appropriate dental care for some time, get your Equine Dental Vet to examine it before using a bit.

Just like you can’t know the in’s and out’s of every aspect of dental care, we, as equine dental veterinarians, don’t know your horse as well as you do. The best thing you can do for your horse if you encounter behavioural changes or notice signs of poor bit fit is to talk it through with your veterinarian.

Further, it’s imperative that you don’t discount small signs from your horse as evidence of a looming issue. Sometimes, as horse owners, we make the mistake of thinking our horse is being disobedient, stubborn or just ‘having a bad day’, but often, your horse is trying to communicate what could be a larger problem.

Making time for a quick check of your tack when putting on and taking off the bridle can not only potentially save you time, money and energy, but can have lasting positive consequences for your horse - ultimately, helping to improve your horse’s performance, increase their level of comfort and make riding more enjoyable for the both of you.

Thank you to Horses & People Magazine for sharing this article with us!

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