About the Winner
This is based on the number of votes received and does not reflect the quality of the business or chances of winning.Millions of people have seen the infamous 1980’s movie where bundled up kids double dog dare each other to lick a frozen flagpole in the dead of winter. While kids may have a choice on where they put their tongues – horses do not when it comes to cold, metal bridle bits. For years, New England mom and entrepreneur Jamie Sturgess searched for a solution to prevent unnecessary pain and discomfort for her own horse. Her goal: take the bite out of cold bits.
Sturgess has been an avid horse lover since she was a little girl growing up in New Hampshire. She has always loved everything about horses; the way they look, the way they smell, the whinny when they hear you coming, and the way they know and understand your personal touch. One thing she never liked, however, was feeling bad every time she had to put a cold bit in her horse’s mouth on those blustery winter days in New Hampshire (of which there are many). Over the years, after trying all the various approaches and techniques to offer her horse some relief from that cruel practice, she came up with the concept of an easy and effective way to warm a cold bit. No more hassling with boiling or microwaving reusable pads. No more ongoing expense of buying disposable warming pads or the ineffective but creative techniques riders desperately attempt - let’s face it… if you ever tried it, you know your armpits can only get a bit so warm! And brrrr, those bits are ccccold!
Years later, she invented a product called Bit Blanket (http://www.bitblanket.com), an electric bit warmer. The innovative product quickly and conveniently warms a horses’ bit to a temperature that is more like a horse’s normal body temperature. The bit warmers plug into any standard outlet, running on only four watts of energy.
“Simply wrap the Bit Blanket around a cold bit, plug it in, and while you are grooming your horse, saddling up and preparing for your ride, your horse’s bit is being warmed to a comfortable temperature,” she said.
Bit Blanket was introduced in the fall of 2009. The product has been well received by horse owners from coast to coast, including those in warmer weather states such as Texas and California.
“It is clear there are many caring and compassionate horse riders out there who share my same concern. Freezing cold metal can stick to soft tissue causing tearing and pain,” she said. “It gives me great satisfaction that I have been able to provide horses and their owners with the convenient, practical and pain-free solution the Bit Blanket provides.”
A portion of the profits from the sale of each Bit Blanket is donated to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
