bit secrets to training your horse.

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December 2, 2015 · 
I found this picture and am so happy as it shows what I've believed for years, and have been trying to teach people! Figure A is a single joint snaffle, figure B is a dog bone (3 piece mouth piece). There is more even distribution across the whole mouth with the dog bone then the single snaffle when contact is made. The single snaffle also hits the top of the horses mouth when contact is made with the bit. To me that is a great reason for a horse to throw its head up in the air! You won't see me ride any of my horses in anything with less then two joints on the mouthpiece! Dave Robart You are very correct in your information except for the head tossing as a bit builder I will explain everything that is happening in these two pictures and the response that you get from them when using these bits we will start with the figure 8 snaffle as you see on the x-ray you are correct it is hitting the top of the pallet. Now to explain what reaction would happen and will happen in that situation we must understand horses go into pressure before they go away as a horse owner I'm sure we all have experienced when we push on a horse he pushes back courses go into pressure and pain before they learn how to avoid those two so in training as a trainer really the technique and teaching a horse is how to teach him to avoid pressure or pain each individual horse reacts differently. So that being said with the figure 8 snaffle when it hits the top of the pallet the horses head would lower because the horse would be going into the pressure of the impact. But there is a second thing that is happening that is stronger then the pressure to the pallet and that is when you pick up one ring of a figure 8, conventional snaffle it will pinch the horses tongue on one side or the other depending on how you have put it on the headstall this is what creates the head tossing. Now to explain each point and what effect that it has on the horse one when it pokes the pallet the horse would tend to open his mouth the second point is when the horse closes his mouth and the bit is resting. In his mouth the two rings in the center one of them is standing up in the horses mouth poking the pallet this is the reason the horse keeps opening his mouth and not wanting to keep it closed. Now each horse is an individual and the design of their mouth is like our fingerprint so not every horse would be affected by this ring standing up in his mouth but if so that is why he will not keep his mouth closed the third part is with a figure 8 conventional snaffle when you pick up one ring it will bite the horse in the tongue creating the head tossing again it depends on the horse and his mouth design on how much the horse reacts to this. For figure to the dog bone this bit eliminate some of those problems but can create its own problems for instance yes it does not poke the pallet but now depending on your horses thickness of his tongue and sensitivity level of his tongue this bid can create a horse that can push down on the bit be heavy on the forehand or simply trying to get his tongue over the bit these are just some of the behaviors so when dealing with a bit each horse is an individual and we must understand the mouth controls everything and we do need some of those pressure points so the horse can lean on the the bit a little so he can learn body control once he learns this he learns to be softer in the lower jaw this is just a small portion of how a bit can work to our advantage or against us. remember each horse is a individual and has different designs in their mouth