Brrrr...

It's been just a bit chilly in VT the last week or so, but like any good Vermonter I'm certainly not complaining. We see this almost every winter, and the "Real Vermonters" are proud of their hardiness when it comes to cold weather. I think today is the first day the thermometer has read anything in the double digits (well, that's a lie, it read double digits many times the last few days...double digits below zero, that is...) for 10 days. And it's a whopping 12 degrees out right now.

We are also proud of our hardy winter ponies, although I know of entire barns in this are who haven't turned out for days because of the temps. Bollocks, says I, the horses shall go out! After all, historically horses haven't existed below the 30 degree latitude line before man started bringing them to places like Florida and the Southwest. Anhidrosis (the inability to sweat) didn't start popping up until horses got imported to warmer climates, regions they have never lived and aren't designed to live.

Stella is perfectly happy naked and has been all winter. She loathes the blankets, but I did break down and put one on her two days ago, when the mercury was getting into the negative 20's all on it's own, before wind chill was taken into consideration. Had there been no wind, I would have left it off, but it was pretty gusty, which can strip warm air away from the horse's body. She's been in it the past three days or so, but it'll come off after the weekend when it warms up.

In the mean time, this has also meant no work, for the most part. And not even really because of the temperatures: because I don't have access to a covered work space, footing can be tricky this time of year. I have been fortunate to have an ice-free round pen, but the freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw has made the footing precarious and inconsistent. Stella has found it a bit ouchy and worrisome since the last freeze, and her hesitancy to go forward comfortably tells me what I need to know.

HOWEVER, before the arctic chill came in, we made major progress. The bit, bridle and saddle all came out for the first time in over 15 months. Surprisingly, there was little fuss. Everything was familiar and the circumstances surrounding their use were different this time. It took Stella only a few minutes of chewing on the bit (a loose ring, french link snaffle with fairly thin cannons: I know I said I wanted a single jointed, but this is what I had and what I'll use for now until I find a suitable replacement, although she has been rather happy with it) before she settled with it. There were even side reins involved, put on the lowest hole. I have conflicting feelings about side reins (or any head device, for that matter), which will be explained in the next post, but she knows them and they were so loose that she never even got close to being asked to go in a "frame"...

More soon. Stay warm!

A Bit About Bits

K and I have tossed around some ideas about bits for Miss Stella. She started her career in a God-awful single jointed rubber snaffle...ugh, that thing was horrendous. It looked as though a dog had chewed on it (and I think that may have actually happened...) so I still haven't figured out how she tolerated it for so long.

Bitting a horse is actually very simple, but most horse people haven't a clue how to properly fit a bit. I got some knowledge dropped on me a couple years ago by someone who I have the highest respect for and it's proven true thus far, so here we go:

1. NEVER choose a bit because your trainer/barn owner/stable hand/tack store owner/hubby/tax guy said so...they don't know your horse. And their opinions are often biased in some way.
2. Know how each bit functions: what's the difference in action between a pelham, a simple 1-joint loose ring snaffle, a waterford? Is there even a difference? How does a mullen mouthpiece compare to a single or double jointed mouthpiece? What's the difference between straight and bowed cannons (the mouthpiece components) in how they act in the mouth? Start making your flash cards, folks...
3. Bigger is NEVER better. Sorry folks, that whole thing about a thicker mouthpiece being kinder/softer? It's a bunch of horse shit...here's why:

Above is some simple geometry. If you arrange a perfect circle so it touches a straight line at only one point, it will, surprise, only intersect that line at ONE point, and the size of that one contact point does not change based on the size of the circle. Notice in the above illustration that the two circles are significantly different in size, and only touch their respective lines at one point. This is the basis for the argument that a thicker cannon/mouthpiece is softer: riders perceive that if the cannon is thicker, it must have more contact space (i.e. touch the horse's mouth at more than one point) and therefore not seem as "sharp" to the horse, whereas a thinner cannon would contact less of the bar space in the horse's mouth and therefore be harsher. Not only is this a bunch of bollocks by itself, but it also does not take into account each individual horse's palate: if you peer into the mouths of every horse in your barn and do some simple measuring, you'll see each horse's palate is shaped slightly different. Many horses simply don't have the room in their mouths to comfortably fit a big honkin' mouthpiece, and will thus fuss with the bit because it isn't comfortable! So much for being "softer", eh?

Now, there is such thing as too thin...thinner is generally more comfortable, but if the cannons are too thin they will creating a cutting action (and in most cases, this is exactly what is intended by these super-thin bits). Same thing with "textured" mouthpieces: they create uneven, lumpy pressure and can cut/cause sore spots.

Finally, and this is the hardest part for a lot of people (including myself, at one point) to grasp: if your horse truly UNDERSTANDS the bit, no matter what you put in his mouth, he will react to it very much in the same way. You will often see, in old videos of some of the great horseman, the riders swapping out all kinds of head gear and bits on their horses in one session. The way the horses respond doesn't change because they understand how the bit works and respect and react to it accordingly. These guys do this to prove that horses don't have a "bit preference"...this thinking can be dangerous because it takes the responsibility of teaching the horse about the bit out of the rider's hands and assumes the horse will magically "respond" to a particular bit. 

The better thing to do is to take the guesswork out of bitting: know what your horse's mouth looks like. Does he have a low palate? Does he have narrow or wide bar space, and how much space is there between the jaws when his mouth is closed comfortably? What is the shape/size of his jaw? What condition are his teeth in? How thick/big is his tongue, his lips? How wide is his mouth from lip corner to lip corner? Know this information and you can go pick up any bit and know if it will fit your horse.

Stella has a fairly small mouth in general: her palate is low, her tongue is not that big (otherwise it probably wouldn't fit in her mouth...), she has good bar space and nicely conformed jaws but there isn't a substantial amount of room in there when her mouth is closed. Her teeth are well taken care of. Her mouth is a hair narrower than 5 inches, maybe 4 7/8 inches. 

At the moment all the bits I've considered are snaffles: I think she'd like a Baucher (above) to start with, since it tends to sit a little more securely in the mouth of a horse who isn't totally confident about the bit yet. I'm also thinking of a variety of single joint snaffles, specifically eggbutt snaffles with slightly curved cannons. Simple yet stable and not a lot of "wiggle" to them, which can be nerve-wracking to a young horse who hasn't learned to carry the bit themselves.

Let the experimentation begin!