English Snaffle
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010What are legal bits indicating, for Western and English?
I show my English and Western riding, and I was wondering what are Legal bits. for all my English classes (hunter, jumper, under the saddle ect.) I use a bit ordinary. And a track for the West (Pleasure, horsemanship, etc..) I use a Bridle Bit without a break in the middle. but at the last show I went to the judge told me these arent allowed. Was he right? I do have a few new bits or both ok? also, what kind of breakfast you recomned barrels and pole bending? thankx!
It depends class and spectacle. In some classes of the West, a bridle bit or another type of small lever is illegal (as in the previous classes three years). In this case, a bit plain hinged mouth or in French (No. Twist etc.) or D-ring, or a Loose Ring eggbutt are acceptable. In general, except full model plays for English loops. In the hunter Arena / rider, you can put just about everything you want in your horse's mouth and it Legal. In the dressage arena, there are very specific rules about what bits are legal. In lower levels, roughly only one mouth jointed plain or French fillet (NO Twist of any kind) is acceptable. In the upper levels, the horse must be Double Bridle. In any case, before you go to a show, check with the manager of equestrian show rulebook that they are below (as a race manual show the USEF rules, etc.) This way, you can look in the rule book to find for sure what is legal in this particular exhibition. In addition, it has never hurts to make some tack backup / bit just in case there is a problem if you have something to fall back on.