Neue Schule Verbindend Horse bit Review

 Here's my review of Neue Schule's Verbindend horse bit.

I bought Niko, my Thoroughbred gelding, this bit and have been riding him in it for quite some time now so I figured I'd do a post reviewing the bit.Just before we get started I would like to say that no matter how good or bad I make the Verbindend sound you need to pick the right bit for your horse, so just please remember some bits are better for some breeds of horse/equine, it's important to do lots of research before running off and buying a bit just because it's shiny and looks like gold.

If you take a look at the photo above you should see three things, one my bit is a little dirty (shame on me) two the rather curved shape of the bit and three it has that handy little lozenge thingy, which will stop too much nutcracker action going on. Back to the shape of the Verbindend now due to it's shape when in the horse's mouth it makes a channel for the horse's tongue, the idea being to prevent tongue evasion which I can say it's pretty good at, but, if your  horse is the type to stick his tongue out this bit isn't always going to stop it, on the other hand if he is sticking his tongue out because he hasn't got enough room in his mouth with a big bit in there this might do the trick.

Because of the Verbindend's kind of odd shape it actually doesn't take up nearly as much room in your horse's mouth as you might think it would. With all this talk of shape maybe it's got you wondering how harsh will this bit be on my horse, well to be honest the bit really isn't bad and your horse can understand what you're asking with just the slightest rein signals, no it's not a wonder bit that can make your horse's mouth suddenly sensitive if he's dead in the mouth but it's likely to be a step in the right direction.

Now to the sizes, Niko's Verbindend is a 12mm bit with 70mm rings it's a good size for Niko but you might want to consider other sizes depending on your horse/equine's mouth size and breed. Okay now down to the standard stuff you all want to know, the bit is good for sending clear signals, I believe it's comfy for the horse when fitted properly, it's not a overly harsh bit but don't kid yourself it's still metal, it's great for transition, the Verbindend bit in general is a good bit and in the size I have it it's completely dressage legal.

The one downside to the Neue Schule's Verbindend bit is it's made of a very soft metal that makes the horse salivate sounds good right? Well not really because the metal is too soft so this can happen, see photo above. I would like to say that this only happened when Niko my TB was first getting used to the bit and he had previously only been ridden in a straight rubber bit, so please keep that in mind.

All things considered I like the Verbindend bit and would recommend it for many horses. Just remember to check out what types of bit are going to suit your equine best.

Riding on Stubble

 Only a short time ago Niko and I were given the great opportunity to go riding on a stubble field. It was my very first time riding on a stubble field, I am sure the same can't be said for Niko as he is a ex- point-to-pointer so no doubt it was nothing new to him.

 Niko was an absolute star for me and I can honestly now understand why some people go on about stubble fields the way they do, although none of the photos show it clearly the field was a great size for Niko to really go for it and let me see how fast he could go.

Here we are again not going at any real speed here but I'm sitting comfortably and Niko is going nicely for me. Speaking of going nicely I've bought Niko a new bit, it's called the Verbindend and is made by Neue Schule, it's a very good bit but more on that in another post.

And finally here we are all finished after a great time out on the stubble field, I think we both had a lot of fun, I know I did, and considering Niko's love of running I'm pretty sure he did too


More details on Niko's new bit and how he is finding it in my next post, till then I hope you're all enjoying life with your equines.

Joy of a British Summer

We’ve been having some quite terrible weather here, it’s been rain nearly everyday now for what seems like an age. Here is a photo of Murphy soaked and about to be taken in, it was still drizzling when this photo was taken but the camera doesn’t show it up. All the bad weather has stopped me from riding most of the summer so far which means I haven’t been able to get Niko fit, which is quite annoying because Niko is a roarer. He has had the operation to help him but he still makes the roaring noises unless he is fairly fit and then they go away.

  
Also with all the rain our paddocks have become waterlogged but on the plus side we still have the portable fencing so they are still getting grazing without sinking into mud. We’ve been feeding a lot of hay rather than haylage which we normally feed because lots of our haylage has been going mouldy.

  
But onto a slightly more cheery note, when I have been able to ride, Niko has been going really well for me, and I’ve been getting a really nice slow canter out of him and he has been doing a fairly comfy collected trot which is very nice because Niko is not normally a comfy horse to sit on.

So all in all I haven’t really been posting much for quite sometime now because there hasn’t been a lot to report with this bad weather, I am hoping it’s going to clear up soon.

Ps I am not falling off of Niko just giving hugs.

Niko’s Back in Business

After a very long holiday Niko has finally returned to work, he’s been back in work for a bit now and I’ve mostly just been doing flat work with him but the other day I did jump him a little but more on that in a moment.

  
Here are a few photos of Niko and I on day two of Niko’s return to work, I was really happy with how well he behaved.

  
Here you can see I am leaning back too much but I still rather liked the photo, Niko certainly has a lot of energy in his canter work at the moment, perhaps too much.

  
After a few days of work I took him into the big paddock to do some work and it went very well. But, he did do a very big buck, which I was not expecting in the slightest, so off I went over the front and under the hooves. I am quite bruised now but nothing is broken and I had a lovely ride and popped back on after the trampling and it all went very well.

  
Also I’ve done a little bit of jumping with him, it started very well and then went down the plug hole so to speak and was absolutely horrible, but we finished on an ok note so I shall be happy with that.

 In other news I’ve got a load of the rings fitted to the stables so I finally have somewhere to tie my horse :)

And everyone is feeling their feet now spring is here.
 
Anyway that’s all from me now I hope you are all enjoying the nice weather.

Back On Blogger

Hello everyone as some of you may have noticed I have been off Blogger for sometime, in that time I’ve had my 18th birthday and been doing I lot of riding. Anyway on to the blogging but one more thing I’d like to say thanks to Abby for the happy birthday comment.


So here is the post I said I was going to do about my riding and Niko and I. Here’s a photo that was taken just earlier today, as normal I have a odd look on my face but I am really not bothered about that, as you may be able to see I am not wearing spurs, to me he looks like he is going quite well and just as well as he goes when I am wearing spurs.

I haven’t really got any good photos of me riding him in spurs for you to compare with the photos of me without spurs, but enough about the spurs. I’ve found I am having trouble with my legs so I have a question for any of you horsey experts out there, how do I keep my legs wrapped around the horse and my toes in, anyone got some tips?

Now that’s quite enough of my whingeing I could go on for days, but all in all I guess my riding has improved and Niko is going really well for me. I am so pleased with him. Niko is slowly starting to get a bit more of a shape to him with all the work he has been doing in a good outline, he still has a lot to build up. Also it may not seem like it but his mane has grown quite a lot too which I am happy about, I would like to let it grow long and then I’ll decide if I am going to do something with it after winter.

Well I think that’s plenty of rambling for one day I hope to be doing some more blogging soon and hopefully my posts will be a bit more organized.

My Riding

So here’s the post I said I was going to do about my riding. It all seems to be going very well, but I have concerns. I am concerned about the use of spurs, my instructor has me ride with impulsion spurs. I don’t mind the use of spurs as long as they are being used in the right way, they aren’t there for someone that can’t ride properly to bully the horse into doing as they wish, so I am left wondering should I be using spurs, but anyway enough about the spurs.

As you can see from the photos he is going rather nicely for me and I am delighted with him, remember to look at the horse not the ugly mug on top, I think he’s looking more round as well so that’s good. My instructor says his trot is great so I was pleased with that, I do love to trot but must remember to do lots of walk too. My instructor was trying to explain how to do a leg-yield today they decided to show me so hopped on Niko to do a leg-yeld but sadly he threw a paddy so they decided not to stress the matter and go on to different work. They said that someone else has probably tried leg-yeld with him before but not done it right, so it might take a bit to get him leg-yelding nicely.

All in all I am having a great time riding and I am really enjoying my lessons, but I do just worry a little about the spurs, the rest is going great and I couldn’t be happier. If any of you have an opinion on the spurs please feel free to comment it.

I Have Returned

Hello to all my fellow Bloggers and viewers, first off a very big thank you to all my commenters and thanks for all the advise. Also to put your minds' at rest I have been quite well thank you, the reason for my absence was simply I was distracted by other matters. I have been on blogger and I have been reading some of your posts but did not find the time to comment sorry, must try harder.

Right so lots has been going on, mostly riding. This photo is of Niko and for those of you that don’t know he is on the bit. For those of you that do know and think it looks a bit messy, I am aware, my instructor says we might need to use a flash just to stop Niko’s bottom jaw from flapping, not to hold his mouth closed. Oh and those are my hands holding the reins, so I am very happy that I finally got him on the bit.

Also Madeline has had a bit of schooling with my riding instructor, Madeline tried really hard to do the what she was asked and did really quite well. My instructor says Madeline is very unbalanced and needs lots of work in walk and very slowly build her up to rising trot, my instructor has given me advice on how to go about schooling her.

So everything is going pretty well, thanks again to you all.