New Mouthpiece: MPC-W

I’ve designed this new mouthpiece referred to as the W. This is my explanation of why it was designed this way.

The design concept is anatomical. Not mechanical.

This mouthpiece is designed to make contact with the lips and the bars. With the flat surface of the mouthpiece distributing contact over a greater area, the initial feel may seem like the bit may be classified as aggressive. But, with more thought you need to realize that ¾ of the width of the mouthpiece is sitting on an area within the bars and lips that has not yet been accessed in the past. This results in a whole new area of the mouth that has yet to be contacted by other conventional round mouthpieces.

So why the extra width?

We designed the mouthpiece with extra width to help create proper balance anatomically in the horse. This is achieved by changing the angle of the mouthpiece in the horse’s mouth. Once the mouthpiece rotates, this will allow the horse to move forward with his ears and poll. When the horse moves forward with the poll, he or she has to lengthen the topline, or the nuchal ligament. This then allows the horse to lift the cervical spine, or neck. With the topline lengthened the abdominal muscles can engage easier to allow the back to lift and the hind legs to engage. If you do not wait for the horse to move forward with the poll, or to find the flat surface of the mouthpiece, it will have the same effect as any round stock mouthpiece.

The V shape in the center allows the tongue to keep the mouthpiece centered. If you create too much stiffness on the bars, it will tend to stiffen the horse through the neck and the front legs. Just like when you clench your teeth together, your lower jaw creates tension in your neck and shoulders.

The mouthpiece has a yellow light warning because of the ring mounting the mouthpiece to the cheek. If mounted with a sleeve or ball, it reduces the warning and may cause a reaction from the horse rather than a response.

With the mouthpiece hinged in the center, this means that once the one cheek rotates to the stopping point the opposite cheek becomes engaged and limits lateral bend.