Question
Hi, I have a Ride and Drive Haflinger that has a massive tongue which barely fits in his mouth, he doesn’t have any tongue evasions but it can protrude through the front of his mouth if the bit is restrictive. He rides quite nicely in a Sprenger Max Control Snaffle or it was called the Danger Bit Snaffle but is not always very accepting. We’ve always struggled to bit him driving where he leans and goes on the forehand, the closest we have come is as arch mouth Liverpool but he doesn’t take it forwards and tends to hollow. I modified it by hammering the arch forwards by 45° which helped slightly. Previously we have tried straight bars, mullen, small ports, arch, Myler Angled Port bit and Myler Mullen bit, but he just tends to hollow or lean on them. Would you have anything that might be suitable – I was thinking the Verbindend Universal or the Bevel?
Suggestion
In order to give comfort, tongue relief and to lighten the forehand we would defiantly suggest the Verbindend with the 16mm mouthpiece. If you only need lift without extra control then the Verbindend Loose Ring maybe considered however for increased control the Verbindend Universal is a logical choice. The Universal cheek is very popular with the driving fraternity and many times the curb strap is employed. We would also suggest that if you do use the Universal that you consider a padded headpiece or a gel poll guard as this bit will apply some poll pressure.
If you have any other questions or if you try the Verbindend and this doesn’t tick all the boxes please don’t hesitate to come back to us and we can re-evaluate with the results from the Verbindend.