Question
Please help, I compete my Warmblood Mare at medium level dressage and we have one big problem: she carries her Weymouth in such a way in her mouth that even when I have a loose curb rein the shank is at a 45° angle, if I take up the contact it’s at 90° angle, so the Weymouth over-rotates. I cannot tighten the curb chain anymore. The horse has a pretty dainty head with a short distance from nose to corners of mouth and a very small mouth with quite a thick tongue. I’m currently using the NS Slimma Weymouth with a Tranz Angled Lozenge bradoon. Can you suggest anything to help?
Suggestion
This is not an uncommon problem which we have resolved in the past by using one of our unique designs; the Transform Weymouth. This mouthpiece is set on backwards at 45°to the axis of the cheek shanks. This design is really beneficial for the mouth conformation, big tongue and the short smile as you have described ‘a short distance from nose to corners of mouth’. We would however only change one thing at a time, having said this we would also suggest that you try a lip strap in conjunction with your curb, this will help to keep the curb chain in the correct place in the chin groove. It should also help with the lower shank problem and negate the need for you to tighten the curb chain excessively. Another tip would be to try using a thicker curb chain and running it through a gel sleeve as this can also help with over rotation problems.
We do have other options so if you have any on-going issues we will need to see photographs of the horse’s mouth conformation also the bits in situ and some video footage of the horse being ridden.
Resources
The Recommendation Given Is As A Result Of Information Gained From The Completed Bitting Questionnaire And In Some Instances An In-Depth Telephone Conversation.