Neue Schule transforms the comfort of doubles
Bit specialist Neue Schule has launched the Turtle Tilt Weymouth, based on extensive research into the action of double bridles and riders’ experience of them. This addition to the company’s product portfolio joins its expertly engineered range of innovative Turtle bits – the Turtle Tactio and award-winning Turtle Top – and has been developed to clarify rein aids, improve comfort and promote sustainable performance.
“We often hear from exasperated riders who cannot understand why their horse goes well in the same bridoon as a snaffle but fusses and resists when it’s a double – even when they drop the curb rein,” said company founder and bitting expert Heather Hyde. “With the new Weymouth design, riders have found that their horses are much more accepting of the contact on the bridoon and that’s because there is no longer interference between the two bits.”
The Turtle Tilt Weymouth sits further forward on the horse’s tongue, creating a greater degree of separation between curb and bridoon, and addresses the all too common problem of interference between the two bits. Its flattened mouthpiece is held parallel to the tongue, presenting a broad, smooth, weight-bearing surface with little bulk between the floor of the mouth and upper palate.
Scientist and Neue Schule technical director Dr Graham Cross, responsible for designing the Turtle Tilt Weymouth with Heather, added: “The design principles applied to all Turtle-themed products have been applied to this new bit. When rein contact is taken up, the mouthpiece rotates to present the flattened and widened surface to the tongue. The Turtle Tilt’s curve – which is not a port – is then directed forwards and down along the tongue, making space behind the bridoon to nestle without trapping or interfering with the curb mouthpiece.”
The Turtle Tilt Weymouth, with an RRP of £195, is available in mouthpiece sizes 5 to 6in, in 1/4in increments, and either a 5 or 7cm shank.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.