The marketing of bits has become increasingly profitable and for many horse people, very confusing. Almost every year a new type of bit is “invented” , and riders having control problems with their horses, or those seeking an easy cure, make these companies very successful. Even the great schools of equitation such as Samaur in France, or the Spanish Riding School in Austria, use the bit for training their horses.

At present many of my clients ride horses in bits and many of the horses I ride carry bits. We also make use of Dr. Cook’s Bitless Bridle, as well as side pulls and even halters. We all have to remember that when we do use a bit we are placing pressure on one of the most sensitive parts of a horse’s anatomy. The bars of a horse’s mouth are part of his jawbone. Pressure on the horse’s bars can be extremely painful. Unless our training is very slow and careful and we have worked long and carefully to accustom the horse to respond first to the use of our seat and legs, and for the hands to just CLARIFY what we wish the horse to do, we may be controlling the horse through pain. Anyone who is truly a horseperson would only seek to avoid this extreme measure.

A bit rests on the bars and tongue of a horse’s mouth. The jaw of the horse is very close to the surface at the bars. It is not cushioned. Probably the closest we could come to simulating the feel of a bit to a horse would be to rest a bit on the front part of your leg, on the sharp point of your shin bone. Now sharply pull back on the bit. A horse’s tongue (as your own) is also very tender. Take a pencil (you may choose to attempt this in private!) and place it in your mouth. The uncomfortable pressure on your tongue may make you choose to put your tongue over the pencil to lessen your discomfort. This never proves to be efficacious as then the pull is directly on your “bars”. Have you ever heard someone say disapprovingly about a horse, (as if it stayed up all night to find a way to irritate you) that “He is really being difficult-he is putting his tongue over the bit”. The horse is not doing this because he is a “brat”. He is at the very least uncomfortable in his mouth and is trying to lessen that discomfort.

This attempt usually results in all manner of “cures”. Drop, figure 8 or flash nosebands buckled much too tightly will prohibit the horse having any success in alleviating his distress. In racing circles it is quite common to actually tie a horse’s tongue down. I dare you to do that to yourself and stay that way for an hour! A horse may raise his head when an unsympathetic rider pulls on his mouth. This trait is not alleviated by the rider learning how to ride with an independent seat and allow his horse to learn to respond to his seat and legs…it results in martingales, (in which the running martingale is the most invasive, draw reins, and, thanks to marketing, all manner of contrivances to “set your horse’s head”.

Be assured that this is not a blanket condemnation of bits, but is meant to make all of us more aware of the power we hold in our hands to cause a horse pain. Horses are a flight animal, and pain causes them to panic and in some cases run from the pain. They are not capable of thinking “My mouth really hurts-if I stop the pain will lessen“. They feel pain and flee from it. I have witnessed several dangerous runaways caused by severe bits .

There are also mechanical hackamores and all types of contrivances used that do not put metal in a horse’s mouth but still result in control by pain. I have heard of one such hackamore that actually broke a horse’s jaw.

It will take feedback from judges, from the public, and peer pressure to stop people from using force and pain to control their horses. Riders actually yank on their horse’s mouths on purpose to achieve a “frame” that they think is desirable. I once observed two teenage girls riding western horses with curb bits. Not only had they been see sawing on their horses for most of the day to force their heads unnaturally low, but it had become a habit. They were sitting on their horses after a class, discussing what they were going to have for lunch, and still yanking on their horse’s mouths in an almost ritualistic manner. There needs to be a consciousness raising

so that people realize what they are doing. It is difficult to believe that someone would cause their horse’s pain intentionally; one would hope that it is just something that has become so routine that it is not even recognized for what it does to the horse.

Many more people are now using Cook’s Bitless Bridle, side pulls, and even just halters when they ride. I know that the Bitless Bridle is successful as the horse seems to interpret it’s action almost as a “hug” on their face. Recently I judged a “dressage” show at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington at the Certified Horsemanship Association’s International Symposium. Four horses were ridden in the tests separately-first with a bit and then with the Bitless Bridle. None of them had ever been ridden without a bit before.

It was evident in the test when the horses wore bits that the horses were more uncomfortable. Their heads flew up, their mouths were open, and they were more crooked and inverted. I was careful to be VERY ethical in my judging so that the results were as scientific as possible. I was amazed by the differences. One little horse had obviously been uncomfortable in his mouth whenever I had seen him ridden. In the test he again evidenced this as he traveled with his mouth open, his tongue over the bit, and was stiff and crooked. Without a bit he lowered his head, raised his back, engaged his haunches and even correctly took a lead he had missed.! I believe that part of the results were also that his rider, who was at an intermediate level, could interfere with him LESS because she could not cause him pain. The large audience observing this test frequently applauded the differences .

The horses I train who will wear bits are started first with a side pull with a soft noseband or a Bitless Bridle. All of the basics are covered with this equipment. If I then need to teach him to carry a bit, I first just have him carry it in his mouth with no reins attached to it. I then put a set of reins to the bit and also still have the reins for the side pull, halter, or Bitless Bridle. I gradually start using just the bit, but I can eliminate it’s use at any time.

So, again, I hope that this article just serves as a “wake-up” call for those of us who may have become inured to the sight of a horse being ridden in pain, or accept the sight of someone ON PURPOSE yanking on their horse’s mouth in an incorrect attempt to frame his body. It can change-all it will take is care and concern from the general equestrian population.