Snaffle bits are the go to bits for many horse people, being the best tool for starting young stock or retraining older soured horses.
Snaffle bits rely on a very simple broken center and direct rein mechanism to function. They should be used in conjunction with a cavesson to keep the horse from gaping its mouth to evade pressure.
The first part of the bit we will discuss is the cheek piece. These come in rounded attached egg-butt style, loose ring style, D-ring style, and full cheek style (any shank added to a snaffle completely changes the action of the bit, and will be discussed at a later time).
Why so many styles?
They all serve a different purpose, and trainers will vehemently swear by one and at another. For the sake of full disclosure, I will make clear which bit I prefer and why when we get to it.
Cheek pieces
Loose ring snaffles are liked by trainers who feel that the loose ring action permits the horse to play more with the bit, creating a wetter softer mouth.
Egg-butt snaffles are liked by those who feel that the wide fixed attachment is kinder to the mouth, making the horse softer and more responsive.
D-rings are designed to give more leverage for turning, as well as allowing less bit movement within the bridle (the bridle leather will not pass the corner made by the D)
Full cheek snaffles should ideally be ridden with keepers which keep the mouth piece in a fixed position in the horse’s mouth. This is the bit that I prefer, as I feel that it is less likely to reward horses that try to root out of the bit.
Mouth pieces
Mouth pieces come in an endless array and there is no way that I am willing to cover (or you are willing to read about) them all here. Instead I will give a brief overview of the most common mouth pieces. Again trainers can be religiously adamant in their love or hatred of these bits, and again, I will tell you my favorite, but unlike cheeks, where I am pretty rigid, I do believe that a good trainer should have more than one snaffle mouth piece at their disposal.
Standard snaffle has one break dead center, it is made of rounded material and can be skinny or fat. This is considered by many as the stand by bit for almost every horse. It is inviting and tends to create soft mouths.
Slow or fast twist snaffles also have one break, but this time the metal is squared and twisted, depending on the seed of the twist a number of ridges are formed. These ridges act to emphasize the bit’s action more. This bit is most often in horses with harder mouths.
The French snaffle has two breaks and a small peanut shaped flat link in the center. This is my personal favorite as it is actually kinder than the standard snaffle, producing less folding against the bars of the mouth and no point in the center.
Double twisted wire is a serious bit. It is designed with two parallel thin twists of metal each possessing one link, however neither link is centered, when the bit is pulled the angles against the bars of the mouth are steeper and the thinness causes more discomfort. These bits should be used with caution, and only briefly to re-school a horse back to a softer mouth.
An unbroken snaffle bit exists, but the action is nothing like a snaffle bit, and I have yet to see the purpose for such a bit.
There are hundreds of different incarnations of the snaffle and some may fall outside the descriptions above. I am honestly unfamiliar with many of them, and in twenty plus years of training never saw a need to step outside the bits listed above when using a snaffle. The world doesn’t need weirder bits it needs better horse people on the other ends of the reins.
MATERIALS
Wow, there’s more? Yes, materials are very important in bits.
Steel is by and far the most common bit component, it is strong, it will not change shape if the horse chews it and stays cleaner than copper.
Copper tastes like a penny, it will also change shape creating points if the horse chews on it.
Rubber and the like is considered kinder to soft mouths. I have never been a fan of any of these materials, largely due to the fact that horses will chew through them quickly, making them expensive.
Copper mixed with steel is an unfortunate combination, and it is illegal in the dressage ring. The reason for this is that when copper is placed next to steel (or I guess the nickel in stainless steel) it takes on a small charge. If you are so inclined you can stick your tongue at the junction of these two metals on a bit and feel the little zing.