I post a little while ago in the latest bought tack thread about the Acavallo Sensitive Bit and at least one of you were interested in knowing how it went, so here is a bit of a review. Firstly, the bit in Question Sensitive Bit - AC792 - Acavallo First impressions, this bit is VERY light, upon weighing it and comparing it to a more traditional bit. I got around 300 grams for a traditional metal bit and only 80 for the sensitive bit. Now the horse I originally got it for we were having trouble finding a bit she would settle in while mouthing her. We'd tried all the traditional snaffles we could get our hands on, but she was consistently unable to focus on anything other than the bit in her mouth, constantly gaping and putting her tongue over the bit. We did not go into trying this bit with the idea that we would get such a marked improvement in behaviour that we saw, we were just trying anything at that point. But we put it in her mouth and she immediately held it with just a bit of chewing. This was a horse that had flipper herself over from how tense and distracted she was by a "normal" bit. Since her trainer has been working with her in this new bit, she's said it's like working with a different horse, one that was once distracted and almost aggressive. Is now a horse that is relaxed and listening. She still tries to get her tongue over the bit sometimes, but that'll just come with time. In the meantime, I've also been using it on my other horse, and she has been just a dream to ride in it. We went to a low key ribbon day (our first show together in 8 years) and it was such a lovely experience, I couldn't be more pleased. An interesting side note, my mare is the mother of the youngster being broken in currently, so perhaps there is a component of mouth shape which makes this bit such a good match for these two. So far, I've loved pretty much everything about this bit on the horses I've tried it on. Obviously, it's not going to work for every horse. But I would say it'd be worth a try as it's at a lower price point than some of the other bits we were looking at (bomber bits and other similar mouthpieces). My only gripes with the bit are it is not dressage legal, and I can see it potentially not lasting as long as a metal bit and needing replacing in a few years, given the material is softer.
Idk about it, never tried it, but read a lot of reviews and replies here and there. I'd not think much of it myself after reading the negative ones.
What bits of the negative ones do you have against it? I intentionally didn't read any reviews before I brought it, so as not to cloud my vision and put in any preconceptions about it. The way I went into it was, based on which bits we'd tried and which ones she reacted the least too, which was a mullen mouth, but her tongue still didn't have the room with traditional rubber or ported ones, so with this one being pretty thin it was worth a shot.
Shoot, I had just ran a search on reviews, I'm not sure where specifically. I just saw quite a few negative and meh ones. That's all.
I really wish this bit was available with more traditional cheek pieces. I would love to try it, but the current cheek pieces are not dressage legal.
It looks exactly like the Beris Mullen as well as some of the bombers blue bits, so there are legal bits with similar mouthpieces and design.
From having looked at the bomber blue, happy tongue bits on my search. This one is a lot thinner than those options.
They aren't really at all similar. The Acavallo is a plastic and pliable material where there those are metal. The biggest thing I like about the Acavallo is the price point is much nicer than their closest competitors.