Intermediate Tack: Snaffles and Nosebands

Ok so let's get the necessary vocabulary memorization out of the way first. Various snaffle bits in all their glory:



Got it? Good. But by this point you should be doing more than simply memorizing -- you should be thinking! A dangerous hobby, I know, but worth it every once in a while :) These bits -- it's all well and good to know what they are, but what do they do? Why would you choose one over another? How do you tell how severe a bit is? How do they work? Where do they put pressure?

For today we're going to focus on snaffle bits (see adv for others :) with a brief foray into nosebands since they are so often used to supplement the bit.

So to answer the last question first (why do things in order?) -- Snaffle bits apply pressure to the bars of the mouth, the tongue and the lips. But there are many ways of doing that! They are direct pressure bits, which means that the amount of pressure you put on the reins is what the horse feels in his mouth. (sidenote: the bars are the area between the molars and the incisors - if you stick your thumb in the corner of your horse's mouth where the bit goes, you'll discover there are no teeth there. But that's a lesson for another Thursday!)

Severity -- it's important to remember though that any bit's severity is entirely defined by the hands that hold it. That being said, once the hands are educated enough the rider can start to consider appropriate bits for their situation. In general, a thinner bit will be stronger than a thicker one (consider if you're carrying a really heavy bag by handles. Thin handles are going to cut into your hands, whereas thicker ones you'll be able to carry for a longer time -- the pressure is dispersed over a wider area). Anything with a twist will be stronger than something flat. Twisted bits of any sort apply quite sharp pressure (think of that whole thin bit vs thick bit idea -- the edges of the twist are very thin). Since most horses will run from pain you're often better to use a softer bit with a different noseband (ie flash, figure-8) that restricts the horse's ability to open their mouth, then to use the harsher bit. Double bits (esp when twisted) do the same thing but times two as now the pressure points are doubled. While remaining in the realm of snaffles, those are your primary severity considerations: width of bit and is there any sort of twist to it.

A secondary consideration is the type of bit rings (what the reins attach to). A loose ring will rotate as the bit moves in the horse's mouth. It encourages relaxation and is loved by dressage riders everywhere for this :) The main downside to a loose ring is that they can pinch the sides of the mouth -- bit guards (little plastic circles) are sometimes used to counteract this. A full-cheek (and to a lesser extent, a D), will push against the side of the mouth as the opposite side is pulled (so if you pull the left rein, the right side of the bit pushes against the horse). This can help clarify steering requests. The down side to these is that the cheeks could potentially get caught on something, and/or twisted the wrong way -- less than fun for your horse in either scenario. Keepers are often applied (attaching the top of the full-cheek to the cheek piece) to help avoid this issue. An egg-butt is marginally softer than a D in that it doesn't have the straight edge to help with steering to the same degree, but stronger than a loose-ring as it's fixed so there's not as much play.

Now, knowing that a loose ring encourages the horse to salivate (and therefore relax -- the two items are connected pavlovian style in horse's little brains. And in ours too I guess -- when you see a drooling person, they're usually overly relaxed...), what do you suppose bits with keys or rollers are for? Yup, same concept. They also have the bonus of giving the horse something to play with -- especially for young horses, this can be a great thing! Keeps their little brains engaged (so they're not thinking of the goblin in the corner or a million other things that lead to trouble) and gives them something to do that will encourage the relaxation response. All good :) And bits that have copper on them? Same thing. Because of this effect these bits are all illegal in dressage (cheating!).

Some bits are almost straight (ie mullen mouth) or double jointed (ie french link). These reduce the nut-cracker action and disperse the pressure more evenly across the tongue. Which is better depends entirely on your horse. Some horses seem to prefer single joints, others multi- joints. Most of the TBs I've known seem to like the multis; the heavy crosses seem to go better in the singles -- could have something to do with the size of their mouths *g* but this is entirely incidental wisdom. Basically if your horse seems unhappy with one, try the other. If they have a tendency to lean, you'll want to avoid the unjointed bits.

An exercise - go to your tack store (or even your tack store's website -- here's one I use: Bahr Saddlery) -- and look through the bits. Pick three that you don't recognize and see if you can figure out what they do, how they work, and why you would use one. For instance, here's one you may have seen before, but we haven't discussed yet:


Waterford

Now you can see it's a loose ring snaffle, so it's going to encourage playing. It seems to have balls on it too, but they don't roll so it's not really a mouthing bit. It is multi-jointed so it'll lie flatter over the horse's tongue with less nut-cracker action on the bars and lips than a single-jointed. It's not particularly thin and it has no leverage component (see advanced) so it's probably not all that severe. So why would you want it instead of a say a french link? What's the advantage here? The advantage is that with the balls the horse has less opportunity to lean on the bit, but they are softer than any sort of twist so generally don't get the angry response a twist might in a sensitive horse. So if you had a horse who was heavy in your hand, this might be a good one to try.

Run through that thought process with a few more random bits. Good luck!

And as if that weren't enough... Remember the comment about using a noseband instead of increasing the severity of the bit? Well in order to do that, you need to know a little about nosebands! The main ones you're likely to see are:

Cavesson - this is your standard noseband
Flash - the flash is an extra strap attached to the cavesson that does up below the bit. This keeps the horse's mouth closed and prevents the horse from crossing her jaw. It also can hold the bit steadier in the mouth, which some horses seem to prefer.
Figure 8 - much like the flash, but forms an 8, imagine that! The top half of the 8 goes much higher than the usual cavesson, which gives added steering ability. The theory behind this design is that it allows the horse to expand their nostrils more freely which is necessary for high-speed work. These nosebands are often seen on eventers and jumpers.
Drop - same effect as a flash without using a cavesson; these were popular in dressage for a while but have since fallen out of fashion.
Note: If you plan to use a standing martingale you MUST have a cavesson (or a cavesson w/ a flash attachment) to attach it to.


Example of a cavesson, a flash, and a figure-8

A note re fit: none of these photos are ideal. The cavesson should be a little lower; the flash should have the cavesson tighter and the flash closer to the bit; the 8 should be adjusted so the cross is slightly higher. I'm sure Google could show you lots of images of these (and various other) types of nosebands both good and bad! These are just shots I happened to have at hand. :)

Wow, so that was a mountain of information for one day -- but most of it isn't memorization so much as thought process, and since you already know how to think, you're good to go!