Trials and tribulations: double bridle bits

If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed that I recently bought a new weymouth bit to trial for Vallu. He was fine in his old weymouth, but after doing several months of researching and going through old photos I just knew it was time to try something else with him. He's been much better to ride in the double bridle since I bought him a new bridle from EquiWare UK, but I still wasn't entirely happy - every now and then he'd be too light in the contact, open his mouth or then go behind the vertical...

 I've always trusted and used Sprenger bits so for the last couple of weeks I've been on the hunt for a Sprenger KK weymouth because of the reviews I've seen for it, especially for horses with a sensitive mouth because the weymouth is shaped to the anatomy of the horse's mouth and it prevents pressure as the port is angled forward by 45°. I read somewhere that this is a very gentle bit, which is exactly what I wanted to get for Vallu!

 This Sprenger weymouth helps to improve mouthing of the bit because the high port means that pressure is evenly distributed on the whole tongue when the reins are used. Vallu has seemed really comfortable with it and I was actually really happy after the first ride - sure it wasn't perfect, but it was much better so I decided to do a 3 days in a row trial to see what happened. On the second ride I was fortunate enough to have my mum watching me ride and she also thought Vallu seemed happier! Yay! I could see that he sometimes opened his mouth for a second or two, but it wasn't like he kept it open for long periods of time. I was SUPER pleased when I felt him really take the contact and at no point did he go behind the vertical or block me through his neck. It's all very small changes, but there are so many positive changes that it all adds up 💖

I don't hide my weaknesses on here and bitting for a double bridle is definitely one of my weaker areas! I've never been properly taught about which bits to use for a double bridle for what type of horse apart from the basics that my brother taught me when I was working for him in Germany for six months, the opinion of a couple of my trainers in the UK and what my equine dentists have said re the shape of Vallu's mouth/jaw. I wish I had been to a double bridle fitting seminar or something similar, that would have been SO useful for me. But so far I'm really happy with this one! 🙌🏻🙌🏻 Well done the internet for being so useful once again!