Snaffles, Curbs, and "mystery" shanked bits

From: Karen

Hello, Jessica!

Thanks for all you do for those of us who are behind you on the “learning trail!” I appreciate that you are so willing to help make this path much easier.

I’ve got 2 green-broke horses­a 3-year-old BLM mustang and an 18-year-old QH gelding (yup­green-broke. He was a breeding stallion and was never broke to ride in his prior life). Both were sent to my trainer for 3 months last fall­she is kind, humane and teaches by “building blocks” so that my horses have had the best foundation that I can give them. Both are going Western at this time (eventually I’d like them to go English, but I’m having fun learning western riding).

They were both started in Shleister O-ring snaffles (3” ring, 3/8” copper bit). My colt goes very well with this bit, but my older horse fights it a lot. He starts out fine, then after about 20 minutes of riding, he gapes, pulls against rein pressure (if I’m asking to go to the right, he pulls around to the left, lifting his head, pulling as hard as he can the opposite way, until he almost pulls the bit through his mouth). My trainer used some sort of western cavesson, but he still resisted, and she just worked through it patiently and said that eventually he’ll quit fighting the bit, but we’ve been working on this for over a year (he was started by me last February, and was at the trainer’s July 1st-Oct 1st). He’s otherwise willing and tries very hard to give me a correct answer when I ask, so I don’t understand why he’s having so much trouble with the bit. He does the same with a full-cheek snaffle.

BTW­he has regular dental care with a DVM, MS equine dentist, so his teeth and mouth are in good shape. The vet says that there is no physical reason that he can see that could cause resistance.

The woman with whom I board recently suggested trying a Greg Darnall Loomis shank bit, which she uses for her horse. It is a 3/8” snaffle with 8” shanks (top of the side-piece to the very bottom. The shank from the bit to the rein-end is 5”.

I tried it, first by free-lunging him with loosely tied reins (he could almost reach the ground, because I didn’t want any surprise pressure), then I rode him. He did a beautiful job and I did not have to use any pressure­I was able to ride with correct slack. He followed the “feel” of the lift or squeeze of the rein, whereas in the O-ring, I’d have to use solid contact to get a turn and it would be a fight the entire time. He was totally relaxed, including when I asked for a lope­normally he transitions with pinned ears and lots of tail swishing as well as a high-headed, hard, fast trot prior to the transition (my trainer got the same thing and worked very hard to get a smooth transition, which we never got)­but now when I ask for a lope, I get an almost instant, smooth, relaxed transition­ears back attentively, not pinned, and no tail swishing. Turns are a dream, with no resistance. It’s as though he’s a different horse when he’s in this bit­a well-trained delight to ride.

My question: I’m under the impression that a shank bit offers quite a bit of leverage and that a shanked snaffle can be very severe­is that so? I’m confused because I’m getting a great result with this bit­there’s no fight, no head-tossing or high-headedness--in fact, he’s really trying to flex at the poll and I can finally feel him trying to get underneath himself without me asking for collection (I was constantly having to nag with the O-ring)! I don’t think that I’m using much, if any, pressure since I’ve generally got good slack in the reins.

I don’t think that I have great hands, but I don’t have bad hands­I follow my horse pretty well and I don’t use my hands to balance myself. I’ve always been taught that reins are secondary, supportive cues to one’s seat and legs, and I try to ride that way. I know that the bit is only as kind as the rider, but that classes of bits can range from kind to severe. Would a shorter shank be kinder or more severe, or should I leave well enough alone and be happy with the fact that my horse seems happy, relaxed and responsive in this bit, vs. always tense in the O-ring? I feel as though we’re finally communicating, not arguing, but am I getting a result due to severity or pain that I’m not seeing, rather than communication? I’m afraid to think that a bit that looks so severe is actually kinder to my horse than the O-ring­I just don’t know enough about the mechanics of traditional bits to know whether or not this is a good bit for my horse. I’ve always felt that my horse will tell me when something is right or wrong for him­he seems to be saying that this bit works for him. Am I delusional? Can a change of bit make that much difference? Is this just wishful thinking on my part?

My colt will be staying in the O-ring until I see a need for change, although I would like to eventually transition to a curb in order to further his education­I’d like him to be as versatile as possible­and when that happens, would this sort of shanked snaffle be the next step?

Thanks, Jessica, and I hope you find time to elaborate a little more­I’m having a lot of trouble finding solid information about the mechanics of bits­your explanations of the mechanics of hackamores is exactly what I’m hoping for in regards to shanked bits (curbs & snaffles) vs regular snaffles.

Sincerely, Karen and Beau

A change of bit can make an immense difference to a horse and rider, for many reasons.

One is horse comfort. If a bit - even a very simple, smooth, easy bit - doesn't fit a horse's mouth well, then the horse will be uncomfortable, and will either curl up behind the bit, or push against the pain.

One is rider effort - it's easy for a rider to believe that "My horse is more responsive" when, in fact, it's simply that the horse is responding to a much more powerful signal from a much stronger bit. Since the rider can elicit a strong response with very little hand movement, it seems to the rider that the horse is "behaving better", but from the horse's point of view, the new bit is much stronger and more painful, and its action should be avoided. Therefore, the horse pays great attention to the movement of the bit, and hurries to respond as soon as it feels any movement of the bit, so as to avoid the jaw-crunching that will be involved if the rider puts any more pressure on the reins.

I'm going to guess that your older horse is simply more comfortable when he doesn't feel pressure in his mouth, and is happier working in a bit that warns him "Look out, you'd better stop/turn or you're going to feel pressure!" He may have a very sensitive tongue.

NO horse that's had three months of training and less than a year of riding - even an eighteen-year-old horse - should be asked for collection. That's something you can look forward to later, when the horse has become supple and strong and has learned a new way to carry himself (and you). For a horse of his age, it may take two years of steady, systematic schooling to help him develop to that point.

Your older horse may be uncomfortable in a snaffle - that's not too unusual, especially if it's a single-joint mouthpiece. Those are uncomfortable for a lot of horses. Mouthpiece material can make a difference, too. Copper is NOT a good metal for a bit mouthpiece, for two reasons. First, it's soft - one or two good chomps, and a horse will create ridges that will hurt its mouth. Second, it may cause horses to salivate more, but that's not necessarily because they like the taste (try sucking on a copper penny for an hour or two, and see what you think about the flavour). Finally, bit adjustment can make a huge difference to a horse's comfort. Even a good-quality snaffle that fits well will make a horse very uncomfortable if it's adjusted too high in the horse's mouth, because it will put constant pressure on the horse's mouth even when you aren't touching the reins. If it's too low in the horse's mouth, it may be banging against his teeth. Sometimes riders will change a bit from one headstall to another, or use different bits on the same headstall, without noticing that the difference in the length of the cheekpieces or the rings of the bits have created a change in the position of the bit, moving it up or down in the horse's mouth.

Before you give up on riding him in a snaffle, you might want to try him in a French-link snaffle, with either a plain stainless-steel mouthpiece, or one made from one of the more pleasant alloys, adjusted so that it just touches the corners of his mouth when there's no pressure on the reins.

You may also need to take a different approach to your riding sessions. "Resisting" after twenty minutes of working on contact, in a frame, isn't strange - it's natural. Horses can't hold themselves in artificial positions for that long without cramping and becoming frantic, and they shouldn't be asked to try. It's okay to ride your horse on contact in a snaffle, but don't ask him to maintain a set position with his head and neck - he needs to be able to lengthen, stretch, and flex. You'll both have an easier time of it if you will make a point of giving your horse a stretch break every three minutes. Don't throw away the reins, or he will learn to look for total loss of contact as a reward, which isn't the point. Just allow him to lengthen them, keeping a light contact - let him take his nose all the way to the ground if he likes. After twenty seconds or so, you should be able to bring him back up - softly and gradually - and work for another three minutes before you offer him another stretch break. If you have a hard time reminding yourself to do this every three minutes, just turn on your favourite radio station and give him a stretch break at the end of every song. Most of them aren't much longer than three minutes.

If he still seems to be more comfortable in the curb, ride him in that, but just on principle, it wouldn't hurt to try a gentler curb. If you like the Greg Darnall bit with the Loomis shank, you might try a kinder version with the low port mouthpiece or the sweet iron mullen mouthpiece instead of the single-joint mouthpiece. Or you might try a low port grazing bit - I know I've seen at least one of those in the Greg Darnall line.

Your younger horse sounds lovely, but I'd like to suggest a kinder way of making the transition from snaffle to curb. (Note: As far as I'm concerned, there is no place in any training program for a "shanked snaffle" - which, in any case, is an oxymoron. Snaffles work from direct pressure, and have no shanks. Curbs work from leverage, and have shanks. What is often misidentified as a "shanked snaffle", "cowboy snaffle", or "Argentine snaffle" is a curb with a jointed mouthpiece. It's not a transitional bit at all - just a confusing, painful, powerful and very unpleasant bit. I call these "mystery" bits because they are so often misidentified - and because it's a mystery to me why anyone would use one on a horse.)

If you want to teach a horse to make the transition from working ON contact in a snaffle to working OFF contact in a curb, you can use a Pelham with a low port mouthpiece if you're comfortable using two reins. If you'd prefer to use a single reins, you can use an Uxeter Kimblewicke. Start by putting your rein in the top slot of the bit ring, and then, when your horse has adusted to the feel of the curb chain and the idea of leverage, moving your rein down to the lower slot. Once your horse goes easily in that bit with the reins in the lower slot, you'll be able to move on to a "colt bit" or "grazing bit" - that is, a curb with a mullen mouth or a low or medium port (choose the mouthpiece depending on your horse's mouth conformation, and on what he finds least uncomfortable) and short, swept-back shanks. Shorter shanks and swept-back shanks are milder than longer shanks (more leverage) and straight shanks, but a lot depends on the materials, the mouthpiece, the hands at the other end of the reins, and the horse's own preferences. This is one reason that bitting is both a science and an art. ;-)

I hope this helps - there are entire books on the subject of bits and bitting, and there's only so much I can throw at you in the answer to an individual HORSE-SENSE question. You might want to look at some of the other questions and answers about bits in the HORSE-SENSE archives - I think that the one about '"slow" and "fast" bits' would interest you. Again, I think that your horses are lucky to have an owner/rider who truly cares about their comfort. Good luck, and I hope you'll let me know how your bitting strategies work out.

Jessica

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