Bomber Bits from Forelock and Load
What makes Bomber Bits unique….
We’d like to give you some background into Bomber Bits and why we stock and work with them. All Bomber bits are handmade in South Africa and are the brain child of Bomber Nel. What we at Forelock and Load love mostly about Bomber Bits, is Bomber’s philosophy, ‘Pressure leads to resistance, and resistance leads to lack of control’. So in order to get control, we need to remove the pressure. We are finding over and over that less is more. At Bomber’s HQ in South Africa, there would be around 19,000 different types of bit in production and if you want something different it can be made. The extensive work and trials that have gone into the development of these bits with a huge focus on the anatomy of the horse’s head has been vast and helped to greatly improve the understanding of bitting. With smaller joints and bevels than machine made bits, it really does allow for minute details to be altered to allow greater comfort for the horse.
We stock a comprehensive range of Bomber Bits at Forelock and Load and also offer a hire and bespoke bitting service to help individual horse and riders. If we haven’t got exactly what you are looking for, we can get it ordered and will keep you updated on the progress.
The Bomber Bits that we’ve become accustomed to are made of sweet iron which is then heated to get a beautiful blue sheen (this does fade with use). They also use a nylon composite for the Bomber Blue and then the Flexi Mullen is a very soft fully flexible bit for sensitive horses or those who do not like the feel of metal in their mouth. Bomber’s have recently launched the Titanium range which is light, strong and the most beautiful blue!
We received this lovely write up from one of our customers last week….
Having seen that Forelock and Load stock Bombers Bits, I just wanted to tell you how much I love them and admire the man who created them! I first met Bomber when I was 4, and he was making all our polocrosse tack and boots in South Africa from his tiny little shop in a decidedly dodgy area of Pietermaritzburg. When I was about 12 we popped in to see him and discuss some polocrosse saddles, and he wanted to show me the new things he’d been working on. He produced several horse skulls and started showing me how negatively “conventional” bits affected the mouth, even with a very gentle rein aid. He had done such extensive research, and was SO passionate about making something that would help horses and riders alike. He knew that we had a horse who had been rescued and found with half her tongue missing, so was incredibly sensitive in the mouth. Bomber gave me three prototype bits (one of them being the first “Happy Tongue”) that he said would change my horses lives, and told us he was going to design a full range of bits that would do the same for horses all over the world. I have to admit I didn’t believe him, but I took them home and had a play, and I think it’s testament to how well they worked that I still use them on my horses almost twenty years later!
Every time I see one of Bombers bits it makes me smile thinking that this wonderfully eccentric guy from a tiny workshop in South Africa, who had such a passion for changing the world of bitting, and educating people on how much a bit can impact their horse, has actually done it. He’s created a global brand, which is loved and respected by all who come across his products. Even now I am still constantly amazed by the things he comes up with. I think Bomber is testament to the fact that if you are passionate about something, if you work your butt off you can do incredible things. I think the next logical step for Bomber is world domination, one beautiful blue bit at a time!
For more advice on Bomber Bits, please either comment below or email kirstie@forelockandload.com]]>
