HORSE BITS

by HorseTackWarehouse.com

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Welcome to Horse-Bits.com

A site dedicated to enlightening the novice horse owner about Horse Bits

Horse Bits seem like a straight forward piece of horse tack. Every horse owner has one or more. Many people have tried several in an effort to either fit their horse with an acceptable bit or have an arsenal of bits for training. There are literally hundreds of horse bits available today and many types that should be understood before you settle on the two or three you will need to take your horse from a green broke pony to a well-trained riding horse.

Bits are for controlling the speed of a horse, his direction and his stop. Your horse should do all of this with his head in a natural position. However, leg cues and other body cues contribute more than 50% to the experience. The bit is meant to receive a signal from the rider's hands. If the horse is adequately trained, the bit is a reminder to your horse of what is expected when he perceives the bit moving in a particular way. If you have to pull the horse, it is not trained.

Because this site is for the comparative novice horse trainer, we will concentrate on non-correction bits only, leaving the most complicated and expert bits for another lesson.

 

HORSE BIT ANATOMY

For our purposes, we will break bits down into two main types according to the bar configuration. Most bits with solid mouthpieces are curb-type bits. Bits with broken mouthpieces are snaffle-type bits. Snaffle bits can have either one or two joints in the middle.

 

 

HORSE BITS USE PRESSURE

Horse bits are designed to "pressure" different parts of a horse's mouth and face to induce him to change pace, direction, or posture. The bit bars put pressure on the soft gum tissue of the horse's lower jaw between his front incisors and his back molars. Some bits put pressure down onto his tongue or up into the roof of his mouth (palate). Most bits pressure his lips. Bits with shanks and curb chains put pressure under his chin in his curb area and often exert pressure downward on his poll (the sensitive area just behind his ears).

Pressure is uncomfortable. A horse whose ground training has taught him to move away from pressure will have no problem understanding that if pressure is exerted on his head to move right, he should move right.

It is especially important that a rider stay off the reins (use NO pressure) when a horse is performing a maneuver correctly. It is the stark contrast between bit pressure and bit neutrality that teaches the lesson: Pressure until performance. No pressure when compliance is achieved.

Aside from knowledge and experience, the difference between a novice trainer (rider) and an expert lies in timing and balance. A rider who is still using the reins to balance is putting pressure on the horse's face when no pressure should be applied. That definitely confuses the horse. As you become a better rider, the false signals to the horse will disappear. As you become a better trainer, the timing of pressure and release will be more and more precise. As you learn about bits, your understanding will grow. Which bits are best for pressuring which points, why, and when?

 

HORSE BIT DESIGNS

Both snaffle bits and curb bits can have cheeks or shanks attached. The beginner bits we will be discussing will be snaffle-type bits with no cheeks or very short cheeks.

Generally speaking the mildest bits are the ones with the thickest bars. Eggbutt bits generally have thicker bars than most. Some snaffles have mouthpieces made of thinner materials such as twisted wire. These put much more concentrated pressure on a horse's mouth with less pressure from the rider's hands and are not usually used as starter bits.

Cheeks (shanks) also magnify the pressure from a rider's hands to the horse's mouth and face. They are usually not used as starter bits.

Simple snaffle-bits pressure the lips and bars. They are used to teach the horse to come around left or right by simple 1:1 ratio of pull from the rider's hands tuned into pressure to the horse's mouth and face. If you pull right with one pound of pressure on the reins, he feels one pound of pressure to his face.

Bar pressure on one side as you pull that side teaches him to come around into the turn. Bar pressure to both sides teaches him to stop. To much two-handed pressure or too much jerk will cause a horse to throw his head up in the stop.

Direct reining puts the weight and turn on the forehand. Snaffles are generally forehand bits, loading your horse primarily on his forehand.

Curb bits, neck reining and combo reining with turning pressure and back pressure load the horse on his hindquarters as he turns on collected turns.

 

 

HORSE BIT MOUTHPIECE MATERIALS

Bit mouthpieces have several configurations and materials. As you browse the huge selection you will see stainless steel mouths, sweet iron mouths, copper mouths, and rubber mouths.

Stainless steel is, of course, the mainstay of bits. It lasts a long time and is a generally all-round good material for such uses.

Often used in western riding, Sweet Iron is actually a cold-rolled "mild steel" or carbon steel that has been work hardened. It is often preferred by horses because the oxidation of the rusting or "seasoning" tastes sweet. It also seems to encourage salivation. Salivation is thought to be a "sensitivity enhancer" and many trainers believe their horses work best when their mouths are moist.

Copper also encourages salivation. A salivating horse is a more relaxed horse. He is moving his tongue and relaxing his lower jaw as well as his neck, poll and spine. Copper also warms up quickly in cold weather. However, many trainers report that copper can encourage a horse to chew the bit, and copper bits don't last as long.

Rubber mouths are not found on very many bits, but they are, of course, softer than the other materials.

 

HORSE BIT CONFIGURATIONS

Mouthpieces on broken-mouth bits can have one joint, two joints, or be flexible all the way round such as a chain bit. The most frequently used (and the first bits for most horses) are the single-joint regular snaffle mouth (we recommend the D-ring snaffles). The mouthpiece has two bars with one joint in the middle. You will usually see them with stainless steel mouths, but copper and sweet iron are also available. They can have straight bars or slightly curved bars.

The snaffle's ability to change shape under rein pressure allows it to contract into a nutcracker shape, digging down into the tongue when presssure is applied from above as it is when a rider is on a horse's back. (All too often this nutcracker is misunderstood. In fact many trainers fear the the "V" will rise up and jab the palate when it actually actually jabs down sharply into the tongue.) That is the opposite of what many bit masters will tell you, but the effect can be tested on your self using your forearm as the horse's mouth and wrapping your single-joint snaffle around it. When you pull back on both reins, the bit immediately snaps into the "V", immediately pressuring the bars on both sides with the bars of the bit and dropping the point directly into the tongue.

Use the mildest (moderate diameter) snaffle design. Unless you are an expert, stay away from twisted wire or other thinner materials. They magnify the presure on the bars or into the tongue and therefore magnify your mistakes. The thicker bars of a regular-mouth snaffle spread the pressure over a larger area and are milder than thin-mouth or textured-mouth bits.

The rein rings of a regular D-ring snaffle swivel in and out, but the mouthpiece does not rotate on the ring. D-ring snaffles have less tendency to pinch the lips. They give excellent lateral pressure for teaching your horse to turn, but they are not the best to teach him to stop. Use these bits in early training as his ground work progresses simultaneously. Also study one-rein stops. These bits teach the emergency one-rein stop like a champ. When the reins are held low, the bit works mostly on the tongue and the bars. When the hands are held high, the pull is transferred to the tongue and lips. This can have a significant effect on what you are trying to accomplish. A poor stopper anyway, a snaffle whose reins are held high will be even less effective at stopping a horse (often seen in panicked novice riders whose horse is moving too fast for them).

If you are bitting your horse for the first time, these are the bits of choice. Put the headstall and bit onto your horse in a comfortable, confined space such as his stall, and let him wear it daily - slowly working the time up to several hours - before you add reins or pressure. You can put his rope halter under his headstall and take him to the round pen, wearing his bit but using his halter to lunge and practice gaiting exercises. He will learn to "carry" his bit before any pressure is applied.

Rule of thumb is to fit your bit with one or two wrinkles at the corner of your horse's mouth. It is common to put the bit a little lower in a green colt's mouth so that he learns to pick it up himself and carry it (usually with his tongue arched against it). Later it should be lifted a little to the standard position.

Watch for wolf teeth in the young horse. They are the vestigial teeth thought to be the evolved useless "tusks" from early horses - called wolf teeth because they look much like a small fang. Most common in colts, they are also frequently found in fillies. Most young horses lose their wolf teeth by 6 years of age. They can be an irritant to a horse wearing a bit.

 

Three-part mouthpieces put pressure in the horse's mouth in a different way.

In the hands of a very rough or novice trainer, the two-piece snaffle can actually drive up into the horse's palate. A 3-piece mouthpiece is unable to jerk down into a nutcracker shape.

The three-piece bit spreads the pressure throughout the mouth. It pressures the lips, the bars, but also traps the tongue. It cannot, however, gouge the palate or stab the tongue. This is also a good starter bit - especially for a horse who seems to object to the shear mass of an eggbutt D-ring snaffle. There is a little more to "play" with in the copper roller that rolls over the tongue. Copper also helps relax a horse who is having a hard time accepting the bit. It might also be a good bit for horses being used by less competent riders such as stable horses or horses used for physical therapy as long as they are quite kid-broke as far as their stop.

This bit applies less bar pressure but is just as good as the simple snaffle for turning. A very sensitive horse might benefit from the lower PSI of this configuration.

Cheeks (shanks) also magnify the pressure from a rider's hands to the horse's mouth and face.

They are usually not used as starter bits. Your horse needs plenty of ground training and lots of hours in the arena wearing his simple snaffle before going into a bit with shanks.

Shanks add pressure by use of a curb strap that traps the lower jaw between the bit above and the curb (chin) strap below. This vice-like action magnifies the pressure down onto the bars as well as adding pressure to the sensitive chin groove under the jaw. The reins (via the curb strap and bit grip) also leverage the headstall down against the nerve-rich poll area of the head just behind the ears. All in all, shanks are meant to bring the point home with less effort from the rider.

Shanks add the Whoa! to the turn. If you remember, we said that the simple snaffle was strong in turns but weak in the stop. Shanks add the stop you are looking for. However, the action of the "snaffle" part of a shanked-snaffle bit is different than a simple snaffle. The "V" shape changes when the curb strap is engaged. The "nutcracker" action rotates down on the tongue and the bars with the V causing pain to the tongue. It can be a very severe bit if improperly used. For less experienced trainers, shanks should never be longer than about 4-1/2" and it requires soft hands in the stop.

No one bit can offer everything. What the loose-cheek snaffle bit gains in the stop it loses in the direct turn because the rein loop is usually too far down the shank for efficient pull-through for direct pressure to both sides of the face. When one rein is pulled, the bit begins to twist and engage the chin strap with a muddied signal to the other side of the face that your horse has understood from his simple snaffle bit. This up-and-out type of pull from the rein loop also causes the upper part of the cheek to dig into the horse's face and press the skin against the upper molars.

There is a better way. Some shanked-snaffle bits offer two rein loops so that you can use one rein as a simple snaffle and the other as a curb snaffle (see the image at the top of the page as well). The top rein is for better headsdown turning. The bottom rein engages the curb strap and is for stopping. The top rein will help to remind your horse to keep his head down, collecting in an appropriate fashion and turning without throwing his head out. The lower rein is good for bringing his head up into position if necessary. The combination makes a very powerful tool. (For dressage work, this type of bit is a must.) example: Pelham bit

Loose-cheek snaffles are often used as the bridge from a two-handed snaffle to a one-handed curb bit. You can also use a connecting bar on your shanks where the rein loops are attached to hold the bit together and make it act more like a stiff bit before actually shifting to a curb bit.

Side-pull hackamores are also a good bridge toward neck reining. They are without the scope of this current discussion but will be added later.

And the most impressive NEW piece of equipment is the Neck-training hackamore developed specifically to teach a horse to neck rein and to stop without dishing his back.

 

For our purposes, curb bits will be defined as solid mouthpieces with solid (non-rotating) shanks.

The mouthpieces are made of the same materials we have discussed above. The port can be very low (or non-existent such as in a mullen-mouth bit) to very high such as in a spoon-shaped correction bit. Generally speaking, until you enter the correction bits, the height of the port is to provide relief to the horse's tongue, not to gouge the palate. (see the image at the top of the page)

Solid-shank curb bits are two-handed bits. They are weak for teaching turning, but strong for the stop.

Most are at least a LEVEL THREE bit. That is the horse has progressed from his simple snaffle through his loose-cheek snaffle to this bit. The shanks add a great deal of leverage to your reins. That is: the pressure exerted by your rein movements are no longer simply one pound of pressure for one pound of rein. Depending on how long the shanks are and the ratio between the upper shank and the lower, the pressure is greatly magnified. The longer the shanks the more leverage they impart.

The shanks should rotate about 45 degrees back before the curb strap is engaged.

Curb bits also pressure more areas than simple snaffles. Pressure is magnified to the bars of the mouth, the chin area, and the poll. Curb bits can make a horse high headed. It is hard to teach a horse to turn and slow down (rate back) at the same time using a curb bit.

Curb Bits are for horses who will be neck reining and whose training has progressed well into this level. They are rarely used on horses of less than about 6 years of age. Both horse and trainer should be getting more experienced before this bit is suitable.

Some curb bits have fancier mouthpieces such as the black bit at the right that has a copper roller (cricket). Copper enhances salivation and will help to relax a nervous horse - keep him more relaxed in his head, neck, poll and spine. The roller gives a nervous horse something in his mouth to "play with" to distract him from his fears. The roller also helps to roll the bit over the tongue as it is pulled back.

Some horses appear to be "claustrophobic" when this large piece of iron is put into their mouths. If your horse has trouble with a low port bit, try a little higher port to give his tongue more room. However, a port over 2" high can actually reach the palate of some shallow-mouth horses, so don't get too dramatic. A high-port gives more tongue relief, but it also reaches the bars and pressures them more intensely. IT has a stronger signal. Heavy-handed reining in a high-port bit can turn it into a correction bit.

When asking a horse to turn using a snaffle bit, the snaffle puts pressure on both sides of the mouth - pulling the ring on the opposite cheek into the face as well as pressure on the pulling side. Training with a snaffle and then moving quickly to a stiff curb bit used with two hands can "reverse" a horse and give him a tendency to go the wrong way on rein pressure because the stiff curb bit puts more pressure on the bars of the pulling side of the bit. If you are trying to neck rein, the neck-side rein is shortened to press against the neck and it feels like the pulling side to the horse, sending him in the wrong direction.

It is very important that a curb bit be well balanced. It should be heavier on the bottom or designed so that the shanks are forward of the center of balance of the bit so that it hangs in a neutral position when the rider is not on the reins. Proper balance keeps the curb chain off the lower jaw. Remember that it is the stark contrast between bit pressure and bit neutrality that teaches the lesson: Pressure until performance. No pressure when compliance is achieved.

 

HORSE BIT PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS

Pinching bits cause pain. Horses in pain turn into run-aways, buckers, high-headed or rearing mounts. Look for pinching at the junction of the bit and the shanks on loose-shanked or swivel type bits. A bit guard can help to correct that problem. Look for pinching between the curb chain and the top of the shank. If it catches the back of the lip at the corner of the mouth and pinches severely when the reins are pulled to the "full-on" position, your horse will react swiftly and adversely. Curb chain hooks are often pinchers. Better to tie the curb chain on with a leather thong.

The curb chain should be well seated in the groove under the horse's chin. If the chain is allowed to ride up, it can produce a horse that throws his head up. Bits with a curb loop tend to hold the chain in the right position more precisely.

"Lipping" the shanks: Grazing bits were developed so that a horse could wear his bit and still graze. However, perhaps more importantly, the grazing bit has the shanks bent back in such a way that it is harder for a horse to "lip" the shanks. If your horse has that problem try a grazing bit.

Head throwing: This can be caused by a myriad of improper tools or rider actions. Tie-downs are very good tools in early training of a green horse to keep from being hit in the face with the back of a horse's head. However, always counting on a tie down is a mistake. Use the proper bits as training progresses to teach your horse to keep his head in the proper position. If you are in the habit of getting too aggressive or over-pulling two reins to the point that the curb strap pressure hurts, the horse's head will fly up and he will instantly forget his heads-down-on-pressure lessons. This can be disastrous, as it usually requires that you go back to the beginning with that training.

Two-handed over-pulling a snaffle bit will tend to raise the head with the nose out and drive both front legs "stiff" into the ground with the majority of his weight on the front end. (called "propping") It is best to lightly seesaw the reins slowly at first in the primary training and then work into two-handed pulling for the stop. That will avoid the tendency for the horse to stop on the front.

Draw reins change the angle of pressure on your snaffle or Pelham bit to encourage the heads-down, sideways neck position in turns. They compensate for high-handed rein carriage but should be used as training tools only and not props to offset poor rein technique. They are often used for lunging a horse to give a more rider-natural feel to the rein cues during ground exercises.

There are volumes and volumes of materials needed to educate the average horse owner about bits. We hope this has at least started you on your way to choosing your first horse bits. We will continue to add to this discussion as time permits.