Are Kimblewick bits harmful to horses?

Hello!

Any bit can be harmful to a horse if the rider, or whoever is leading the horse in a bridle, is careless and does not understand how sensitive the horse is.

The Kimblewick is a fairly harsh bit with a leverage action. You need to be a very skilled rider if you choose to try a bit like this on your horse.

There are several risks with a Kimblewick bit:

🍀 Tongue relief. Kimblewicks come both with and without it. Tongue relief means there is a curve in the middle of the mouthpiece. Depending on how the horse is built in the mouth (horses vary in how narrow their mouths are) and whether the rider takes the horse too strongly in the mouth, the curve can injure the horse's palate.

🍀 The curb chain. The chain should be fastened with just the right amount of tension. If you happen to fasten it far too tightly, it can be very painful and harmful to the horse, and if you fasten it too loosely the leverage action becomes harsher than intended.

🍀 The harshness. The Kimblewick is a harsh bit. That means that if you are not a skilled enough rider, you risk both causing the horse discomfort and losing the horse's contact and trust in the bit. You can then end up with a horse that is said to go behind the bit, meaning it overbends through the neck and loses the thrust from behind.

You rarely gain anything by choosing a harsh bit for your horse. More often the problem lies in gaps in the basic schooling, and what is really needed is further training for both horse and rider, the thing that makes you feel the horse is strong and want to reach for a harsher bit.

I hope this answered your question! 😊🦄