Is Your Horse Bit Hurting Your Horse?

August 6, 2010 · Posted in Uncategorized

Addressing a problem often requires some sort of 2 way communication between the parties. Speak the wrong language and you might be able to resort to sign language to at least make some progress. However when it comes to addressing problems between man and beast just ask any Veternarian, communication takes on a different challenge.

Horses have been ridden for many centuries for business and pleasure and getting the most from the horse has been a continual challenge. For professionals that train and race horses they have systems to ensure the horse can reach its full potential. However for the average horse owner they often don’t have luxury of training a horse from a very young age. A lot of horses are pre-owned and the new owner will of course be inheriting the good or bad results of that prior owners training skills.

Fixing your horse problems mayrequire a little behaviour analysis and sometimes the odd bit of bribery to get your way.

A signifcant part of building a successful relationship with the horse and fixing existing problems comes when choosing horse bits. The communication between the rider and the horse often relies on trial and error to arrive at a satisfactory outcome and there is a whole catalog of horse behaviours that are considered problematic. It can be that some of them are due to a poor choice of horse bit. Shaking their head, refusing to take the bit, clenching their teeth, being unresponsive due to hard mouths often caused by bad bit use by previous owner. Maybe the horse simply has bad teeth so a trip to the dentist may be necessary.

Bit based behaviour issues are addressable. Or at least one should strive to address the common issues. If he just flatly refuses to take the bit maybe you need to try a little cunning. There are a few stories of wrapping the bit’s mouth piece in a “fruit roll” or covering it with molasses so that the horse associates the bit with pleasure and not pain! On the subject of taste you can of course buy horse bits with sweet iron mouth pieces or copper snaffles that pander to the tastes of the horse. If he just seems to hate the bit then maybe the bit is just plain wrong. Is it the wrong size? Are you guilty of “over bitting” your horse where the bit is too extreme, maybe with huge shanks that generate too much force. Based on how light your hands are and how much control you need to get the horse to respond, choose your curb bit carefully .

Check that the bit is wide enough, there should be at least a half an inch clearance on each side. Check that the bit is not pinching the sides of the horse’s mouth and it should sit loosely in the horse’s mouth after letting down the cheek pieces. Using bit guards can help and are often a simple and effective solution.

If you have inherited a broken bit that breaks in the middle such as french link snaffle bits do think about what it is doing for your horse. You can also get a nutcracker effect by squashing the tongue and also even stabbing into the top of the mouth. Some horses respond well to this but others no so much. Don’t forget the horse may not just behave badly when you engage the bit. Think about it, if you were expecting a painful jolt at any time whilst you were running around wouldn’t you be somewhat distracted.

Following some basic rules you can address some issues of behaviour related to the bit. If you have your horse from a young age use a Snaffle and ensure that he responds to your signals without you yanking on the bit or looking for something more extreme to put in his mouth. If you are dealing with engrained issues in a pre-owned horse then a bit of scientific trial and error can get you on the right track.