18/09/2026
This morning we had Angie from Ride Smart Equestrian out to assess Aries’ mouth and help us find the correct bit for him.
Aries has an interesting-shaped parrot mouth and a low palate, which has made finding the right bit quite tricky for us. It was amazing to see the difference in his body language and movement just from making small adjustments and trying a range of different bits.
Angie watched Sara ride Aries in several different bits so she could assess which one he was most comfortable in. The difference was incredible. He went from being quite uptight and restricted in his movement to looking much more relaxed, supple and free.
I was so happy watching the change and it has made me even more eager to get Angie back to assess some of our other horses.
Thank you so much to Angie for coming down and to Tracey for organising her trip. We are really looking forward to welcoming her back and would absolutely recommend her!
Aries has had a LOT of changes and investigations since we bought him and have been rehabbing him over the past eight months:
• New diets
• Saddle fitting
• Dental and mouth ulcers
• A long process with his feet
• Body work
• Vet checks to rule out any lameness concerns
• Today’s bit fitting
• Next week he is having X-rays to investigate his spine and rule out any issues such as kissing spine
• Next month he is having a gastroscope to check for ulcers
Rehabbing horses can often be a long road. Sometimes you get lucky and find an easy answer and straightforward solution, while other times, like us with Aries, you have to work through multiple different things and investigate one possibility after another.
The important thing for us is that we are willing to try, investigate and keep looking until we can make sure our horses are as happy, comfortable and healthy as possible.
As Angie mentioned today, horses aren’t machines, and we shouldn’t expect them to run like machines. They are horses, with their own brains, attitudes, conformations and bodies, and every horse is going to move and feel differently from the next.
We are really looking forward to watching this horse hopefully get better and better. He really is such a cool dude and as close to as bombproof being ridden as they come!
So, if you’ve been thinking about getting your horse’s bit fitted, I 100% recommend Angie. I’ll definitely be getting her back down from Auckland again. I believe she needs a minimum of five riders to make the trip worthwhile, so if there are enough people interested, definitely get in touch with her! ☺️
