Bit for a Donkey

[draftdriver]

I'm just starting to get my small standard donkey used to a bit, in preparation for ground driving and eventually driving on a cart. I'm used to the big guys (I have a team of Belgian mares), and it seems as though the donkey's mouth is somewhat shorter -- front of lips to corner of mouth -- than a pony's would be.

I'm just putting the bit in her mouth, attached by velcro to her halter at the moment. I've tried a smooth, mullen-mouthed Liverpool, which she didn't mouth very much, but did put her tongue over repeatedly. I also tried a full-cheeked traditional snaffle, which she mouthed a lot, and put her tongue over, but not so much as with the Liverpool. I adjusted both bits so that there was one wrinkle in the corners of the lips.

I liked her reaction to the full-cheek better, but I'm concerned about the tongue over the bit. Suggestions? Opinions?

[nfld_pony]

I find a lot of horses get their tongue over the bit the first few times they wear a bit... they get over it pretty quickly I find.

Is your liverpool ported? a ported bit is much harder to get the tongue over.

[pricestory]

I used a simple snaffle with my mini jack. I don't remember him ever getting his tongue over it.

[goodhors]

We use a snaffle, with ring sides, to start a young animal. Could be a two piece, but we are liking the 3 piece mouths better all the time. Loose ring sides with rubber bit rings to prevent any lip pinching. I use thinner mouthpieces so a baby is not choked with the "kindly" eggbutt thickness. Some will almost gag on that thick mouthpiece of a bit. 3/8" thick is good for horses, most 12h and up ponies, as a starter bit. You should probably measure his mouth to get correct width. Donkey and mules often have wider mouths than you would think. Don't want him getting pinched by the bit sides.

I fit bit a little loose in the corners, which might make him smile or not, depending on how far the lip corners go up on his face. He can lift the bit up and down easily.

Draft horses and draft crosses seem to have much bigger mouths, with higher lip corners, than other horses do. My Cleveland Bay crosses have very shallow lip corners, so when we have finished working horses, we say they are grinning (several lip corner wrinkles) when bridled. If not pulled up like that, the bit is hitting their front teeth!

We put the training bridle on when the animals are fed. This lets the young animal learn to move the mouthpiece and tongue around while chewing, get comfortable with it in their mouth. With a slightly looser fit, equine can get tongue over and then pull it back to CORRECT location BY HIMSELF. Leaving the bridle on for a period of time, he will find the tongue over to be uncomfortable, WANTS to change it and has the time to learn how. We have not had any bit chompers with this method, they get tired of chewing the bit, and quit. Bridling is not a reason to get really excited. Wait for the bucket banging down the aisle to get excited, because dinner is coming!

For us, almost every horse will get a tongue over the bit now and again, so we want him FIXING the problem himself. You can't stop in a class or on course to fix his tongue. Give him the time and a loose enough bit, to work it out, learn NOT to do that, no fun.

I would not move him up to a curb bit, solid mouthpiece, with chain under the chin, until he is more understanding of bit and word commands. You can do a lot of bending and pulling on a ring snaffle, that is not possible with a curb bit, with their different ways of working.

Donkey and mules are very different thinkers, seem to need to TOTALLY understand what you are asking and expect of them, before they will try to help you. Not dumb, just think different. Hope you have some good books, or local help to work with you and them.

[draftdriver]

Thanks for the thoughts, goodhors. I've measured the donkey with one of those bit-measuring gadgets, so I'm OK in that dpeartment. I like your suggestion about a 3-piece mouthpiece, as I noted that the joint on the full-cheek snaffle ended up way forward in her mouth, almost to the back of her front teeth. Both it and the Liverpool (which is smooth, slightly curved with no port) seem to be a nice thickness for her mouth.

I'm used to driving draft horses, but this is the first time I've ever tried to break any equine to harness. Not much help in my area -- donkeys are rarely driven here; they are mainly lawn ornaments or livestock guardians. I do have lots and lots of mentors in the draft horse department.

I have noticed that my donkey is very different from my horses. She has her own agenda, and is far less eager to please me than the draft horses are. She is very smart, though, and likes to learn tricks such as 'bow' and 'curtsey', so I have some hope that the driving will go reasonably well as long as I praise her effusively and offer many small nibbles of carrots for her efforts.

[Trakehner]

Donkeys tend to have lower roofs of their mouths, so watch out for too high ported bits.

Myler makes some wonderful bits that do great with donkeys & mules.