John is a sweet-tasting, double-jointed bit with bar relief. The design is simple, unique and designed with the horse’s ultimate comfort in mind. Combined with the sweet taste material, the horse will seek more contact with the hand and be less overreactive when you take the reins, keeping a more consistent contact. The sidepieces will give you more control with the leverage effect, but still a very stable and framed feeling.
The joints are specifically designed to give a much more gentle pressure on the tongue, making John an extremely comfortable bit. The mouthpiece naturally conforms to the shape of the tongue whilst relieving the bars from constant pressure.
Material
Sweet iron is a covering on top of a bit made of stainless steel. The purpose is to disguise the metal taste from stainless steel and create a pleasant, sweet taste, encouraging the horse to seek more contact and hold on to the bit. Following use, sweet iron will start to oxidize and turn brownish grey, this is to be expected.
Sweet iron is a good choice for horses who need to seek more contact with the bit.
Pelham
The Pelham sidepiece is similar to Baby Pelham, but with a longer shank to create more leverage effect. This sidepiece gives a framed, stable feeling in the hand, making the horse come down and forward still with clear brakes.
We recommend using the pelham with a delta bridle or two reins, one in the large loose ring and one in the small ring.
With two reins, you can easily regulate how much leverage you want from the bit by shortening, or lengthening, the rein that is attached to the bottom ring. With more leverage, you get a slightly lower neck and more effect, with less leverage you can get the horse a bit higher in the neck with less effect.
Please note, horses who are wide over the premolars/teeth may need to size up in this bit due to the upper shanks. This is because the sidepiece of the bridle is attached to the upper shank of the bit, which is placed higher up where some horses are wider than others.
