The bit that is the most bizarre and cruel looking is called a cage bit. In the wrong hands, any bit can be a torture device.
In the right hands those bits are meant to retrain a horse with a bad habit. I’d have to agree about what you are saying about the bits looking like torture devices.
TYPES OF GAG BITS FULL
Full cheek snaffles are not as common on track as some other bits but I do see them every once in a while. The straight pieces help with steering on green horses and also prevent the rings from passing through the horse’s mouth with one-sided rein pressure. Ahhhh, show and pleasure riders, another familiar bit, eh? A full cheek snaffle has a round ring on each end, with a straight piece that rests on the horse’s cheeks. This is Offshore, half brother to the brilliant and ill-fated filly Pine Island.ĥ. Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey commonly trains and races his horses in a fat loose ring snaffle. It’s also considered one of the mildest bits. Dressage riders, you’ve seen this one, right? Jumpers? Western riders? This is one of the most universal bits. Note that Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown trained in a loose ring snaffle in the mornings:Ĥ. Jockey Kent Desormeaux used the bit to rate the strong and powerful horse in the beginning of his races. The bit also increases steering power since a rider has the added leverage on the horse’s lower jaw.īig Brown raced in a ring bit. A ring bit is commonly used on strong horses since it adds stopping power. The cheekpieces are of varying shapes, as are the metal “spoons” below the mouth. The snaffle portion of the bit can have metal, plastic or rubber coating and the ring is metal. The ring bit has two mouthpieces: one jointed snaffle mouthpiece and one ring that encircles the horse’s lower jaw. Although Curlin always smoothly navigated his turns, I’ve also seen this type of bit on horses who bolt or drift out on turns.ģ. A bit like helps keep a horse travelling straight.
In training, Curlin tended to tilt his head sideways (he did not seem to have the same problem on race day- perhaps it was only at slower gaits). Also known as, “what the heck kind of bit is Curlin wearing?” You can see the leather-covered mouthpiece here.
During the time when young horses are prepped for a sale, they are trained to lead and stand, but these skills are put to the test in the unfamiliar surroundings of a sale.Ģ. When I see young horses at sales, I’ve noticed that the chifney has an added benefit: the horses play with the mouthpiece, which can be calming for them. The bit has three external rings: two attach to the horse s halter and one attached to a lead line. Click here for a view of a chifney with a curved mouthpiece. It’s also called an anti-rearing bit and it can have a straight or ported mouthpiece. Used for leading in hand and commonly seen at Thoroughbred sales. The Chifney was invented by a jockey named Samuel Chifney (1753 – 1807). The age-old sentiment about even the mildest bit being dangerous in cruel hands is just as true in horse racing as it is in dressage, reining, or endurance riding.ĭue to the sheer quantity of bits available to trainers, I’ll share more bits in future posts. The basic principles of bitting and horsemanship cross disciplines and continents. My hands-on riding experience is with hunter/jumpers, but I’ve learned quite a bit (ha!) by watching and shooting so much horse racing. I receive a lot of inquiries about the tack used in racing.
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