I had some fun getting a bit Rolly liked. As you saw from an earlier blog about "getting the right saddle & bridle" I initially went for a Shires Training Snaffle - a snip at around £30! However, I knew this wasn't going to be a permanent solution as there were problems with it. Firstly, Rolly has very sensitive skin and as often is the case with loose ring bits and sensitive skinned horses, the bit where the loose ring sits in the mouthpiece rubbed the sides of his lips somewhat. So I obviously bought some rubber cheek protectors, but these seemed to cause chafing.
So, for a while I considered eggbutt/D-ring, but preferred the look of a loose ring and the movement it causes in the horses mouth that encourages him to mouth the bit. The solution was to spend around £90 on a Sprenger - I found the new-style Sprenger KK Ultra Type II that you can see here. The reason I - and Rolly - seem to like it is that the design of the cheeks stop the rubbing problems, and they also give slight steering improvements because it is kind of a cross between a loose ring and an eggbutt. Finally, it has the "tranz lozenge" which - according to the research - sits in a kinder fashion on the horse's tongue. The final thing I liked about this bit is that the mouthpiece is slightly thicker than the rather thin mouthpiece of the Shires training bit I had been using previously - so is kinder on the bars of the mouth.
Well, the result is is a bit that Rolly really seems to like - so much so that when I try to take his bridle off, he doesn't seem to want to let go of the bit - the patented "Aurigan" that the Sprenger bits use seem to be preferred to the "German silver" used in the Shires and other "cheaper" bits. Also, the Sprenger Aurigan doesn't corrode/tarnish the way that these other bits seemed to - a quick rinse and it is still shiny! We like that!
So here's a vid of Rolly not wanting to let go of his Sprenger!
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