All I see on here are SNAFFLES! I have nothing against them as that is what I start and train all my horses in. But come on why does everybody on here say "you need just a plain snaffle !".... Not every horse is going to work in one. Some yes but others they need a little something more. And I don't agree with harsh bits. But I do not run them in snaffles.
So why does everyone always seem to say snaffles is the answer to bit questions?
I suggest snaffles because most people are on here for training purposes. Like you said, You train in a snaffle. Most people (or at least the bit Q's I answer) come on here asking what * kind * of snaffle to use. Egg butt? Loose ring? O ring? D ring? All seem the same - All very different.
When people ask me what bit to move up to next, I don't suggest a snaffle. I honestly wouldn't know what to suggest! I hate Tom Thumbs, but I use them. I don't like too many shank bits, but I use them. I ride horses in training so I use snaffles all the time. That's always the bit that my kind of horse that I'm riding needs. I ride horses in training. I barrel race, but not big time like you , Victoria, Peanut Palomino, and others. I don't know a lot about barrel bits because I just always use the bit I have. When I say I barrel race, I barrel race my 11.1h pony bareback in a Tom Thumb-like bit in my arena. Nothing big. Nothing fancy. But I do barrel race. I don't know about the barrel horse lines and bits and all that but I do know my way around the barrel world - Just not to the extend that you guys do.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
If somebody came to me and asked about WP stuff, I could tell them all they needed to know. That's just what I do.
Ok yeah I'm getting off track here! LOL! So I'll just stop now - I made my point.
-Fresh - Paint-
I think it's a good goal to have for a horse, to eventually have them go nicely (and in control) in a snaffle. It's too often on here that we see people trying to solve what's really a training issue and immediately putting a horse in a ten-inch-shanked curb without addressing the root of the problem.
Too many people have learned that they can wrestle just about any horse around the ring if they have a harsh enough bit, and they also believe that if a bit can "solve" a problem immediately, why should they spend the time and money to actually train it?
That's why the automatic response on here tends to be "Put it in a nice fat snaffle" and "Get a trainer." Because it's not really fair to the horse if its owner sticks anything in its mouth people on the internet tell them to. Since most of the time the owners aren't going to seek the advice of a trainer, users hope that at least they'll save the horse's mouth from some of those really nasty bits (plus, usually, heavy and unsteady hands ) out there.
Because snaffles are the basics of all training (In my opinion). Training is generally begun in a snaffle, and if I'm riding a horse that's struggling with the basics in any type of curb, kimberwick, or pelham, then I'm going to put that horse back in a snaffle for some brushing up on the basics. A lot of the time a horse that needs a harsher bit is a horse that needs a better rider. Most riders don't get the concept that you slow a horse using your body, not your hands. Of course, sometimes you just can't get the message thru to a horse using a snaffle, in which case you have to experiment. But that's a case by case thing, and most people just jump straight to a harsher bit.
For me the answer depends on what the questioner is hoping to achieve in a bit. Many times people have been led to believe that certain bits can perform miracles for them, and it just isn't true. When I suggest using a snaffle it is usually because I think the horse needs more training on responses to body aids in order to achieve the goals stated in the question. Since snaffle bits are designed to function with use of lateral rein signals, and shanked leverage bits are not, when more training of body aids is needed, snaffle bits are appropriate to accommodate the direct lateral rein signals required for that level of training. Obviously it is also important that any bit used should be correctly fitted to the mouth of an individual horse. I've studied leverage devices and bits since I was a child, and I understand how they function and how they impact the horse's tissues and performance. Leverage bits are correctly used for specific reasons requiring knowledge and expertise in finishing horses already well trained in the snaffle or bosal. Too often, in my opinion, the reasons given for using them aren't sound.
I agree with you and I know a lot of these snaffle bitters probably will never get off a quiet canter or do any speed events in them.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com In the past in working horse classes it was kind of understood that when a horse reaches over 4 years old the horse should be well enough trained to go into a bridle or be bridled up with some kind of a curb bit.
I know it is great to have a horse that is soft enough to stay in a snaffle, I still love to see a horse that is well trained and bridled up lightly in a curb bit and working with softness and lightness and carrying itself beautifully on a soft rein.
