hey guys Maria here from Bennett equine getting ready to do my November tutorial this month's video is about a really easy quick way that I learned to put your tricky rubber bit guards on to snaffle bit now if you have encountered these thick rubber bit guards you've probably attempted to put them on your bit before and I know there's lots of silly ways to try and put them on I've heard of microwaving them and putting them in boiling water and all these things but for this way it's really super easy and quick all you need is a couple pieces of baling twine and I just leave mine out in the Sun or in a hot car for like thirty minutes or whatever while I'm doing my chores and then let it warm up a little so it's a little stretchy er and on it goes if you are watching this video you've probably already searched the internet for ways to get your bit guard on your bit and you probably already know what they are but for those of you who aren't sure what a bit guard is for it is a small rubber disc with a hole in the middle that you slip under your bit and it protects the corner of the horse's mouth from the bit from pinching it or rubbing it and there are several different types and some of them are really stretchy and really easy to bend and stretch over the end of your bit and those are great but I prefer the more durable ones the thick rubber where it'll last longer and you can wash it a million times in it you know takes a long time for it to crack so those are the ones that I'm using in this video and like I said I just left it out in the Sun for a little while and grab my baling twine and here we go so the first thing that you're going to want to do is remove your bit from its headstall I've already removed my reins and undone the buckles for this video but you'll just want to remove that bit and then set it aside next you'll want to grab a piece of baling twine and fold it in half creating a small loop stick the loop through the hole in the bit guard pull the ends through the loop and then pull the whole thing tight the next thing I'm going to do is tie those ends into a nice sturdy loop and you want to make the loop kind of big enough so that you can fit your foot into it and you'll see why later on in the video but make that loop and pull it nice and tight and we're going to repeat that same process once more with the other piece of baling twine on the same bit guard so I have two pieces of baling twine coming out either side of the bit guard one of them has a loop in it and one does not now find a sturdy bar or doorknob or what I'm using here is a hitching rail and use the piece of baling twine that does not have a loop tied into it and tie that on to something sturdy once you've tied that on you're going to stick your foot into the loop and use your body weight to push down and stretch out the bit guard now it's sort of an awkward angle to see from here and I've cut the video so that you can hopefully see more of the bit and less of my hands and me but as you can see when you push down with your foot it stretches the bit guard out very nicely and it's really easy to slip right onto that bit so go ahead and repeat that process with the other bit guard and you'll end up with two bit guards on your bit and you'll want to put your bridle back together and when you finish up you'll have two nice durable bit guards on your bridle protecting your horses now and it'll look great and it'll only take you a couple of seconds to do so I hope this video helped you a lot and please let me know what you think in the comments and we'll see you next month