The Bit - The Regular Snaffle

A single jointed snaffle.

The horse stretches to the still
outside mouthpiece while the
inner piece is mobile and bends

The regular snaffle bit is jointed. This gives two separately mobile parts that join together via a link in the middle. This lets the rider move one side of the bit, while the other is still. As in bending to the inside/stretching the outside. Moving the inside of the bit makes the horse position to the inside at the poll, and the still outside of the bit gives the horse something to stretch for.

This is the simplest bit, and what most horses are started in and forever ridden in. Many riders force their horses into a heavy contact with this bit at the beginning of training, and with this kind of jointed steel bar you can actually cause much more damage than you would think, because of the snaffle''s rumor to be mild. This bit is assisting in creating many of the trained-in resistances that lower level horses carry with them all their working lives.

The bit folds in the mouth when you pull on both reins (as in heavy contact). It folds around the lower jaw. It acts as a nut cracker on the bones of the lower jaw. Not only that, the V-shape of the bit will cause it to go higher in the middle and cause the link to hit the horse in the palate. Now, if you thought the bars of the lower jaw were sensitive, the palate is even more so. And no tongue can protect it. Also, the more vertical (and beyond) the head, the more the V points into the palate. The firm Herman Sprenger in Germany, who specialise in horse bits, have recently studied the bit''s placement in the mouth and concluded that there''s not at all as much room in the mouth as previously thought. They have also started a revolution in horse bit development, which is very good for horses in general.

As a matter of fact, there''s zero space available in the horse''s mouth, just like in your own. Focus on your mouth cavity, and ask yourself if there''s any space/air between your tongue and your palate. If there is, you have your mouth open, and should consider seeking specialist help or having your tonsils removed ;-P.

In horses the bit is supposed to rest on the tongue, and maybe compress it slightly but not much, and the bit still shouldn''t hit the horse in the palate. This is only possible with a fairly thin bit, and light contact to avoid the V-shape. Horses ridden into heavy contact, or with a long single-jointed snaffle can sometimes even have a black spot on the palate, that you can see if you open the mouth. Imagine how it felt getting that spot, whatever it is, there.

A double jointed snaffle has 3 pieces in the mouth of the horse. This makes the V-shape turn into a U-shape, which is slightly more anatomical. The sides can still be moved independently, so it works the same way as a single jointed. There''s still some small adjustments and issues to be dealt with, though.

In some double jointed snaffles the two side pieces join the middle piece with vertical links (while the middle piece has horizontal links) and then the arches can still hit the horse in the palate, although not as much. Some bits, and usually of more expensive brands, have put horizontal links on the sidepieces, bowed the middle piece, bowed the sidepieces, so that the bit conforms to the U-shape of the mouth in quite a smoothe way. This can be fine, and especially in combination with soft/light contact. But this kind of bit also has a greater tendency to work on the bars at the sides instead of the tongue in the middle. And some horses are quite sensitive to that.

There are some double jointed snaffles that have other shapes to the "bean" in the middle, such as the "oval mouth" range, which has an unusually big bean in the middle. I have not tried these myself, so I can''t really say anything about them, except that they by necessity take up more space in the mouth of the horse. But as I have said before - it can work for some horses. One just has to try it.

The French Link is a common such double joint. It is an oblong or 8-ish shaped flat piece in the middle, that can be fairly thin. The thinness is usually not a problem, since it rests with the flat side against the tongue. If it doesn''t it''s not a french-link, it''s then a Dr Bristol (see below). The mid-piece is also usually longer than the bean, and thus lies flatter and wider on the tongue. As the name suggests, this bit is quite popular in France.

There are snaffles with the middle bean shaped as a port for the tongue, too. A jointed bit, by it''s definition, cannot have a port, because a bar is needed, for there to be a port. But this one exists, and if the horse thinks it better than the flat french link or the rounded bean shape, then alright.

There are middle beans that are exquisitely formed like a ball, with the intention of givig a rather distinct pressure on the middle of the tongue. This is always sharper than the bean shape, and not very common.

There are other solutions to this problem as well. You can use a regular single jointed snaffle that has curved mouth parts so that the mouth piece conformes to the mouth anyway, when the reins are taken and tauted. I guess there might be some horses that prefer this, but you can never know. If I were to test bits on my horse, I would probably first test a double jointed with curved mouth pieces, because you safeguard conforming to the mouth more with 3 parts. Also, having two joints makes the unmoving side of the snaffle move less, when giving an aid on the moving side.

This is actually one of the arguments that the Myler Corp give, as to why buy their bits. The still side is really still, while the moving side moves. Personally I find their bits too thin and too expensive for my taste. I have also met with a convincing number of riders who say that their horses really disliked the bit. Now, that can be because of their hardhandedness, or the fact that they used some of all the other finesses, such as rein-slots on the snaffle ring to create leverage (just like in a 3-ring gag) and the lot, but for the most parts, this kind of bit is simply just too thin/sharp for riding conventional dressage with contact. Western Pleasure might be a whole different ballgame.

Horses that are extremely sensitive to bar contact can be ridden in an unjointed snaffle, which has a straight or bowed (mullen) mouthpiece. Other horses find this kind of pressure to the tongue extremely annoying, and so one has to try what is best for the horse. But a straight bit can never be used onesidedly. If you move the left side to get position, the bit will lighten/wiggle on the other side.

There''s another problem with the straight bar bit as well. and it goes for all bars. They don''t fit the mouth very well, unless they''re mullen, and to a great extent at that. Although it may not always be as extreme as in the animation to the left, there is always the problem of the straight bar resting against the edges of the palate, when the tongue presses on it.A straight bar does not conform to the mouth, and the horse has nothing between the palate and the bit and cannot protect itself. All he can do to relieve it is take heavy support on the bit, or gape open his mouth.

But there is a way around that, at least out of competition. A rubber unjointed bit can be used, that is like a piece of thick hose around a wire. It is flexible to a degree, but does not cause a V-shape. Another option is a double jointed bit with bit-tape bandaged across the 2 joints, to control their flexibility. This can also be good for horses who loathe anything that rattles in the mouth which any jointed bit would do, should the horse move the tongue.

There are unjointed bars that manage to accomodate to the palate, and that is by not being straight. It is shaped around the tongue, but immobile since it has no joint. Haven''t tried it, and find no reason to do it either. Can''t imagine what it would accomplish, except being able to compete in an unjoined snaffle, since it''s legal and the rubber bit is not.

Quite the opposite is the waterford bit, which is made up of 5-9 linked pieces which act as a chain in the mouth. For those riders used to sawing the bit to and fro in the mouth of the horse, this is probably a blessing, since it runs so smoothly, and still causes so much discomfort that the horse will yield. This knobbled and bumpy bit has so many joints that it will easily wrap around the lower jaw of the horse but give him nothing to stretch forward to. It''s simply not for dressage.

While we are at it, I shall also express my dislike for the Dr Bristol bit, which is misleadingly similar to a regular french-link snaffle. It has, however, an angle to the flat middle piece which makes it act upon the tongue with the narrow side, not the flat side. This is much too sharp for most horses. And most users think it''s a french link...

The magennis type snaffle is also too sharp for most horses. This has had rolls incorporated lengthwise inside the mouth bars, and the reason for that, I guess only Mr McGuinnes knows. The result it has on the horse is that of sharper edges in the mouth and things that move about to play with. But imagine sawing back and forth with this contraption. But it gets worse still...

This must be home made. No serious person could ever manufacture this kind of bit and market it for sale. Animal rights people would swamp this person and he would be brought out of business. Or maybe left to use mailorder only, like they do in countries where pornography is illegal or despised by the moral majority. People would rightly be ashamed to buy this kind of stuff.

Then, on the lighter side, there are all these "correction" snaffles for the sticking out tongue. The plan is for the "spatula" to press on the tongue further up inside the mouth, so that the horse cannot pull his tongue up, and get it over the bit. A good thing about this bit is that it can be used to familiarize a re-schoolee with a lower bit position (which is more comfortable) without giving him an excuse to pull the tongue over the bit (because he still can''t). But in harsh hands, this is as bad as drawreins or pelhams - it can overpower any justified protests from the horse. Turn dialogue to monologue, if you will.

The name "Slow Twist" gives me connotations of a torture tool. You twist slowly, and the subject screams. It''s not as bad as that. But with this kind of snaffle one can do the "Wrist Test". Put it around your wrist and pull on the rings with the other hand. Pretty sharp, huh? It''s the ridges in the twist that does it. Recycle bin.

Then we have the the scissor bits. They have two (appearingly normal) mouth-pieces which have their joints off-set in each direction. This makes the bit form a W in the mouth as soon as traction is put on the reins. These bits take up extra space in the mouth and the horse is unable to defent himself against the strong bar pressure on both sides. They come in all kinds of extreme versions, and if you add the function of the pessoa gag to it, I wonder why you don''t just put a sawing blade in the mouth, since that must be much cheaper...

Close to it must be this waterford pessoa gag. There''s no finesse left in this devide. It does not have the snaffle function since it has no mouth-bars to speak of, only the "ball chain" of the waterford mouthpiece. And then added is the pessoa gag function that pulls the whole ordeal up against the teeth. The ONLY purpose for such a bit must be to inflict so much pain that the horse stops in his tracks. A very crude hand brake.