Comments on: Horse Illustrated’s Online Bit Guide

By: mike

mike — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 07:50:07 +0000

Love your depiction,,I am the developer and patent holder of perhaps the most significant bit for horses in the last 10 years called MIRACLEBIT
see us at http://www.miraclebit.com It stops soft palate displacement fully and guaranteed to do so, it stops tongue hanging, and allows more oxygen intake just to name a few of the attributes.
I am a graduate in equine science from Colorado state and have trained successfully many Million dollar winning racehorses.
Can you show the picture which I can produce digitally for you as I am certain your readers would be interested. Thanks
Mike
Owner
Miraclebit.com

By: Awadh

Awadh — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 22:59:52 +0000

How does the horse feel with such a foreign object in its mouth? Is it a natural thing? How many of us humans would like to be ‘ridden’ like a horse with bith bits and snaffles and what not to control us? Horses were not born to be used like this. Free them.

By: Galadriel

Galadriel — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:30:07 +0000

The art of bitting is fascinating!

By: Claire

Claire — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 12:11:22 +0000

Hi,
What’s the difference between a racing D-ring snaffle and a hunter D-ring snaffle?I know the Ds are shaped differently, does that make a difference?

By: Don't need to know.

Don't need to know. — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:21:24 +0000

Something else they could’ve mentioned is bitless bridles as they are much more humane and some horses (not all!) like them better. Good article though.

By: CINDY HALE

CINDY HALE — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:03:17 +0000

Thanks, Courtney, for your comments. You are quite correct: western curb bits can indeed have a jointed mouthpiece and yet still be a curb and work on leverage. A jointed mouthpiece does not a snaffle make. On the other hand, a snaffle can have a solid, straight mouthpiece: a mullen mouth snaffle is the prime example. Hopefully as we add more bits to the guide these differences will become even more clear and precise.
I hope this will help readers like Roxanne learn more about bits. It can really be confusing!

By: Courtney

Courtney — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:10:47 +0000

Roxanne,
A snaffle bit does not have shanks – in fact, a snaffle is defined by its lack thereof. Curb bits do have shanks; shanks are the defining feature of a curb bit. Curb bits can be made with jointed mouthpieces. A jointed mouthpiece is not a “snaffle” and while snaffle bits are typically jointed not all jointed bits are snaffle bits.

By: Roxanne

Roxanne — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:50:46 +0000

Well thank you for the explanations on the bits. When I got one of my horses the owner at the time to use a snaffle bit with long shanks. Tonya does put her weight into the bit. When I first got her she was fine but soon turned into a pull back horse. Now reading your article says a longer shank translates into more leverage and hence a more severe bit. I now wonder if the previous owner actually tried the long shanks on tonya. I wonder if tonya is reacting to the severity of the shanks. Thank you

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:19:10 +0000

Thanks for the great info!