CHAPTER - 11
WHICH BIT AND WHY?
Dr. Cook is perhaps correct when he says that traditional bitting and bridles are based on pain avoidance as a means of training. In the early days of horsemanship, that’s all our ancestors knew. As we learned more about horses and our relationship with them has evolved, however, we have begun to understand training principles that use communication and cooperation as a means to train our horses.
The word “submission” is used liberally in horse training circles. Yet do we want submission? Or do we prefer partnership? When you watch a highly trained horse and rider team in the reining, cutting, dressage, or jumper rings, the rider appears only to be breathing his commands. The hands stay low, the body signals gently, the horse performs. It’s seamless and beautiful and embodies the goal to which many horse people aspire. And yet, we’re always looking for the toy or the tool or the item that will be the key to our horse’s mouth, as that nineteenth-century loriner Latchford described. In reality, we may not be looking for the single key, but rather for the combination of training, proper aids, and bit, bridle, and noseband that will make our horses most cooperative and happy to go along with our commands.
The rise of the natural horsemanship phenomenon has perhaps brought this idea of partnership even more to the forefront. Gone are the days when a strong bit was considered the answer to a strong horse. Thanks to individuals like Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Pat Parelli, and John Lyons, their disciples, and the popularity of “natural” trainers (there are too many to name here,) we’re now much more aware of the value of gentle training methods to coax our horses into calmness and cooperation.
At the top of any equestrian sport, the goal is softness and submission.
Nonetheless there are still plenty of reasons to evaluate your horse’s bit and to make sure he’s in the one that makes him most comfortable. If you become an expert at reading your horse’s signals, it becomes easier to determine what’s going on with your horse.
As we noted, symptoms of bit discomfort are often misdiagnosed. Sometimes it manifests in head tossing, bucking, getting strong in the bridle, pulling, or running away (in extreme cases). More mild symptoms of discomfort include opening and closing the mouth, poking the nose out, or grabbing the bit between the teeth and hanging on it. Other horses may grind their teeth, put their tongue over the bit, or stick it out the side (see page 120). A happy horse should carry the bit in his mouth gently. He should be light and soft, so he responds instantly to a gentle close of the fist or slight shift in position of the hand.
There’s no real way to know what bit is right for your horse. You can try as many bits as there are stars in the sky and still not come up with a solution. That’s because bitting is a whole horse issue, not a mouth issue.
So before you buy out your local tack store looking for the key to your horse’s happiness, consider the following:
Physical discomfort is easy to spot if you know what to look for. Head tossing, bucking, and resistance to the aids are all signs of an unhappy horse.
1) The horse’s training. The most crucial element of bitting is the proper training of the horse for your particular discipline. He absolutely must understand the relationship between the seat, the legs, and the hands in order to properly accept the bit. Every riding discipline has its own training pyramid, and at the base of all of them is rhythm. A horse that speeds up, slows down, and/or is otherwise inconsistent in his gaits has not accepted his rider’s aids. Suppleness and softness are also fundamental no matter the discipline. As 2009 World Cup dressage winner Steffen Peters says, there are three important things to work on: Suppleness, suppleness, and suppleness. If the horse is tense, he’s not able to maintain a rhythm, his back muscles are stiff, and that stiffness will travel up his neck and head into his mouth.
2) Your discipline. As you’ll see in the case studies below, horses sometimes have trouble moving from one discipline to another, because the concept of contact might be different. This is especially true of horses that go from being well-trained Western horses to either dressage or hunter/jumpers, where riders prefer to have a soft but steady contact with the bit. The horse who’s been trained to be light in the bridle and let the bit just hang gently in his mouth and is suddenly confronted with what feels to him like hard hands may respond by grabbing the bit or running from the contact. The opposite is also true—a horse used to steady contact in a snaffle-type bit may be quite surprised and confused by a curb bit with a port.
3) Your riding ability. Are you able to post the trot without your hands following you? Do you know the meaning of independent aids? More often than not, mouth problems can be traced back to the rider’s own incompetence. Master Nuño Oliveira, the great equestrian and author of the great work Reflections on Equestrian Art, writes, “Only a rider with a proper position can obtain valid results from his horse.” Without a secure seat, a strong midsection, and relaxed and non-pinching legs, it will be nearly impossible for a rider to carry his hands quietly no matter what the horse is doing. This takes work. It takes training, and it takes plenty of hours in the saddle. To be a truly great athlete also means taking some measures to be fit off the horse. The poorly ridden horse can, according to Dr. Cook’s research, develop thicker membranes over the gums and spurs on the bones of the bars. Any horse, improperly trained and ridden, is going to develop a hard mouth or other bad habits that may make him ultimately fall into the “bad horse” category. It isn’t his fault, by and large, but ours. To achieve softness of the mouth, we have to strive to become riders that practice “equilibrium in motion” and can maintain our seats and balance without using our hands, and train our horses to cooperate with the slightest signal from the rider.
4) A thorough understanding of the theory of bitting. Changing a cheek ring may make as much difference as switching from a single to a double-jointed bit. There’s no exact recipe for success, but knowing how each part works and how the variations have an impact on the overall apparatus can at least give most thinking horsemen a baseline knowledge from which to start their bitting experimentation.
There are many, many variables and factors to take into consideration when choosing a bit. And like a veterinarian trying to diagnose an elusive illness, we only have the horse’s reactions to guide us to our choices. No matter how you apply the above guidelines, the horse should be the one to tell you what works for him.
Finding the right bit is a matter of patience and observation. Begin your bit journey by first determining why you want to change bits in the first place. If your horse is moving well, cooperating, and going in a nice, relaxed manner, perhaps there’s no reason to change bits at all. As the old saw goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
A trainer’s suggestion that you change bits isn’t a good reason. You have to question why the trainer thinks it’s necessary, and ask for a thorough explanation. It may be possible that the trainer sees something from the ground that you’re not feeling in the saddle.
Trying a new bit should be justified—it should be the result of a problem that has cropped up and for which you are working on a training solution. Consider how a doctor diagnoses a medical issue. First he’ll take your vital signs. He’ll interview you about your symptoms. Then he’ll make a diagnosis and prescribe medication. If the medication doesn’t work, he’ll bring you back to the office for another series of tests or he may just try a different medication.
That’s how your bit problem-solving attempts should go. Begin by taking your horse’s training vital signs: Is he soft and supple in the bridle? Is he carrying his head properly? Is his body in good shape? How does his tack fit? Is his neck straight when he’s traveling forward? Is his head tilted or cocked one way or the other?
Then do a thorough examination of his mouth for sore spots or abrasions. Note the location of the sores (if they exist). This is key to figuring out what’s gone awry with your training program and how to fix it. For example, a horse that leans on the bridle when you’re going left but not when you’re going right might be crooked or have a sore leg. A rider with uneven hands may cause a rub mark on one lip but not on the other.
From this set of observations, you can then determine whether your bitting problem is a rider-caused issue that can be solved with training, a physical problem that requires a veterinarian’s help, or a true bitting problem.
Before you make any changes to the horse’s bit, step back and retrain the foundation. Work the horse in a rhythm from your seat and leg. Ride your horse from his hindquarters, not from his bridle. Seek the help of a professional.
After you’ve evaluated your riding and your horse’s training, then it might be time to change bits. You can do this concurrently with training, but to go back to our medical example, it doesn’t help the diagnosis to be trying two prescriptions at once to see which one works. It might be that you’ll develop an exercise to help the horse while trying a new bit, or it could be that you’ve exhausted your training solutions and believe it is the bit that is causing the problem.
Horses are individuals with very different tastes. In your experimentation, always begin with the softest, gentlest bit you can find. That will probably be some kind of double-jointed or flexible mullen mouth snaffle. A horse may respond immediately to a change in bit. Don’t be fooled. Anything new in a horse’s mouth will cause him to pay more attention. The real test is after he’s been wearing it for several weeks or even months. If the behavior returns, you might try another option, depending on what problem you’re trying to solve. What follows are some examples of problems or situations and some possible bitting solutions. These should be considered guidelines, or starting points, rather than rules because it’s impossible to recommend a bit without seeing a horse at work in his bridle, looking in his mouth, and knowing how the horse is ridden.
You can often see a horse opening and closing his mouth when a rider is using a bit incorrectly or has not offered the horse any release from pressure.
ENGLISH BITTING ISSUES
For the Young Horse
Whether you’re building up his confidence, teaching him to accept the bit for the very first time, or refining his steering ability, take special care with young horses. After all, they’re a bit like elephants: they never forget bad experiences. If you’re not a confident rider and trainer, get help with your young horse.
Young horses need help understanding what rein pressure means. A solid-cheek snaffle bit, such as a full cheek, will help the horse figure out direct rein pressure. Pull on the right rein and the cheek piece puts pressure on the left cheek, so the horse’s head turns, which encourages him to step over and across with his front left leg and turn right. The full cheek’s design means you won’t risk pulling the bit through his mouth if he’s a little resistant, or pinching his lip with the sliding loose ring. It’s also a little more stable, with less vertical movement than a loose ring. The stability of a solid cheek makes the young horse feel more comfortable and secure in the bit. Always use keepers to prevent the tops of a full cheek from poking you, your clothes, or your horse’s nose.
For mouthpieces, a double-jointed bit with a lozenge, or other bit with a soft middle section is a good first choice. Because of the way this mouthpiece drapes across the tongue, it’s very comfortable and unobtrusive for a young horse, yet provides enough gentle pressure to persuade the horse to follow the contact.
Young, Forward-Going Horse
Some horses have natural “go.” They’re impatient or alpha-type horses who would prefer to take charge of the situation. For a horse like this, you might need a little more reinforcement from the bit until the horse truly understands your signals and obeys them. A slightly sharper mouthpiece, such as one that adds just a little more pressure on either the tongue or the bars, may be a good solution for the sharper horse. The pressure from the reins should be soft and quick, with an immediate release. A French link mouthpiece and a solid cheek, such as an eggbutt, might be a good combination. Because the cheek piece is solid, the action of the reins is immediate, with little play in the mouthpiece. The French link has an infinitesimal amount more bite to it than a bit with a smoothly rounded lozenge.
Inspect your bits carefully. This Happy Mouth has a plastic burr that’s in unfortunate contact with the tongue.
The Dr. Bristol, which has a longer plate that’s angled to press its edge against the top of the tongue when the rein is engaged, might be another option, particularly for a horse that pushes against the bit and takes control. The edge of the plate pushes on the tongue as the horse surges forward. A quick correction and then release may lighten the horse in the bridle. Once he understands not to push his tongue against the bit as a way of regaining control, you can return to a softer option, such as a French link or lozenge-style bit.
If a young horse develops a pull, or begins to root at the bit, consider first making a change to something thinner. A thinner bit has a sharper contact with the tongue and the bars. While it may be tempting to use a solid mouth bit, such as a ported bit, the solidity of the mouthpiece leaves very little room for the younger horse to develop jaw flexibility. A solid mouth bit will also encourage him to lean or even grab the bit. Better to stick with a thinner jointed bit or something with a different middle link to see if you can solve the problem that way. Of course, it will help to work on training the horse to listen to your seat, rather than pulling back against a horse that pulls against you. Instead, create a solid place with your quiet hands and firm midsection against which he’ll bump when he pulls.
Unconfident in the Bridle or Highly Sensitive Mouth
There are many horses that start out going just fine in a snaffle, and somewhere along the way they begin to drop the bit and bring their heads behind the vertical line. While they may still be trotting, the rider has lost the connection with the horse’s mouth and he’s curled up behind the contact. There could be several issues at work here, and again we urge you to work through the checklist of problems including not riding the horse “in front of the leg,” meaning he is not responding to and moving forward from your leg aids. This problem could also be caused by saddle fit or back soreness. Most important, however, is to ride the horse forward to a giving hand. If he’s still behind the bit despite help from a professional and a thorough evaluation, you might try a soft, solid bit, like a rubber or vulcanite mullen mouth.
The shape of the mullen mouthpiece leaves room for the horse’s tongue, but the solid mouthpiece gives him something substantial in his mouth to help him build more confidence in the contact. The rubber mullen mouth is a very soft bit that is generally good for horses with extremely sensitive mouths.
Another option for those sensitive types is the Happy Mouth, or other polyurethane bit. The plastic coating softens the effect of the metal core, is thicker than metal, and, in some cases can be flavored to encourage the finicky horse to accept the bit. The rubber and plastic or poly bits, are thick. A horse with a small mouth or a thick tongue may not like such a thick bit.
A third possibility is a slightly ported, solid-mouthed bit, such as a lightweight ported snaffle. With room for the tongue, the solid mouthpiece distributes the pressure across the mouth like the mullen mouth bit. While neither of these has much lateral play, you can switch back to a flexible bit after the horse has learned to comfortably accept the contact.
Trained, Forward-Going Horse who Throws his Head Up When Excited
Whether you’re just out for a trail ride or tackling a cross-country course, sometimes you need to remind your horse to keep his head down and his wits about him. When a horse throw his head up, it’s much harder to control him. He loses his visual focus and becomes hollow and rigid through the back and the neck. It’s crucial for jumping riders, and others whose horses have this habit, to work on balance with a gentle, simple bit. Still, sometimes you need a little reminder.
In this situation, you’d want a bit that applies poll pressure to encourage the horse to flex over his poll and use his topline more effectively. A good option, particularly for a horse that may not need this reminder all the time, is a Pelham bit with double reins. The rider can use the snaffle rein most of the time. By engaging the leverage rein, he can ask for poll flexion and balance when he needs it. The rider can add a delta or converter that makes the curb and the snaffle operate as one rein, and by changing his hand position he can further engage the curb action. In this case, the Pelham should have a solid mouthpiece.
Another option for the high-headed hot horse is the Kimberwicke. Using a Kimberwicke without slots allows the rein to slide on the D, giving the horse a little warning before the poll pressure is fully engaged. The uxeter with slotted reins allows the rider to adjust the reins for a little more leverage, which might be useful for days when the horse feels hotter than normal. The Kimberwicke makes a very good step-up option when the horse isn’t responding to a thinner, stronger snaffle bit.
Trained Horse Who Gets Exuberant but Too Low in the Poll
A horse who is carrying himself properly will have his head softly in line with his neck and his poll raised slightly. He’ll be carrying his head in a balanced position with his eyes forward and focused. Some horses, however, tend to drop their heads between their knees, or run “downhill” and hang on the bit. In either case, a gag bit will help lift the horse’s head while at the same time encouraging him to flex at the poll. Gags are useful for cross country, the jumper ring, and the hunt field, as they help a horse who may have gotten tired to lift off his forehand and gallop more uphill. The dual actions of the gag—lifting the bit in the mouth and applying poll pressure to remind the horse to balance—are quite useful but also severe. A gag is not a beginner’s bit.
Heavy Horse
Some horses may not be particularly forward or difficult to control when they get excited; they may just be heavy in the bridle. We call horses like this “on the forehand.” They travel with their heads and necks below the withers and with no self-carriage.
A properly trained horse should not feel like your reins are holding him up. It’s likely that the heavy horse has been made that way by poor training and poor riding, such as a “water-skier.” This rider uses his hands to balance and has not ridden the horse forward from his hindquarters.
Besides retraining both rider and horse, consider a bit that encourages the horse to carry himself. Any bit with a very flexible mouthpiece, such as a double-jointed snaffle or a Waterford will have the desired effect. These bits won’t work well if your horse is both on the forehand and very strong. They’re very good for horses that just want you to do the work of holding up their heads and aren’t balancing properly. The rollers should be tightly constructed, because otherwise they could pinch the tongue and lips and cause a new set of problems. You can use the Waterford bit as a temporary tool to aid your retraining process, not as a permanent solution. Also, Waterfords and many bits with rollers in the mouthpiece are illegal in competition dressage.
WESTERN BITTING ISSUES
The Western horse’s bit is a tool to be used to add finesse. If the horse has the right foundation—he yields to pressure by softening his jaw and poll, balancing, and carrying himself—the bit becomes only a matter of the horse’s personal taste.
Horse with a Locked or Tight Jaw
Ideally, the Western horse has a soft mouth and a flexible jaw. Most show ring judges prefer not to see gobs of white saliva or a very busy mouth but want to see a soft, gentle lip and relaxed mouth. A horse with a locked jaw isn’t listening to subtle signals as well as he could be. Switching to a bit made of a different material, such as sweet iron, which many horses like, could increase chewing and softness. You could also try a steel bit with copper inlays, or some other combination of textures and tastes. If you’re riding in a fixed-jaw bit, switch to one with a loose jaw for more lateral play in the bit. The bit will have a little more mobility in the horse’s mouth and the rider will have the option of adding direct rein.
Horse Annoyed by Tongue Pressure
With such a variety of port styles available today, the horse that doesn’t like tongue pressure has plenty of options. Look to a correction bit—with a high and wide curved port—for maximum tongue relief. Another option is a mullen mouth. For a well-trained horse already working in a curb bit, you might try a mechanical hackamore with a wide leather noseband to get rid of tongue pressure altogether.
Young Horse Moving to his First Curb
For horses that are still perfecting their neck reining technique, it’s vital that there be some play in the shanks. A loose-jawed curb bit allows the rider to use both a direct rein for steering and a little bit of leverage action for the correct placement of the poll. You can ride with two hands, while still asking for the proper head set. If your horse hasn’t yet learned to yield properly or to rate, however, you should go back to the snaffle and perfect his reining and balance.
Horse that Pokes his Nose Out
Consider this rule of thumb, from bit maker and expert Greg Darnall as told to Western Horseman magazine: “The heavier the bit, the more uncomfortable for the horse to have his head in any but the proper position.” So if your horse has a tendency to poke his nose in front of the vertical, choose a heavier version of your current bit as a first step to fixing this problem. The heavier the bit, the more encouragement the horse will feel to bring his nose in. Consider this: which is more difficult, holding your arm out in front of you while carrying a five-pound weight, or bringing it closer to your body? Hence the theory that using a heavier bit will encourage a horse to bring his head closer to the vertical.
Horse Doesn’t Steer Well
If you’re experienced enough to start a young horse by yourself, the bit of choice is definitely some kind of full cheek snaffle. Many trainers, from Western to racehorse, prefer this bit for a very first bitting attempt. Variations on the full cheek can be found with different mouthpieces, with some trainers preferring the sweet iron jointed bits to promote softness and others preferring a bit with some kind of “keys” that hang on the horse’s tongue and encourage him to chew.
Rider Who is Not Quiet with Her Hands
Here’s a common scenario: a rider comes to a trainer with a horse that the rider says is hard to control.
Here’s how the scenario plays out: Rider buys a horse. He may be a little “too much horse” for the rider. Perhaps the horse is a little green or a little hot. The rider takes a hold of the reins and, because of her own anxiety, begins to hang on the horse’s mouth, never offering the horse any relief from pressure. She may, additionally, ride the horse backwards—which means that she rides with a pulling hand instead of a following hand.
At this point, the horse’s anxiety level increases every time the rider gets on. Pull, pull, pull. The more the rider pulls, the more the horse feels constrained and anxious. Guess what happens next? He either fights the contact by throwing his head up and down or rooting into the bit (which is a very clear signal from rider to horse: “Let go!”) or his flight instinct kicks in and he runs through the bit.
The rider begins to worry that the horse might run away with her. So she goes to the local feed store and asks for a stronger bit. The guy at the feed store presents her with a slow twist snaffle, for example. She takes it home and puts it on, but in the meantime, she’s done nothing to fix the horse’s understanding of contact. She picks up the reins and the horse begins to pull, because that’s how she rides. And now the horse feels even more pressure or even a bit of pain because he’s got that harsh bit in his mouth.
The trainer watches the rider for a few minutes, and then retreats to the tack room to dig through her bits. She brings out a soft double-link snaffle or some other gentle bit, and gets on the horse. The trainer doesn’t pull, and the horse begins to relax. So you see, with some hard work on the rider’s part to learn to trust the horse and not pull, this problem can be solved.
A horse that appears “out of control” may actually be running from a rider that has an overly harsh or heavy hand and is using an overly harsh bit. A rider that never releases the contact, or has a one-sided conversation with the horse’s mouth, can actually begin to cause training problems.
The author and her horse, Volare, who had a chronic tongue lolling habit.
A tongue layer can sometimes help the horse that lolls or hangs the tongue. Unfortunately this can become a habit that’s very difficult to break.
TONGUE VICES
You cannot discuss bitting without coming across the problem of the tongue. Whether it sticks out, draws up, goes over the bit, or otherwise misbehaves, tongue vices signal discomfort. Tongue problems are so common because horses use their tongues to protect other parts of their mouths. Some started sticking out their tongues due to pain and now do it out of habit. Whatever the cause, experienced horsemen agree this is one of the trickiest problems to solve.
In many show arenas, including hunter, dressage, and some Western classes, tongue lolling is considered a serious problem and affects the final score. A horse that carries his tongue out is not soft or submissive to the bridle as required by these disciplines.
The tongue serves as a cushion, and many horses use it to protect their mouths when they are in pain. Indeed, you may actually feel the horse “rooting” or pulling downwards a second or two before the tongue emerges. His neck muscles may stiffen. His back may be tight. Frequently, pain elsewhere in the body can cause the tongue to stick out.
Some horses will suck their tongues up to the back of their throats. This is one of the most detrimental tongue problems, because it can block the horse’s airway. You might see this problem on the racetrack or cross-country course, but rarely with casual arena or trail work.
Other horses bring their tongues over the bit. This pretty much negates the impact of the bit and, like all tongue problems, is almost always caused by discomfort caused by the bit on the tongue.
When you’ve got a tongue loller, the first step is a veterinary examination of the mouth, the teeth, the back, and the neck.
Bit makers have come up with a veritable boatload of bit options to correct tongue problems. They have made bits that have a tongue depressor-type device called a “nagbut,” which attaches to the center of the middle link of a double-jointed snaffle and rests on the tongue. A similar concept, although likely a more severe device, is the barmouth figure-eight with two round rings that attach at the center of the bar. The figure-eight rests on the tongue. Yet another ingenious creation is a rubber device known as a tongue layer, which wraps around the bit, pointing toward the horse’s throat. Its purpose is to prevent the horse from putting his tongue over the bit.
Some snaffles have been designed with players, or little keys that rest on the horse’s tongue and provide a toy for the horse to fool with instead of attempting to put his tongue over the bit. Trainers used to use these bits to start horses, the theory being that the players would encourage acceptance of the bit and loosen the horse’s jaw, encouraging chewing and salivation. They’ve largely gone out of style and are very rare these days.
Wide ported bits and mullen mouths, which discourage the horse from putting the tongue over the bit by giving it plenty of room are sometimes a good solution. The key is to address the tongue problem as soon as you can by reinforcing basic training.
If the horse begins to put his tongue out or over the bit, have his teeth checked and re-evaluate your riding and training methods. It could be a simple fix, or it could be a habit. Rarely will changing a bit fix the tongue lolling problem.
CASE STUDIES
The Tongue Loller
The concept and execution of “submission” is perhaps most key to the bitting and tongue conundrum. Indeed, a horse who is lolling his tongue has not accepted the bit—he’s trying to avoid it. That’s why it’s so frowned upon in equestrian sports that judge horse and rider partnership, rather than pure athleticism, such as jumpers, ropers, and barrel racers, where many successful athletes have tongue problems.
During the course of researching and writing this book, I was simultaneously starting my young Hanoverian mare toward her dressage career. My former event horse had been a chronic tongue hanger—no change of bit, noseband, or device changed that. He came with the habit and he never lost it, although he was a stellar horse in all other ways.
My second horse, however, was a blank slate. Raised from a baby and started carefully with gentle training, she moved quickly her first year, learning to stretch into the bridle and move off leg pressure. She was progressing perfectly. One day, about a year into her training, I saw a sliver of tongue begin to stick out of the left side of her mouth. Then a little more tongue, and a little more, until an inch chunk of tongue was sticking out.
What had precipitated this sudden change? The previous weekend Belle had visited a jumper trainer who had longed her around on a circle rather aggressively. She’d also been ridden by a relatively novice rider who, when trying to steer her, had pulled up harshly on the reins.
There was also the fact that she’d been quite “hard” on the left rein for quite a while—a condition caused by my very own bad riding habit of dropping my left shoulder.
Whatever the cause, I stopped all work with the bit and called the vet. Step one was a thorough mouth exam. Her teeth had been floated just six weeks prior. I doubted that was the problem. I could feel a sizable muscle knot that had developed around her third cervical vertebra—a sign of some uneven muscle development that had been a matter of concern to me for some time. The vet found no sharp points on her teeth but he did find a small sore on the inside of her right lip and a healing laceration on her tongue.
I felt a little relief—at least there seemed to be some reason for the discomfort. Question was, now what?
I followed this course of action: First, I gave her a month off from riding with bit and bridle, to give her time to heal. This horse does not tolerate pain at all. During that month, I rode her in a rope halter and did a lot of relaxation work with her. I then borrowed a cross-under bitless bridle from a friend and rode her in that for another month. In fact, she went quite well in the bitless and I never once saw her tongue. In the bitless bridle I worked on exercises to supple her to the left and built on those by working on thoroughness to the bridle. I would have continued to ride her in it had she not been such a talented dressage horse. Bitless bridles are not yet legal for competition.
Next, I opened my tack trunk full of forgotten bits:
• Single-link, level 2 Myler
• Vulcanite mullen mouth
• French link hollow mouth
• KK Ultra
• Sprenger Tournado
• Double-jointed KK with a copper lozenge
• Steel, eggbutt single-link snaffle in a medium width
• Full-cheek single-link snaffle
• D-ring rubber single-link snaffle
• Baucher
• Single-link Happy Mouth
• Copper and steel mullen mouth
I tried the Tournado, which claims to help tongue problems, but she immediately opened her mouth and argued with that bit. The vulcanite mullen mouth was much too thick for her delicate mouth. The Sprenger with the Aurigan lozenge was too thin, although it and the French link seem to give her about the same amount of comfort. In the end, I opted for the hollow mouth French link to restart her.
I put her on the longe line with side reins—no tongue. I rode her on a loose rein at the walk with the bit on. I switched to the bitless for any more intense work.
The only way to solve any bitting problem is to be creative about it. In this case, we suspected pain—whether from the tongue itself, from the neck, or from the back. Because the incident had been precipitated by a couple of difficult rides, I suspected something was hurting her; she’d never shown her tongue in the past. Starting her back slowly, riding her forward and correctly into the bridle, and plying her with peppermints so she learned to associate the bit with good things rather than pain were some of our tactics in getting her to accept the bit once again.
After two months of riding Belle in a bitless bridle, riding her forward, and asking her to accept the bit, the tongue problem is now quite a bit better. We’ve developed a method where, when I see her tongue, I drive her into my right rein with my left leg and gently lift my left hand. When her tongue slides in I tell her she’s a good girl and rub her neck with my left hand. The tongue pops out now and then still, but it’s almost always precipitated by a feeling that she’s locked in the left neck rather than traveling straight between the reins. When I correct this problem, I don’t see her tongue.
There is a serious effort on my part to ride her with the utmost correctness, carrying a very soft feel, riding her from back to front so she engages her hindquarters and uses her neck and topline correctly. Most importantly, I worked diligently on the correctness of the left bend and engagement of the left hind leg.
Overall, such a focus on proper training, plus allowing her time to heal from her injury, and acknowledging overall that she is a very sensitive horse and not at all stoic when it comes to pain, allowed me to think analytically and problem-solve around her particular problem.
The Event Horse
Nancy Ambrosiano is an experienced event rider and the coach of the Los Alamos, New Mexico Pony Club. She has a collection of about forty bits—antique, new, variations on a theme—that she uses in her pony club classes. With so many choices, you would think that she’d have a bit in her collection that would work on her off-the-track thoroughbred event horse.
“Stretch” is a high-strung, forward-going former racehorse that does not appreciate pressure on his mouth. In fact, the horse is quite sensitive and would tend to panic when Nancy, galloping toward a cross-country fence, would half halt and hold any kind of pressure on his mouth.
“Stretch is all adrenaline. He also has a temper and when he got upset he would flip his head and run to the fence with his nose inverted. He would panic when he ran into the bit,” Nancy describes. With such a variety of bits to choose from, Nancy tried everything from a soft, synthetic dog bone to a Pelham to a Kimberwicke, with no success.
She also went through a period of serious retraining, working on smaller fences, gymnastics, and dressage to try to teach Stretch to accept the bit and half halt without panicking.
His behavior improved a little, but he still had a tendency to panic when Nancy used rein pressure in combination with a balancing seat to ask Stretch to sit back on his hindquarters and balance before the jump.
She came across a Myler combination bit. The Myler combination bit is a bubble bit—otherwise known as a Pessoa or a European gag, which has several unique features. First, the bit includes a hackamore-style noseband attached with parachute cord to the curb strap, a barrel snaffle that disperses the pressure across the tongue, and the gag option of the Pessoa.
Attach the reins to the largest ring and the bit becomes a regular Myler barrel mouth snaffle with a little leverage, thanks to a ring stop that prevents the reins from moving freely on the ring. Once the reins stop, hackamore-style pressure is engaged on the noseband. This allows the horse to carry the bit in his mouth with very little pressure, but also allows the rider to engage a relatively strong half halt through the use of the hackamore. The canons of the bit are angled to relieve tongue pressure. Attaching the reins to either of the rings below the snaffle adds leverage.
For Stretch, a horse that feared mouth pressure, the hackamore option allowed Nancy to use minimal pressure on the bit while still reminding the horse to sit up and balance back on his hindquarters. Using moderate weight in her hands and a very quick half halt, she’s now able to control Stretch’s forward-going nature and use his athleticism to gallop safely and correctly to both cross-country and stadium jumps.
Nancy’s pony club coaching experience exposed her to numerous examples that serve as good lessons in appropriate bitting. For example, she cites an event horse she sold to a nearby pony club participant. When she sold the horse she warned the new owner that she always rode the horse in a Kimberwicke, yet she failed to specify precisely what kind of mouthpiece the Kimberwicke had.
The next time Nancy saw this young girl riding her new horse, she was flying willy-nilly around an arena, without a lot of steering or brakes. Confused by the formerly well-behaved and well-trained horse’s behavior, Nancy investigated. Turns out, the child did have a Kimberwicke in the horse’s mouth, but it was a jointed bit—meaning the child had very little lateral control, even though she had the seemingly stronger leverage bit in the horse’s mouth.
This example reminds us of the importance of a holistic approach to bitting. Case in point: Nancy fit her daughter’s horse with a solid-core mullen mouth Pelham—it’s a good bit for a horse that tends to get strong cross country but doesn’t need a lot of correction to bring him back to a sensible balance. In a rush before an event, Nancy picked up the wrong bit, choosing instead a rubber mullen mouth with a wire core instead. This slight change in an otherwise identical bit makes a huge difference. It turns a solid, stiff bit into an incredibly flexible one.
Later, when Nancy’s daughter was on the cross-country course, she heard her daughter’s repeated pleas of “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” as she galloped around. Her daughter managed to complete her course without an accident, but it wasn’t until after the event that Nancy realized her mistake: the wire core mullen mouth was so flexible it provided no “barrier” into which her petite daughter could reinforce her half halts on the cross-country course.
The Colt Starter
Joe Fernandez, who starts horses of all kinds, has learned a lot of different methods and developed his own style of starting horses. Part natural horsemanship, part old cowboy (Joe’s family has been starting colts for a hundred years in Mora, New Mexico), Joe has attached his full-cheek, single-jointed snaffle to a rope that slips over the horse’s head like a headstall, but has knots like a rope halter. The horse, Joe explains, feels the pressure from the knots just as he would in a plain rope halter, but also feels the cheek pieces of the full-cheek on the sides of his mouth. That action truly encourages the horse to turn.
Acclimating horses to the bit requires nothing more than a little patience, a soft touch, and some gentle encouragement, Joe says. It helps if the trainer has warmed the bit up before putting it in the horse’s mouth, especially if the weather is chilly. To do this, simply roll the bit back and forth in your palms. Gently insert your thumb into the horse’s mouth and press down on the bar while holding the rest of the bridle on the opposite side of the horse’s head. Make sure the bridle is neither too tight nor too loose—you want the horse to feel comfortable with the bit right away. When he opens his mouth, gently slide the bridle up towards his ears while supporting the bit with your thumb and forefinger. Then adjust the bridle correctly. Some trainers like to give the horse a sugar cube or a peppermint at this point, to encourage the horse to chew on the bit, and to signify that bitting is a happy, tasty experience. The horse may do funny things with his mouth—he may yawn or open his jaws and slide them side to side. He may stick out his tongue or suck on the bit. Whatever the case, just let him stand there and get used to it. Some trainers also like to keep the halter on underneath the bridle with an attached lead rope, so they can control the horse without putting any pressure on the bit. Above all, the horse needs to have a positive, pleasant first bitting experience. There’s no need to leave the bit in his mouth for a long period of time. Gradually increasing the time and adding activities, such as leading and stopping, will habituate your horse to the bit quickly and easily.
English to Western
Trainer Julie Goodnight tells of a student who was switching from English to Western. The student purchased a mature, seasoned, and well-trained Western horse taught to work in a curb, with a very loose rein. He had been ridden softly and with one hand.
In English riding, riders are taught to take a “feel” of the horse’s mouth. Sometimes that feel is just a few ounces of pressure between the bit and the hands. Other times it may be more intense. After all, we want our horses working into the bridle, pushing from back to front. English riders use a snaffle bit for the most part—it is designed to carry the pressure of the hands and spread it across the horse’s tongue, bars, and lips.
This rider, who knew very little about Western riding, believed the curb bit that the horse came with was too severe, so she changed to a snaffle, as she would have done with an English-trained horse. This rider was under the impression she was being more humane by putting what she perceived as a gentler bit in her horse’s mouth.
Only it wasn’t. Not for this horse, anyway. And not with this particular rider. The rider took “contact” as she would with a dressage horse or hunter, and the horse became braced in her back in an effort to protect her mouth from the rider’s constant contact. Goodnight switched bits—changing from a straight snaffle to a hybrid bit (a Myler) with a hackamore-style noseband, a bit, and chin and poll pressure. Using this combination bit distributed the pressure from the horse’s mouth to several different points on her head. Over time and with some careful instruction, the horse began to lighten up. The rider was able to work with her instructor to develop more Western-style hands and rein contact. She also began to understand what was too much pressure and what was just the right amount. Over time, the rider was able to go back to the curb bit. That made the horse much more comfortable.
Western to Dressage
Lori Brookins, an Arizona-based dressage rider, switched her horse from Western to dressage. Before she bought her current horse, she tried him several times, and noted that he was light as a feather. Upon further inspection, she noted that the bit he was wearing was a fast-twist, rusty copper snaffle. She also noticed that he had a nasty sore in the corner of his left lip.
As a dressage rider, Brookins changed him to a double-jointed loose ring snaffle with a bean in the middle. He still had that nasty sore in the left corner of his mouth. Brookins admits to a “terrible lopsidedness in that I always take up a tad bit more right rein than left.” Could that have been the cause of the sore? It’s possible that Brookins was inadvertently pulling the bit through the horse’s mouth, causing a left side sore to develop. The cause of the sore was somewhat mysterious, but she solved the problem by changing the horse to an eggbutt snaffle, although he remained heavy in her hands. A second option was a KK bit, with an angled bead in the center.
In the long run, Brookins’ problem with her Appaloosa might have been quite similar to the one Julie Goodnight described. Brookins’ horse had been a Western horse, and although he was ridden in what is considered a harsh bit, he was light because he’d learned to carry himself. During retraining, Brookins learned an important lesson—that it’s really not the bit that matters. The most important element is proper training. “If he is in self carriage, and as uphill as a horse like him can physically carry himself, he is happy.”
