Neue Schule | Size Guides | Houghton Country

Neue Schule make a wide range of horse bits suitable for all equestrian activies and designed to improve communication between horse and rider with unique mouthpieces anatomically designed for comfort.

Saxon Gold

This metal alloy is unique to Neue Schule and was scientifically developed specifically for use as a horse bit to encourage relaxed acceptance of the bit. Salox Gold possesses three special qualities:

1. Reaches mouth temperature quickly. Salox Gold possesses a high thermal conductivity. This means that the bit will warm to mouth temperature quickly and become ‘neutral’ to the horse, meaning that they are less likely to inwardly fixate on the mouthpiece and instead will be receptive to all the rider’s aids.
2. Comparatively soft and therefore kinder to tooth enamel. Occasionally, the horse’s bit may come into contact with the teeth- namely the incisors (as we put the bit in) and the premolars. When this happens, we would like to ensure that it doesn’t cause discomfort or damage to the tooth itself. Salox differs from standard stainless steel and other copper alloy bits in that it is a slightly softer metal, allowing it to safely absorb impact forces whilst protecting tooth enamel. This can make the mouthpiece easier to accept by the horse.
3. Low bioactivity and doesn’t leech ions and therefore doesn’t smell or taste. Neue Schule aims to keep the bit comfortable but neutral in the horse’s mouth. We don’t want our horses to inwardly fixate on the bit, but instead be receptive to all our aids. A mouthpiece that doesn’t taste or emit a smell is one that will remain neutral in the mouth- after all we don’t want our horses chomping and sucking at the bit because it tastes sweet or is flavoured! Likewise, flavoured mouthpieces can lead to over-salivation in the horse, which can often be misconstrued as acceptance. There is no evidence that over-salivation means the horse is accepting the bit, and the horse cannot physically swallow this excess saliva and breath at the same time. Over-salivation may therefore impact on performance, particularly during faster work.

All of these advantages help to promote a relaxed acceptance and a quiet mouth, helping the horse to concentrate on the aids.

How do you measure a Neue Schule Loose Ring Bit?

Mouthpiece Length: The measurement is taken by placing the bit of a flat surface and pulling the rings so that the bit is the maximum length. Take the measurement along the full length of the mouthpiece from the inside edge of the loose ring to the inside edge of the opposite ring. Measurements are taken in inches or centimetres.

Mouthpiece Thickness: Measurement taken at the widest part of the bit near the cheek just before the hole that the ring slides through. Ensure the bit is flat. The most accurate way to measure a bit is with a set of callipers. The measurement tends to be in millimetres.

Loose Ring Diameter: Measurement taken from the inner edge of the ring to the inner edge. The standard ring size is 70mm for horses and ponies, 50mm would be a typical bridoon size.

How to fit a Neue Schule bit?

A general guide to ensuring your horse’s bit is at the correct height in the mouth would be to aim for ½ – 1 lip wrinkle at the corners of the mouth.  Please bear in mind that mouth conformation varies. Horses with fat and fleshy lips may appear to have many wrinkles at the corner of the mouth without much cheek tension, whereas a thin-lipped horse may only show one wrinkle under a large amount of cheekpiece tension.

Some horses are also much shorter from the corner of the lip to the muzzle (‘short smile’). In this case, it is often tempting to shorten the cheekpieces excessively. However, this can create unnecessary pressure in the commissures of the lip, leading to discomfort, and may predispose to rubs and masking of the rein aids.

When fitting a bit with a fixed cheek, such as the Eggbutt Snaffle Bit, the lip should gently brush up against the butt end ensuring a snug, although not tight, fit.
If using a loose ring, the general rule would be to have clearance on either side of no more than one-eighth of an inch from the corner of the lip up to the hole that the ring passes through.
The fit of the bit needs to be assessed at rest and then with a contact as some designs will shorten up more than others under rein contact. It is quite common for horse riders to employ loose rings that are too big for the mouth. This causes the mouthpiece to slide across the mouth as the rider changes bend or direction. The lozenge can also cause damage under these circumstances.

Mouthpiece Conversion Chart

Cheek Sizes - Neue Schule offers some bits with different ring and cheek sizes.

Loose Ring - 45mm, 55mm, 65mm, 70mm

Weymouth (Shank length) - 5cm, 7cm

Pelham (Shank length)- 5cm, 7cm

Fitting a Neue Schule Waterford

The LipSMART™ design of the Neue Schule Waterford mouthpiece it recommended that you use the same sizing as your current bit in relation to the cheekpiece design that you use. For example, if you currently use a fixed cheek and want to progress onto a Waterford fixed cheek we advise staying in the same size as your current bit. The same goes if you are moving from a loose ring into another loose ring. A change in mouthpiece size is generally advised when moving from a loose ring to a fixed cheek or vice versa. We suggest that when moving from a loose ring to a fixed cheek that you down size by ¼ of an inch. By this logic, when moving from a fixed cheek to a loose ring we generally recommend sizing up by ¼ of an inch.

Verbinded Mouthpiece Fitting Advice

Uniquely shaped cannons of the Verbindend it does shorten up slightly more than other double-jointed designs that have a straighter and more traditional mouthpiece arm. So, occasionally we do find that in order to obtain a correct fit we do need to increase the size by a ¼ of an inch.

Turtle Top and Turtle Tactio Range Fitting Guide

Turtle Top and Tactio range are measured differently to how traditional snaffles are measured. This is because they have shaped cannons that conform to the horse’s mouth, and therefore don’t lie flat when placed on a table.