Question
My KWPN gelding has developed a really annoying habit of grinding his teeth and drawing his tongue back on occasions. We are competing at BD Advanced Medium/ Advanced and I’m worried that this will only get worse as we progress to higher levels. At the moment we are using a Sprenger KK Weymouth and a Dynamic Bridoon, but I’m now finding that it is difficult to keep him in a consistent contact. We have had everything investigated to see if it is discomfort but his back and teeth etc are fine. So I’m looking for some advice on a set of doubles from him as I have heard good things about your bits from friends and wanted to try them out for myself.
Suggestion
After reviewing your question and from the bitting questionnaire you have completed we would suggest that one of the logical choices for doubles would be the Transform Weymouth with the Verbindend Bridoon. The Dutch Warmblood horses often have larger than average tongues they are also occasionally short from the corner of the lip to the muzzle which we call a ‘short smile’. This mouth conformation often leads to the evasions you are describing. We would suggest that you hire this set of doubles and also try as a training tool the NS Tranz Angled Lozenge Universal with a curb strap. You need to alternate your bits quite frequently in order to keep him comfortable otherwise you will not achieve the soft consistent contact you are looking for. As previously stated we do have other designs that also prove beneficial. So if you have ongoing issues, please come back to us with photographs of the bits in situ, his mouth conformation and also video footage showing his way of going and we will be able to suggest where to go from there. We hope this helps, please keep me informed.
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.