CHAPTER - 5

THE ROLE OF THE RIDER

“The communication between the rider’s hand and the horse’s mouth must be completely without force, somewhat like a conversation between friends.”

—Gerhard Kapitzke

If you imagine that this book is going to solve your training problems, you’re wrong. As much as I’d like to provide all the answers, I’m only a writer and a researcher, not a sage, a telepathic, or an animal communicator.

If I’ve learned anything at all from the research conducted for this project, it’s that every horse-and-rider combination faces a universe of options when it comes to bits and how the horse behaves in the bridle. Frequently, training problems that seem related to the horse’s mouth have nothing at all to do with the bit. And you can only try so many bits before it becomes clear that the problem has more to do with you, or someone who trained him before you, or some other human-caused circumstance, than his bit.

You can spend a lot of money on bits—sweet iron, fat, skinny, jangly, jingly, with lozenge, without, rotated, not rotated—or you can abandon the bit search altogether and go back to basic training. This is the most important concept that I can put forward in this book. The bit is rarely the answer.

Consider this: The bit is a tool, like a screwdriver or a pitchfork, that can help us get the job done—it is one of many items in the equestrian’s box of goodies, along with a saddle that fits, a properly adjusted bridle, a great veterinarian, and a farrier. Our other tools include our seat, legs, hands, and the way in which we apply and fit all of them together. Because the rider naturally upsets the horse’s balance, the really important part of bitting is how the rider gives his signals to the horse and uses his tools. Just as there is a right way to hammer a nail into a plank, there’s a correct way to apply each of our aids. And, since each horse is as highly individual as his rider, it’s necessary to be both sensitive and adjustable.

If you don’t have the right tools, each task becomes more onerous. Surely you can use the back of your shoe to hammer a nail into a board. But you might end up ruining the shoe or nursing a sore hand. A better way would be to find the perfect hammer with the perfect weight, to use the right size nail, and to get a carpenter to show you how to hammer correctly. The hammer you prefer may be quite different from the one your neighbor likes. Only you will know when you’ve found the one that works for you.

Most of us don’t have any idea at all about how to find the proper bit. It’s an experiment, the product of trial and error. Once a bit has been chosen, you may be happy with it for several months or years and then want to try something different. You may prefer one bit for riding at home and another for the trail; or it may take three bits to do the trick—one for home, one for the jumper ring, and one for horse shows. Just as a carpenter changes tools when a new task is presented to him, so must the equestrian consider what his horse is doing, where he’s doing it, how the horse is likely to react to the situation, and the rider’s awareness of how his horse is going to behave.

Every good craftsman has a big selection of tools. Having a variety of bits means you can experiment to see what suits you and your horse.

For example, a child on a pony may go perfectly in the arena at home, but bring the pony to a horse show and suddenly he turns from steady Eddie to hot-to-trot. The child may not have mastered the aids, or the pony suddenly decides to ignore the child. Putting a stronger bit in the pony’s mouth is an acceptable, although not ideal, solution. For safety’s sake, slightly more mouth power is probably a good idea.

The bit helps to remind the horse to sit back on his haunches and balance, particularly before a cross-country jump.

Event riders, as another example, frequently change from a snaffle bit to a leverage bit before heading off on the cross-country course. Leverage bits are illegal in the lower-level dressage portion of eventing, but many horses get hot on the cross-country course and riders need an extra element of “whoa” during this phase.

Some riders like to change bits more frequently; others ride in the same bit for years. It’s a matter of personal preference and what works for your horse. There’s no reason to change bits if everything is going well, meaning your horse travels obediently with his head, neck, and back relaxed. He listens to your seat and leg aids, and is working correctly. As the old adage goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

A horse’s intended discipline will also have an impact on his training and bitting—whether dressage, jumper, reiner, working cow horse, or regular ol’ Joe backyard horse. In each discipline, the philosophy of bitting (but not the same general purpose) varies. For example, during the research phase of writing this book, I read two articles, back to back. The first, written by 1984 Olympic dressage medalist Hilda Gurney, detailed the use of popular bit styles: The loose ring, the eggbutt, and the full cheek. “The full cheek is legal in dressage but rarely used—it is assumed our horses can turn,” Gurney wrote. Subsequently I read an article by Jeff Cook, a renowned hunter/jumper trainer, who actually recommended the full cheek snaffle to help the horse turn. Indeed, it is assumed that all horses in both the dressage and hunter worlds can turn, but why would these disciplines, both of which appear based on submissive, forward horses, have such a different attitude toward the same piece of hardware? The answer may lie in the fact that, in the hunter ring, horses are expected to travel with their noses slightly out, with a less rounded, upright frame and not as much flexion in the jaw. They are often asked to turn with outside aids. The dressage horse’s turns are smoothly bent around the rider’s inside leg. While all horses need lateral flexibility in the mouth, jaw, poll, neck, and body to work correctly—which is easier to achieve with a loose ring bit than with a fixed ring version—equestrian disciplines emphasize different elements due to the nature of the skills needed during the activity.

Interestingly, the equestrian disciplines are still somewhat snobbish about their training methods, despite the fact that we’re all born of the same Asian and European techniques. Few dressage riders would accept the training methods of a hunter rider, and the opposite is also true. Luckily for our horses, this is changing, albeit slowly. Some dressage shows now offer Western classes and jumper trainers are signing up for dressage lessons.

Nonetheless, what’s acceptable in casual training (not including what’s written in the official rule books) in one discipline may be totally disparaged by another. Western riders regularly use what dressage gurus would consider a severe, high-ported curb bit with long shanks. Such split-second precision to remind the horse to flex at the poll serves nearly the same purpose as the double bridle in high-level dressage. Both disciplines have the same training goal: the very lightest, fleetest horse ridden with great finesse.

A horse in piaffe demonstrates the use of the hindquarters. Notice how slack the curb rein is.

The spade bit is another example—the uneducated eye may see it as a horrific instrument of torture. But the reality is quite different. The well-trained Western bridle horse rarely needs the influence of the hand to do his job. When he is properly ridden, the bit sits comfortably against his tongue 99.9 percent of the time. The activity and leverage of the bit is rarely needed. The weight of romal reins is enough to remind the horse of the rider’s contact.

Pressure on the reins reminds the horse to balance or to flex, sending a message to the horse to pay attention, to rebalance, or to listen to the rider’s seat. The Western pleasure rider wants it all to look effortless—a lightly held hand, smooth gaits, motionless rider, all to be executed unnoticed by the judge. The dressage rider, too, seeks subtleness in his control, embodying harmony and oneness with the horse. The jumper rider, on the other hand, needs the ability to sit his horse back on his haunches, quickly rebalance, turn, and gallop forward, all measured in tenths of a second. The ultimate aim—balance, a horse whose head, neck, back, and haunches are working correctly to propel him forward—is the same.

Whatever your discipline, however, every bit has the potential to be a harsh bit in the wrong hands. Take the high-ported Western bits as an example: as the rider lifts his hand slightly, sits back in the saddle, and uses his voice, the well-trained horse will know that the rider wants him to slow down. That attuned rider will immediately release any pressure as a reward to the horse.

Now, imagine the rider isn’t so refined. Instead of the instant release to the horse’s response, he continues to pull. The bit starts to press on the horse’s bars, the curb strap presses on the chin groove and the port, depending on its height, makes contact with the roof of the mouth. The horse may slow down, but since there’s no reward (the release) he doesn’t know what the rider wants and keeps pushing against the bit. Then the rider, in frustration, gives the horse a big, hard jerk in the mouth. This may stop the horse, but it may also make him defensive. His head will go in the air, he’ll open his mouth, and he may even start to rear. Same bit. Two entirely different responses.

Every discipline shares a basic training scale. Think of it as a pyramid—with the levels building upon each other. The levels are:

•   Rhythm

•   Relaxation and suppleness

•   Readiness or contact

•   Engagement and impulsion

•   Straightness

No matter what kind of tack you ride in, one of the first steps of horse training is to ask the horse to maintain a nice steady gait (“rhythm”). Early on, trainers do this on the longe line or in the round pen. Once you’ve added a rider and a bridle (a soft snaffle bit is the first a horse should wear) and saddle, the horse is asked to maintain that rhythm, learning to balance with the rider on his back while staying relaxed and supple. Note that “readiness” or “contact”—where the horse willingly accepts the rider and his aids—is fairly high on the pyramid. This is the point at which a Western rider may switch to a curb bit (the horse has already developed a soft mouth and an understanding of flexion of the jaw and poll).

Proper training—in that the horse has accepted the aids—is crucial to a horse’s success and will make bitting a fairly simple exercise. A well-trained and happy horse may wear the same bit his entire life. But when those basics are lacking, it may be best to return to step one and teach the horse to trust the aids. All of this is vitally important to figuring out which bit is best. Riders should assess a checklist of other possibilities, including that it’s the rider himself that’s causing the problem. In fact, nine times out of ten, the root of a problem is the human rather than the horse or the equipment.

For a clear example of how bad riding has an impact on a horse, watch some beginner lessons. Beginners are sometimes taught that the bit “controls” the horse. In fact, many riding schools still teach “kick to go, pull to stop” methods, when in fact there are a dozen different small signals in each communication with the horse. The kick-and-pull method is simplistic and misleading. The bit and the reins are a communication device—a guide to the horse, rather than a steering wheel.

Note how difficult it is for beginners to post to the trot without their hands following their bodies—up and down, up and down. It gets even worse when beginners start to learn to sit the trot. Without a strong core, proper alignment with the rider’s body centered over the horse’s center, or the ability to keep their hands still, riders bounce hard on the horse’s back, trying to maintain balance using their hands. The horse feels it through the bit—bang, bang, bang—against the bars of his mouth and his lips. His back and neck tighten in defensiveness, and it becomes even more difficult for the rider to remain balanced. The main reason school horses tend to be “hard mouthed” is that they’ve had a million beginners bouncing away on their mouths and backs. Their necks are stiff, they have no soft flexion in their jaws, and they harden up in defensiveness.

The beginner rider—or any rider, for that matter—needs to learn to control the horse with subtle hands. That “elastic” or soft contact good riders seek comes when the rider no longer needs either stirrups or reins to balance.

Even experienced riders have bad habits that cause the horse to stiffen and tighten his jaw. Some riders position themselves behind the vertical, centered position and while they may look like they have quiet hands, in fact they may be “waterskiing” on the horse’s mouth. Others may have such soft, nonexistent contact with the bit that it serves no purpose at all. There are riders who have no idea that the timing of contact with the bit is directly related to the timing of the gaits or the movement you’d like to execute. Finally there are the riders that still think “steering” means pulling the reins left or right, as if the reins were the wheels of an automobile. There are many different kinds of rein direction—flexion, direct, indirect, neck reining, different placement of the hand for neck reining, and so forth. Riding a horse well requires a very large vocabulary of signals, as well as the ability to read a horse’s responses and apply the right aid at the right time. It is a highly complex exercise and one at the center of the horse riding craft we love so well. The bit is a small piece of the whole.

The ideal, whether you’re riding English, Western, or bareback, is a conversational contact. The horse should know you’re there through the reins, but he shouldn’t in any way feel as if you’re pulling (unless he’s in a full-blown, running-away-with-you panic, in which case you’ll need more than the bit—you’ll need an emergency stop). The bit works together with the other signals you give your horse. If you want him to collect up, add leg and close your hand. If you want him to bend, use inside leg and ask him with the rein to flex his jaw. The rider should know to use the other aids—seat and legs—before applying rein pressure.

The misuse of the bit, related to an unsteady rider seat and miscued and misunderstood aids, has a domino effect on the horse’s body. A rider who bounces against the horse’s mouth because of an unsteady contact causes the following:

1)   The horse gets confusing messages: Go forward? Stop? Go slow? He has no way of telling what the rider wants because horses don’t understand intentions—they only understand clear messages.

2)   The horse may feel pain. Given that he’s tuned for either fight or flight he’ll likely react with one of those two reactions. He’ll either try to run from the pressure, or he’ll get into fight mode, tensing his back and perhaps tossing his head or even “rooting” against the bit.

In chapter 3, we discussed how the horse’s head and neck operate as a fulcrum-
balancing device, his poll connecting all the muscles down his topline. With such confusing messages from the rider, the horse will inevitably tighten his back, which makes it even that much harder for the rider to balance. A horse that is soft, supple, and swinging through his topline is much easier to ride than one with his head in the air and his back muscles rigid. The more rigid and tight the back is, the harder the gaits. The harder the gaits, the more difficult it is for the rider to be comfortably seated. The rigid back can also create soreness in the horse’s sacroiliac, withers, and neck. All of that can radiate down the legs and make the horse appear off or even lame.

Resistance to the bit can be quite obvious. Here, the horse is protesting the rider’s too-heavy hands.

A rider who takes a death grip on the reins can easily cause what’s called “rein lameness,” where the rein contact is actually inhibiting the horse’s balance, causing his back to tighten up and stopping the steady rhythm of the gait. At the walk, rein lameness is likely to manifest as a “lateral” walk, where the horse isn’t stepping forward in a one-two-three-four rhythm but rather a “one-two, one-two” rhythm. Any working horse should have a clearly defined rhythm at any gait, and following, soft hands will assure that. A busy, inflexible death grip or ill-timed rein aids will cause rhythm and balance problems.

In the scale of training, contact appears after rhythm and suppleness. The horse and the rider have to be able to work comfortably in a rhythm and the horse needs a soft and supple way of going before contact can be established with the bit. If the horse is tense or tight, he won’t accept the contact, no matter what discipline you practice.

How do bits and the reins work together? The rein and the seat regulate forward motion, determine direction and flexion, and can, on occasion, be used as an emergency brake for an unresponsive horse. However, a well-trained horse needs very little in the way of rein aids. Consider natural horsemanship trainers who have built strong relationships with their equines. They’re able to ride without bridles. The well-schooled dressage rider can bring a horse from an extended canter to a collected canter with only the use of his seat and a slight touch of the rein.

With a soft mouth and an engaged topline, Matt Mills and his horse are the picture of harmony.

Most of us will never ride at that level and need only to know that our horses will walk, trot, canter, turn, and maybe jump a few little obstacles or navigate a trail. Most of us do not need such finesse. Nonetheless, there’s a lesson to be learned from such expertise: The upper-level reiner rides his pattern with slack reins—the less he does with his hand, the higher his score. Watch him maneuver his body: it’s a highly tuned communication tool that gives subtle signals. The dressage rider keeps a steady, soft contact, the hunter rider navigates jumps with a light hand, each discipline with a different way of carrying the reins and the contact with the bit, but ultimately striving for the same goal—a conversation with the horse’s mouth, head, neck, and topline that originates mostly from the other aids—the seat and the leg—and not from the hand.

The bitless hackamore uses the same kind of pressure as a curb bit, only without the mouthpiece.

So why bother with bits at all? Indeed, there is a movement afoot to dispense with them, as some horses don’t like metal or bits in general and some riders, trainers, and scientists believe they are cruel, and that we’ve been trapped by tradition. After all, bits do operate on the principle that a little “pressure” (i.e., pain) can control the horse. Of course, the hackamore has been around for centuries, but there are a few new options. “Bitless bridles” have been developed by Dr. Robert Cook, a professor at Tufts University, and Monica Lehmenkühler, a horse trainer and rider based in Cologne, Germany, that each use different pressure points on the head to communicate with the horse (see chapter 10).

Despite their seeming gentleness, a bitless bridle can still be severe. Indeed, some mechanical hackamores can be harsher than a bitted bridle, and in the wrong hands can do some serious damage to the horse’s nose cartilage—a sensitive and relatively soft structure. Bitted bridles use some of the same pressure—for example, when a rider pulls back on the reins, the horse feels the pressure on the cheek and the poll. Different rein positions have different effects on both the bitted and the bitless horse, with lower hands having a more direct pull on the bars or the lower part of the nose, while higher hands have an impact on the lips or the cheeks in the bitless version.

Unless we’re well schooled in natural horsemanship and have highly trained horses, most of us still need a bit or a bitless bridle. Even so, we should strive to train ourselves and our horses to go with the lightest, most subtle contact possible. Instead of focusing on choosing the correct bit, choose the right training for yourself and for the horse.

Every horse, no matter the discipline, can be easily started in a regular old snaffle bit. The horse should be taught by a competent trainer to walk, trot, and canter from seat and leg cues, understanding through the voice, reinforced with the seat, and finally, only after the horse has blown off the other aids, through a quick “pressure and release” with the bit. Later, as the horse becomes more trained and is able to stop, go, and steer effectively and without resistance, the rider can consider moving to a different bit. In a lot of cases, the horse can stay in the snaffle forever. The Western rider might want to put a shanked bit on his horse, and if that’s the case, he’ll need to introduce it properly after the horse is responsive in the snaffle and understands neck reining.

Learn to ride with your seat and legs.