From: Alice
Dear Jessica, I have a small collection of bits that I buy whenever my husband and I go on vacation somewhere I can find antiques shops or tack shops with some old bits for sale. I don't ride any more as I have heart trouble and take blood-thinning medication, but I still collect the bits, old habits truly are hard to break! One of my granddaughters is interested in horses and riding, and I intend to leave this collection to her in my will. I am writing to you because I have not been able to figure out the identity or purpose of a bit I bought recently. I want to leave my collection with each bit properly identified, and I have never seen one exactly like this. I don't know how to send a photograph on e-mail so I will try to describe it very accurately for you.
It looks like a normal ordinary snaffle bit with one joint in the center and loose rings, but instead of one ring at each side, there are two rings on each side. The rings seem to be the same size and material, and all are fairly thin. Two of them are loose - what I mean is that they don't go through holes in the bit, they go around the bit mouthpiece, inside the other rings, which keep them from slipping off. I think the bit is stainless steel. I can't figure out what the loose rings on the inside are meant to do. If I hold the bit by one of the outside rings that go through the mouthpiece, the other (inside) rings slide all the way down the whole mouthpiece to the other ring. Would anyone use the bit like this, with three rings on one side and one on the other, and if so, why? Do the rings go into the horse's mouth? I think that would be very uncomfortable. Could you possibly tell me what kind of bit this is and what it is intended to do? I wonder if perhaps this is a custom bit made by some inventive person.
Thank you for all the wonderful information you provide. Nobody else has been able to help me, but I am sure that you will know the answer.
Alice
The Wilson features two pairs of rings, just as you've described. The outside pair is "fixed" - in fact, without the second pair of rings, this would be an ordinary loose-ring single-joint snaffle with rather thin rings. The inside, "floating" rings don't go into the horse's mouth. They rest just outside the mouth, between the horse's lips and the outside, "fixed" rings. The cheekpieces of the bridle are attached to these "floating" rings, whilst the reins would normally be attached to BOTH rings. The design provides strong lateral control - good turning power, if you will - without harming the corners of the horse's mouth. It's designed for turning - and helps ensure that the horse will move into the turn at the moment and the angle that the driver wishes (this is very important, as the turn involves not just the horse itself but the cart or carriage - and the driver).
It IS also possible to attach the reins only to the outside rings, in which case the bit becomes much more severe - tension on one or both reins will cause the inside rings to slide along the mouthpiece, thus creating strong pressure on the sides of the horse's mouth from the "floating" rings attached to the cheekpieces. But the usual, preferred method is to attach the reins to both rings at once, so that the bit can work more like an ordinary jointed snaffle. The nutcracker action is still more severe than it would be without the extra rings, but not as severe as it is when the reins are fastened only to the outside rings.
This kind of optional adjustment is typical of driving bits - most are designed to provide the driver with at least two options in terms of bit severity. A quiet, calm horse might never find out that its bit can be attached differently or that the mouthpiece can be reversed (some driving bits have mouthpieces that are smooth on one side, serrated on the other, and can be used with either side in contact with the horse's tongue and bars). A nervous or excitable horse, on the other hand, might be worked with the bit in "gentle" mode at home, then have it readjusted to "severe" for a competition or a road trip or for any circumstances in which the driver would have reason to worry about maintaining control. In some ways, driving is more challenging than riding - you cannot reassure or direct the horse with your legs or your weight, all you have is your voice, whip, and reins. Frightened horses can perform all sorts of interesting acrobatic maneuvers. The sort of startled leap and sudden change of direction that challenge a rider's ability to stay in the saddle can challenge a driver's ability to stay in the cart or carriage - and can also challenge the cart or carriage's ability to remain upright and on the road.
Some drivers, when working with horses that either are not yet fully trained or have a tendency to push hard against the bit when the rider pulls the reins, or who anticipate that there may be situations that are likely to startle or frighten their horses, opt for a bit with a twisted mouthpiece to get extra control. The Wilson snaffle provides just as much control, but in a different way, by putting the addditional pressure on the sides of the horse's mouth rather than on the tongue, bars, and corners of the lips.
If you keep visiting antique malls, you'll probably find other bits like this. If you visit a few modern-day tackshops that cater to the driving crowd, you'll find that the four-ring Wilson snaffle is available with a wide variety of mouthpieces made from any number of different materials from metal to rubber.
I hope this information doesn't take away the fun of finding a new item for your collection. Your granddaughter will certainly enjoy owning it - but I hope she doesn't inherit those bits for a long time. ;-)
Jessica
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