New Bit Rules

I am a rule follower. Mostly. If the rule is stupid, I'll generally look for a way around it, but otherwise, I see the value in creating norms for society. Without rules, Chaos abounds, and frankly, I see too much of Chaos as it is. It was while thumbing through the August issue of the California Dressage Society's monthly newsletter, Dressage Letters, that I saw the new rules regarding bits. 

The article was titled, "Mid Year Rules, More Rules." It took nearly two full pages to show the changes and additions. Dressage rules are not among those that I find stupid, so I took the time to read the fine print, and there was a lot of it. It wasn't until I got to the very bottom of the first page that I saw the first change in the rules that affected me: DR121 Saddlery and Equipment 4. "A snaffle bit [...] must be smooth and curved on all surfaces as in a lozenge-shaped link. It may not have the effect of a tongue plate. Dr. Bristol and French link bits are not allowed. 

The fine print.

Guess what bit Speedy goes in?

Speedy's French link bit.

Speedy's bit, the French link pictured above, will now be an illegal bit. The link in the middle is definitely a tongue plate, a tiny tongue plate, but tiny or not, it is now banned. Here are some examples of much larger tongue plates. The rules about bits continue in subsection 6. "The upper cheek of a hanging cheek (baucher) snaffle (measured from the top of the mouth piece to the top of the upper cheek) may not exceed five centimeters.​ Fortunately, Speedy's baucher meets the second requirement.

For the last year or so that we competed, I rode Speedy in the double bridle. Now that he is being ridden by "J," he is back in the baucher that I rode him in before showing at Third Level. They're aren't showing, so I have no problem keeping him in the bit that he finds most comfortable and familiar, but if we do take him to show, I'll have to consider which bit to use as his French link baucher will no longer be legal.

Changes to rule 121 subsections 4 and 6 are only just two of the many changes this year, so if you haven't looked at the rules lately, you might want to take a peek. The entire US Equestrian Rulebook can be found here, but the Dressage Division hasn't yet been updated to reflect the changes that the board approved at the 2022 USEF Mid-Year Board of Directors Meeting held on June 20 and 21.

​And that's my Public Service Announcement for the summer.