Product Review: Bit Butter

Background:  When I was first enlightened to my horse's complete lack of connection in August, his dry mouth and locked jaw were pointed out to me.  Loudly.  A lot happened in those two months, some very difficult, some very helpful, all very enlightening.  At the time, I was desperately trying anything that would possibly help make my locked up, dry mouth horse relax.  I won't mention how many loose ring snaffles I now own or how many things I bought.  It makes me sad.  A little jar of Bit Butter ended up in my locker during that frenzy.

In the end training and an appropriate loose ring fixed the dry mouth problem. Go figure.  But that little jar of Bit Butter did not go in the discard pile.

Theo is very sensitive about the corners of his mouth, insisting on long rubs after rides and getting cracked skin when the air is dry.  Going in a loose ring seems to increase the likelihood the corners of his mouth will get dry/chapped.

The Product:  Bit Butter is beeswax, cocoa butter, and mango butter mixed with some natural oils.  It's marketed for softening the unresponsive corners of your horse's mouth.  You massage it into the corners of your horse's mouth and apply it to the underside of your horse's bit.  It's all natural and edible, so you can use it as well.

Review:  It's chapstick for horses.  Pure and simple.

It smells like cookies.  Straight up cookies.  Or a Yankee candle.  I love the smell and so does Theo.  His ears perk when I open up the jar and that smell gets loose.

It also tastes fantastic.  Both Theo and I use this now that it's winter.  It's a solid chapstick for me and seems to serve me well on cold rides.  It's thicker and more like a coating than what you get with human chapstick, but I find it keeps the cold temps from destroying my lips.  Theo will lick it off my fingers if I give him a chance and sucks his bit in with enthusiasm when I use this.  A bit too much enthusiasm.  I have a scratch on my noseband from him pulling too much of the bridle in.

This stuff is magic on the cracked skin around Theo's mouth.  He loves it when I rub this in and I'm able to keep the area from drying out or cracking preemptively.  I also use it on his bit to prevent any friction between his sensitive skin and his loose ring which he plays with a bit.  I have seen a small increase in foam when this is used.  It won't fix a dry mouth problem, but it will encourage a horse to work the bit because it's tasty and slides nicely at the corners of their mouth.

It's a bit of a pain in the cold since it turns into a brick.  If you don't have a heated tackroom, you can scrape some out and warm it in your hand.  It's much easier to manage at room temps when it's soft and easy to smooth on the bit or the corners of your horse's mouth.

Conclusion: It's chapstick for your horse.  Useful addition to the tack trunk and a little jar will last a long time.  I use it on myself in winter and on Theo pretty much all the time but especially when the air is dry.  It's the kind of thing that's convenient to have on hand in case it comes up even if you don't always use it. If nothing else, it's a life saver when you're at a show and realize you forgot your chapstick.  It tastes awesome!