Neue Schule Turtle Top with Flex Eggbutt Bit - Dressage Legal
This bit is a graduation bit up from the humble snaffle for greater control and effect, as well as an improvement in the horses comfort. It is often found to come into use after horses have been through their early balancing work under saddle and are progressing on further or for horses that are going through a level of retraining as this bit can be very subtle in the way it brings about quite measured improvements from the riders point of view due to the improved acceptance by the horse.
If you are looking to improve directional control and straightness in your horse, this bit assists ensure you can do this by concentrating the horses mind on the turtle top link sitting over the tongue. The horse will find more guidance from this bit design due to a tighter control of the mouth piece joints as there is minimal slack in the joint couplings.
The eggbutt cheek pieces ensure that horses with blump / large lips that tend to flood the available external space in the mouth piece sides is accommodated, and any pinching that can happen on a loose ring connection is avoided so check you dont bridle up with a bit that is a size to big in these cases.
The Neue Schule Turtle Top with Flex Eggbutt will likely bring an improvement in moving the horse around during ridden work especially when flexing through a turn which is made easier by the horses more relaxed head, neck, and shoulder, especially important during lateral work.
This bit has an anatomy-inspired double jointed bit design with enhanced mouthpiece stability, through optimised alignment of the mouthpiece surfaces to the tongue and palate, and so the mouthpiece acceptance rate from the horse is much higher.
The Neue Schule Flex concept
The Neue Schule Flex concept is designed to deliver greater geometrical alignment of the surfaces of the mouthpiece with the sensitive surfaces of the horses mouth. For most designs “Flex” delivers a slim profile using the Turtle Top™ dome prior to, and when the bit is closing angles giving due consideration for the height of the equine palate and so preventing any palate interference during use.
The bit is especially good at helping the horse stretch the neck out and downwards in seeking out the contact, and for horses that are shorter in the neck it assists maximise stretch through the top line.
What mouth piece material should be
The horse’s mouth is warm and soft and needs to remain as quiet and still as possible in order to listen for the rider’s aids. So, after ensuring that basic engineering strength and toughness is satisfied, the mouthpiece material of a bit should be warm, soft, and neutral in taste.
Salox Gold Conductivity - helps to open the horse's attention to all rider aids, not solely the mouthpiece
The unique 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.
Soft Material - encourages acceptance by the horse
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.
Neutral taste controls salivation to allow for better performance
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.
The FlexZ concept as explained by Neue Schule.
FlexZ is a development of Neue Schule's popular Tranz range (hence the “Z”). Gently curved cannons form a wide arch aligned over the tongue and held in shape by Turtle Top™. FlexZ is therefore more securely centred on the tongue and more resistant to being pulled through the mouth.
FlexZ Eggbutt
This innovation is brilliant in helping to achieve a comfortable and quiet mouth. Turtle Top with Flex keeps the mouthpiece centred and arched over the tongue at all times, encouraging relaxation. This comfortable mouthpiece is also useful in re-focusing the inattentive mouth back onto the rein aids in order to achieve a soft consistent contact.
It’s also good for training / dressage as it gives the rider greater shoulder control on a circle and helps set up the bend when changing the rein or with lateral work. The stability the Eggbutt offers along with the clever design of mouthpiece often proves useful when working towards a consistent more even contact. Often recommended for horses with a short tense neck.
You can purchase the Neue Schule Turtle Top with Flex Eggbutt Bit from ourselves here at Saddlemasters:
https://saddlemasters.co.uk/neue-schule-turtle-top-with-flex--eggbutt-bit-75388-p.asp