So much to buy - so little time!
At this stage you will only need a cavesson noseband: the reins can be rubber, woven or smooth leather, according to your own preference when riding.
There is a huge range of bits on the market, but the range for young horses is very limited.
The bit which is offered most often is the traditional mouthing bit, with keys to persuade the horse to play with the bit. I find them heavy, unforgiving and thick for a young horse's mouth, and it is not proven that the keys have any beneficial effect.
Second on the list at most tack merchants is the range of rubber straight-bar bits. These are very gentle, but there's nothing young horses like better than to chew - and they will work their way through your rubber bit with great delight!
I prefer to use a medium-thickness plain jointed eggbutt snaffle - one of the gentlest bits you can get for the young horse. There is an excellent range of bits available in the UK called Happy Mouth bits, supposedly flavoured with apple so very acceptable to the horse. They feature a moulded plastic covering over the stainless steel core of the bit, so that no harsh metal comes in contact with the delicate bars of a young horse's mouth. The wonderful thing about these bits is that they were designed as all-purpose gentle riding bits, so you can use them in your everyday riding after your horse is backed, and they will continue to help keep your horse's mouth soft throughout his ridden life. One online stockist is the UK-based Horse-Rider Etc">Horse-Rider Etc, or you could try Saddlers Direct, also based in the UK.
Your horse's back will be growing and developing through the next few years, and the changing demands you are making on his muscles will also change his shape. Your saddle, therefore, will need to change too, and in the early years it is essential to pay close attention to the shape and fit of your saddle in relation to your horse.
There is an excellent range of synthetic saddles on the market today which meet the need to adjust your saddle regularly without having to take it to bits or buy a new saddle. These saddles are general-purpose, yet could have been designed with the young horse in mind. They are light, so less cumbersome for the horse wearing them for the first time; they
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