by Dennis Bright

Have you ever walked into a tack store to choose a bit and become so overwhelmed by the sheer number of different bits that were hanging on the display that you just turned around and walked out, completely confused? Well after listening to several of my students express their frustration, I realized that this was another educational opportunity for my Horsemanship Program.

One of my favorite lessons to teach is on the mechanics of the bit and bridle. When I first began teaching, I learned that the majority of our students had no idea how a bit worked in controlling a horse. They mainly relied on advice from a friend or the sales clerk at the local tack store regarding which bit to use.

Humans first domesticated the modern horse over 7,000 years ago. I point this out to reinforce the fact that we've been working with these horses for a very long time. Almost everything that we do with them has been done before (excluding contemporary veterinary medicine and transportation.) I start this lesson by explaining the anatomy and the bio-mechanics of the horse, beginning with the horse's head. Humans learned early on that if they could control the horse's lower jaw (what we call the "bars" of the jaw, the space between the front incisors and pre-molars) they could control the horse's head, thereby controlling the body.

The first thing that I teach a horse in this phase of the training is to release to pressure by flexing vertically and laterally, in other words, up and down and left to right. My training premise is that unless the horse can bend from side to side, the rider simply cannot control it. The poll area (where the neck vertebrae connect to the base of the skull) is where the flexion takes place. Now when you engage the horse and ask for vertical flexion, an interesting thing happens. As the horse releases to the pressure of the bit by flexing vertically at the poll, the topline of the horse tightens, contracting the neck and back muscles. As those muscles tighten, they engage the horse's hindquarters (the hip, stifle, gaskin and hock) driving the hindlegs up under the horse during forward movement. This is a simple explanation of the term "collection." I use the analogy of the ready position that a shortstop in baseball assumes to scoop up a groundball. By collecting the horse you're helping it to balance and carry the rider, which is not exactly an easy thing for a horse to learn when packing an additional 150 to 250 pounds of tack and rider.

There are two main categories that bits fall into, snaffle bits and leverage bits. First lets start with how to define a snaffle. A snaffle is designed so that the reins have direct contact with the horses mouth. A snaffle does not have a shank and applies no leverage. Simply put a snaffle is made up of a mouthpiece and rings that allows the rider to bend the horse to the right or left ( for example pulling the right rein will direct the horse to the right ). Most snaffle mouthpieces are jointed in the middle and work much like a nutcracker would. Some snaffles are made with a solid mouthpiece but these bits are primarily used for driving horses in harness.

The primary pressure point of the snaffle is the tongue followed by the bars of the jaw and then the corner of the mouth. The beauty of the snaffle is its simplicity and straight forward design; every pound of pressure /pull from the rider's hand equals the same amount of pressure to the horses mouth. The snaffle helps the horse to understand the directional message the rider is communicating by the reins. The other major design advantage of the jointed mouthpiece is that it primarily applies pressure to the tongue helping to protect the integrity of the bars.

One of the most important lessons we teach the untrained horse when we introduce bit pressure is how to release from the pressure. In the beginning when schooling the untrained horse we have to use more pressure to get the desired results. Once the horse begins to comprehend the riders message through consistent repetition and reward, we are able to obtain the desired results with less pressure. I like to say we school to lightness by asking for a given response using less and less pressure.

There are different types of snaffles. The two most popular styles are the D-ring a fixed-butt, where the mouthpiece doesn't rotate around the ring and the loose-ring where the mouthpiece slides around the ring. The D-ring style of snaffle applies pressure over a wider area on the opposite side of the face and is generally considered a milder snaffle then the O-ring bit which concentrates more pressure in a smaller area.

The main factor in determining the severity of a snaffle is the diameter and shape of the mouthpiece. My rule of thumb is the larger the diameter of the mouthpiece the milder the action. A 5/8th diameter mouthpiece is generally a good size to start a young horse in. The smaller diameter stock combined with a variety of twists ( i.e. twisted wire, French twist, fishback) are more severe and should only be used sparingly. Once I've established an understanding with the horse on how to yield from pressure, I will sometimes move the horse into a twisted snaffle on a short term basis to help lighten it up and be more responsive. One word of caution, do not keep the horse in a twisted wire type bit, if you do the horse will develop calluses in the corner of its mouth increasing its pain tolerance and requiring an even more severe bit. This cycle creates a no-win situation for both horse and rider.

The two metals I prefer in a mouthpiece are sweet iron ( cold milled steel, a porous metal that rusts) and copper. For the best results, I like a bit that combines both metals. The combination of the two encourages the horse to salivate which lubricates the mouth, helping to protect the soft gum tissue. One of the drawbacks of using copper only for the mouthpiece stock, is that copper is a soft metal and over time will develop sharp edges from the horse chewing on it and/or break apart.

Another question I'm asked with some frequency is where to position the bit in the horses mouth? My suggestion is to adjust the bridal so the snaffle just makes contact with the corner of the mouth. This allows for a better feel and helps to keep that pressure point more sensitive. This encourages the horse to carry the bit with its lips and tongue, allowing for more effective communication between horse and rider.

The second category of bits are the leverage bits. What differentiates a snaffle from a leverage bit is the shank. The reins attach to the end of the shank multiplying the effective pounds of pressure a rider may apply to the horse's mouth. There are two additional pressure points that a shanked leverage bit uses; the curb area of the lower jaw and the poll region. The severity of a leverage bit is determined by three main factors; the length of the shank, the angle of the shank and the shape of the mouthpiece.

The two basic types of leverage bits are the loose-shank and the solid-shank. The loose-shank bit is what I call a transition bit, this bit allows the shank to swivel at the mouthpiece enabling the rider to ride with two hands and still be able to direct-rein the horse. Many of the loose-shank bits come with a jointed mouthpiece, the same mouthpiece as a traditional snaffle. This bit is designed for a horse that is making the transition to a shanked bit but still applies pressure to the tongue. Unfortunately, many people confuse this bit with a pure snaffle. It is not a snaffle and works on different pressure points. The other advantage of the loose-shank bit is the flexibility of the design which allows the horse to work the mouthpiece. This encourages the horse to loosen its jaw and helps create saliva which provides lubrication for the horse's mouth.

The next transition bit for many horses is a loose-shanked bit with a shank-hobble. What that means is the shanks are fastened together to limit the amount of movement in the shanks while retaining the ability to direct-rein the horse. This is an important step in the training of the horse to neck-rein as the shank-hobble limits the shank rotation increasing the influence of the indirect rein, (the indirect or support rein is used to set the radius and control the speed of the turn or circle.)

Once the horse has learned how to release to pressure and work within what I call the frame-work of the reins, it's ready to move on into a fixed-shanked bit. The fixed-shank leverage bit is designed for two important functions. The first is the horse's head-set, this is determined in part by the horse's conformation and the angle of the shank. The second is the balance of the bit and how it will hang in the horse's mouth. A correctly balanced bit allows for a quicker reaction time between the rider's hands and contact with the horse's mouth.

Now here is the catch. Every horse is different in the size and shape of their mouth, the thickness of their tongue and the level of their pain tolerance. In one person's hands, a bit may work beautifully. Yet in another's, it might not work well at all. The average rider should be realistic about their abilities and the quality of their hand skills and the level of their horse's training when it comes to determining the style of bit they choose for their horse. Once the integrity of the horse's bars are compromised there is no going back. The horse only has one mouth and the longer we can keep that mouth sound the longer we can enjoy the horse.

If anyone has questions about the mechanics of the bit and bridle please give me a call and I would be happy to demonstrate the different types of bits and explain in further detail how they work.

Last modified: Sunday, July 28, 2002

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