I have been trialling the Sprenger double jointed Novocontact Eggbutt bit for the last month from The Horse Bit Shop, and thought I'd write up a quick review. When I was deciding whether to try this bit or not, I found it quite frustrating that I couldn't find much feedback on it, or even particularly good pictures of the shape of the mouthpiece. Hopefully this will help some others!
So a bit of info on my mare - she's a thoroughbred cross with a massive tongue who can be quite tricky in her mouth. She's very sensitive and goes a bit backwards in strong bits, but she can also be strong. She goes in a micklem bridle which is do think is a fabulous bit of tack for sensitive, mouthy types.
When she was younger I got her going very well in a sprenger duo, which is a plastic straight bar. Once she'd learnt to go forwards into the bridle she started to get a bit heavy in the duo, so I then put her into a NS eggbutt (after some trial and error with a few other things!). I do rate NS bits, but she set against it at times and I never felt I got her relaxation as well as I knew she was capable. She also didn't mouth up in it very much, and I couldn't hold her showjumping - even though I'd jumped her in the duo with no issues.
The sprenger duo is more shaped on an angle than any other double jointed bit that I've ever used. It's also made of sprenger's new metal, sensogan.
My verdict? I LOVE this bit. Emmie goes wonderfully in it. I've managed to gain the relaxation that I've been looking for, she feels lovely and light in the contact, and she also mouths up on every single ride. I honestly didn't actually think I would gain the results I have, but I'm really impressed! I've been using it for a month, so I really don't think the results are a fluke either.
I can hack out in this bit, she gets strong galloping but I had previously got into the habit of hacking her in a gag with 2 reins just for w/t/c, so to hack her out in a snaffle again is great! I've only jumped in it once but so far so good - hacking is a bigger test than jumping, so I don't expect to see any issues there!
The only issue I had is that I found it fit quite big. Emmie usually takes a 5.5". I had to choose between 5.25" and 5.75". I ordered the bigger size, but when it came it was really too big for her. I rode in it a couple of times to make sure she didn't hate it, then sent it back and exchanged it for a 5.25", which fits great as you can see in the above photo.
Also, I have found the Horse Bit Shop to be very good. The exchange was SUPER quick, I think I was without the bit for something like 3 days and then I had the smaller one. I've also had to change my payment details and they were great to deal with. I'd definitely recommend them if you are looking into a more expensive bit and you want to try it out first.
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