Western bits and their effect
The world of Western bits is just as large and versatile as it is for bits in English riding. Due to the great variety of Western bits, you can choose a mouthpiece that suits the needs of your horse matching its strengths and weaknesses. In this guide, we will show you what options you have in Western riding and explain which Western bit is best suited for which purpose.
The bit with which the horse begins its training is not fixed. We will go into more detail about the path to the right Western bit in the corresponding guide. Basically, the horse should feel comfortable with the bit because it is adapted to the horse’s anatomical conditions. Many trainers start their young horse with a snaffle bit before moving on to a Billy Allen bit. As Western riding is impulse riding, which is not done with a permanent rein contact, many Western horses are ridden with a plain Western shanked bit. After all, this is also the bit for more advanced trained horses.
The single-jointed Western bit: Snaffle Bit
The snaffle bit is a single-jointed loose ring snaffle without a lever action. It is available both with movable, continuous rings – the O-ring snaffle – and with D-rings – the snaffle Dee bit.
The single-jointed snaffle bit is often used as a starter bit for young horses that need to get used to wearing a metal bit in their mouth. Like all Western bits, it is buckled with a chin strap. The reason: Western headstalls are confined to the basics.
The missing noseband therefore cannot prevent the bit from being pulled through the horse’s mouth when the reins are pulled on one side. A chin strap replaces the noseband and increases the effect of the bit. You can find more information about chin straps and how to buckle them in the guide to Western bits and their accessories.
A single-jointed snaffle bit acts on the tongue and lower bars, allowing the horse to escape some of the pressure by lifting the tongue. The central joint allows a one-sided rein aid, making sideways aids easy for the horse to understand. The feared nutcracker effect only occurs if the mouthpiece is too long and the reins are pulled too hard.
The reins are buckled into the rings so that they are very close to the mouthpiece. The signal path from the rider’s hand via the reins to the horse’s mouth is therefore shorter than with a Western bit with shanks. With a snaffle bit, quick communication is possible, which is especially important for horses that still need help with a direct rein guidance. In further training, you can also ride with the snaffle bit without a contact.
The way the rings are made also has an influence on the effect of the snaffle bit: With an O-ring snaffle, the aids are somewhat buffered and do not reach the horse’s mouth so violently. At the same time, they reach the horse without any time delay, which is in contrast to the effect of a Western shanked bit.
With a snaffle Dee bit, the fixed side pieces act as a lateral boundary. On the one hand, this has the advantage that the corners of the mouth are not pinched or the bit is pulled through the mouth. On the other hand, the horse receives more intensive support in lateral aids. With a Western snaffle Dee bit, the horse can be better framed.
Shanked snaffle bits are an intermediate form between a Western shanked bit and a snaffle bit. These are jointed mouthpieces, but they have shanks and therefore a leverage effect. We will go into more detail about the effect of the Billy Allen bit and the curb bit.
Double-Jointed Western Snaffle: Cricket Offset Dee Bit
A Cricket offset Dee bit can be compared to a double-jointed D-ring snaffle in English riding. Due to the two joints and a centre piece interposed between the mouthpiece parts, the Offset Dee bit lies evenly on the horse’s tongue. It surrounds it, so to speak. This is why the bit lies very quietly in the horse’s mouth and exerts even pressure on the tongue. However, the horse cannot escape the permanent pressure by lifting the tongue. It therefore has a somewhat harsher effect than a single-jointed snaffle bit. The firm, straight sides provide the horse with lateral restraint and guidance.
Not all horses are working happily in a double-jointed bit and it is also rarely or not permanently used per se. The rider needs a very light hand and the bit must fit the width of the mouth very well so that the joints do not squeeze the edges of the tongue between the bars. To check whether the horse’s mouth and the bit fit together, you have to take a look inside the mouth. For this we go into depth in the chapter „The path to the right Western bit“.
Western Bit Billy Allen Bit
A very popular and frequently used Western bit is the Billy Allen bit. At first glance it looks like an ordinary bit. However, it differs in that it has a central roller that connects the two mouthpiece components. These in turn can be turned independently of each other and thus also allow a side-independent action. In terms of bit thickness, Billy Allen bits are almost uniformly narrow. As a rule, they are available with a thickness of 10 to 11mm, so that they do not protrude in the horse’s mouth and come to rest evenly and quietly. The Billy Allen therefore combines the advantages of a mullen mouth bit (calm position in the mouth) with the advantages of a jointed bit (one-sided rein aid).
Nevertheless: Even if the mouthpiece parts can be turned, the bit can tilt like a mullen mouth bit if the reins are pulled too hard. Then the tongue is squeezed on one side and the upper bars on the opposite side. The Billy Allen bit is not suitable for teaching flexion and and bend of the body, horse and rider already need a corresponding level of training. The main work in riding is done with weight and leg aids, the reins are only used impulsively and to a limited extent.
As with the snaffle bit, there is also a snaffle and a shanked version of the Billy Allen. Western trainers also like to use a shanked Billy Allen as a starter shanked bit when the horse is already trained in neck reining. With a shanked Billy Allen, the shanks can be curved outwards so that the reins are even more flexible. This is especially advantageous if the horse’s falls onto the inside shoulder when bending. Then the horse can be lifted slightly in the shoulder with a one-sided rein aid without affecting the other side of the bit.
Attention!
Before each use of the Billy Allen, its mobility must be checked. Particularly bits with copper inlays are designed to accumulate surface rust sooner or later, which leads to a better acceptance of the bit. However, this can limit the bit’s mobility and thus its functioning. You can find more about the care of Western bits in the corresponding chapter.
Bit with shanks or Western curb bit
Many people first think of a Western bit as a Western curb bit. These are available in different designs, but are always ridden without bradoon. A plain Western curb bit is a mullen mouth bit with shanks. On the other hand, there are bits with shanks, which usually have jointed mouthpieces. These include single-jointed snaffle bits with shanks, shanked Billy Allen bits or the correction bit.
While jointed bits with shanks allow one-sided rein aids to a certain degree and thus the development of flexion and lateral bend, this is not possible with a fixed curb bit. The horse must therefore be trained to the extent that it carries itself, walks between the reins (neck rein) and no longer needs direct rein contact. The rider does not hold on to the reins either, but can transmit precise signals to the horse with light impulses. A Western curb bit works on the mouth, chin and neck.
How great the effect of the lever is does not depend solely on the length of the lower cheek bar. It depends on the ratio between the upper and lower cheek bars. If the lower cheek bar is long, but the upper cheek bars are very short, greater forces act on the horse’s neck. This is because the pivot point around which the bit is tilted is not in balance. The situation is different if the ratio between the upper and lower cheek bars are balanced: If the upper cheek bar is almost the same length as the lower cheek bar, the pivot point is relatively central and balanced. Then the bit is less harsh than a bit with a lower cheek bar of the same length but a short upper cheek bar. So you have to look at the Western curb bit as a whole to judge how harsh it is.
Furthermore, the angle of the lower cheek bar has an influence on the harshness of the bit. Western shanked bits do not run straight and parallel to the mouth gap like a dressage weymouth bit. Often the lower cheek bars of a curb bit are slightly curved backwards. The backward swing shortens the lever arm. So it depends on the total distance between the mouthpiece and the lower cheek bar ring into which the rein is buckled.
At shows you often see heavily decorated curb bits with multiple curved, wavy shanks. However, these have no different effect than simply bent curb bits because, as described above, it is the total length of the lever arm that matters, not the distance the metal travels.
Many Western curb bits have a port. You can read more about this in our bit guide. By shortening the reins, the port turns and tilts forward. This causes it to press into the palate, whereupon the horse has to yield to this pressure. The larger the port, the harsher the effect of the Western curb bit.
For correct use, a Western curb bit is buckled with a curb chain or chin strap. This then responds and limits the leverage of the curb bit on the neck when the lower cheek bar has covered half of its distance. It is almost impossible to give a more precise indication of the buckling, as curb bits are curved and built differently, so that the correct setting of the curb chain varies from bit to bit. If the curb chain is buckled too tightly, it will have an excessively harsh effect, and pressure will be exerted on the chin groove and the lower jaw even when the reins are only shortened lightly. If, on the other hand, it is buckled too loosely, the effect starts later and comes as a surprise to the horse.
Why is the plain curb bit used in Western riding?
Western riding is impulse riding, in which the horse is not ridden in a constant contact. A bradoon, which is the main means of communication, is therefore not necessary. In English dressage, a constant contact is established with the bradoon, while the curb reins are used to refine the aids. In addition, horses are ridden with both hands, while Western horses that are ready for a curb bit are ridden one-handed. In Western riding, the horse is trained to walk in an appropriate posture without constant contact with the reins. Any rein aids that go beyond neck reining are then only given impulsively. As soon as the horse bends in the neck, the reins are loosened again. This can only be achieved with a solid and long-term basic training.
For these reasons, riding on a blank Western curb bit is not harsher per se.
Correction Bit
A correction bit is a double-jointed mouthpiece with a C-shaped port and shanks. The mouthpiece components of the same length are movable and connected to the C, and the shanks can also be moved freely outwards. In its basic mode of operation, the correction bit is comparable to a double-jointed bit, despite the shanks. With loose reins, the bit rests on the tongue over a large area. When the reins are shortened, the C-shaped port tilts and exerts pressure on the palate so that the horse quickly bends in its neck. The correction bit therefore acts on the palate, tongue, corners of the mouth and nape of the neck. In contrast to a normal double-jointed loose ring snaffle, the correction bit exerts more pressure on the lower bars, because the tongue is slightly pushed together by the port, so that there is less of a buffer.
Due to the movable connected mouthpiece components, the correction bit can also be used two-handed. For this reason, many trainers use it for the horse’s first steps with a curb bit.
The curb chain plays an important role in the use of the correction bit. As with all bits with shanks, the curb chain limits or increases the effect of the bit on the horse’s lower bars and neck.
Care should be taken with sharp edges. On some bits, the edges of the C-port can be relatively sharp, which can injure the horse’s tongue. Many correction bit designs therefore have rounded corners.
Where the name of this bit comes from is not exactly clear, as Western riders use the correction bit for a wide variety of purposes. Some trainers use the correction bit to „sharpen“ the horse before a show, depending on how tightly the curb chain is buckled. Others use it for the first riding attempts with a lever bit, so correction bits are also used for training the horse. Nevertheless, the correction bit, like every bit with shanks, only belongs in gentle hands that give way immediately when the horse reacts.