30/07/2023
Blog post... why does my horse not respond to a snaffle in the same way as a Pelham or curb bit?. ...
This is a response I wrote on a closed group that I thought I would share here as an example of things I take into consideration during a consultation process...
"... There are multiple potential causes of you and your horses difficulty here. .. I work as a bitting consultant and on a typical consultstion I am assessing > 600 things when I see a horse and rider with a problem to help resolve things.
A few other pointers in no particular order which need to be considered for you to make progress together with your horse.
Your horses oral and skeletal anatomy
Foot balance and saddle fit- which often changes with a change of bit.
Bridle fit .. as the bit and bridle work together as a complete unit.. and not all bits and bridles work well together.. a leverage bit may be changing the angle of pressure from the headpiece.. towards ear cartilage etc
Mouthpiece design in relation to your horses oral anatomy..
Position of the mouth piece relative to the position of the oral structures of your horse.. ie. Not interfering with premolars, canines, palate, tounge, torus lingua, lips, bars, or limiting swallowing.
Ring action of said choosen Mouthpiece. loose/fixed/baucher.
Your horse does not understand how to respond in a relaxed manner with a snaffle. .. you have changed the pressure points and what you rein aids feels like to your horse ... now your horse does not understand what you are asking it. .. go back to in hand work and schooling in walk
The leavarge/ curb effect..or removal of it.. is showing areas of literal weakness in your horses training, self carriage, or muscle development that are now evident
The leverage of the Pelham shank is masking the strength of your usual rein aids... the physics means a lever increases pressure at the horses end of the rein... it makes it easier/less effort for the rider to apply pressure... so what feels light at your end is not the same feeling the horse is receiving. ... a snaffle gives you a direct correlation of pressure..ie. will show up problem areas much more readily assuming you are not masking anything with restrictive nosebands.
Your use and timing of the aids in relation to the horses biomechanic. ..if used with correct timing you do not and should not need physical strength... but changing the bit does always change the horses balance ... so you need to accomadate to this and take several steps back if you experience your horse as "strong".. its either physically uncomfortable or anxious and you have triggered it's natural flight reaction..or you are feeling a change in balance..its on the forehand.
Most snaffles work on a degree of tongue pressure...regardless of how your rein aid is applied due to their engineering and general lack of space in the horses oral caviry to accommodate a foreign object... the only conformable structure is the tongue ...(your current bit gives some tounge relief so engaging jaw pressure in mouth on bars and chin from curb and approx 10% poll pressure assuming your curb is correctly adjusted) ...
Make sure your reins are physically long enough for your horse to fully relax its neck/back between working.
the tongue is a muscle which connects via the hyoid apparatus to the ventral chain of muscles and fascia and down to the hind toe on autopsy. .. hence you can literally engage or disengage the hind depending on what your horse is doing with its tongue in relation to pressure on it... there are also deep reflexes ( in muscles) that may be triggering an involuntary reaction in your horses tongue depending on where the bit is applying pressure on your rein contact... which in most cases will be different to where you think the bit is positioned as the majority of bits have the potential to rotate and translate on rein contact potentially up to an inch depending on their design and the horses oral structures/lips ...
Bitless is not necessarily kinder/better and lots of bitless bridles have been shown to exert excessive ( tourniquet level) pressure on the jaw and nose.
If using one remove your noseband completly as this enables your horse to talk to you immediately regarding the bit and reduces pressure across the head piece/ poll and removes the potential for jaw pressure from the equation ( which you are currently mainly working with)
Bitting is not straight forward due to the vast differences in bit designs available now which can be subtle but make significant difference to an individual horse and should not be a trial and error process (as is traditional) as you can cause alot of problems everytime you make an error.
Your horse always has the right answer as to what they are comfotable with wearing in their mouth and on their head... if they are comfortable they will relax and respond accordingly in their biomechanic..
You can not and should not "force relaxation".. you say with leverage he is relaxing his poll.. it is likely then that this is not voluntary on your horses part as shown when you do not get the same response when leverage is removed... hence you need to rethink your horses level of relaxation in his current work. Equally the jaw (in people) has a reflex that can be elicited by tapping on the chin.. which is a similar effect to a curb potentially... reflexes by definition do not go via the higher cerebral cortex processing mechanisms ( mostly they are spinal) and therefore another reason your horse may not have learnt/understood how to relax his jaw voluntarily... hence a snaffle does not appear to be working for him
if the horse has a soft mobile jaw/poll, relaxed tounge enables the ventral chain of muscle to engage and the top line to lengthen and the horse will consequently naturally go forward to the bit with the poll at the highest point..."
