The French Snaffle

Oh, I have to make this statement-of-my-belief on bits....

Everybody's got an opinion... nowhere is this more true than in the horse world. And I have one too, and it goes like this:

I have read (supposedly authoritative) texts citing the "multi-linked" bit as the cruelist bit one could put in a horse's mouth. When applied in the form of a bicycle chain, or twisted wire, or other such devices of horror, I couldn't agree more. But let us not be confused in applying that thought to the double-link bit (well, most double-links).

If you ever received the story "Last Night" or read my other posts, you might note my occasional references to the "French Snaffle", and how that is my "go to" bit.

I was introduced to the French snaffle some 20 years ago upon reading a not-very-popular book on one man's methods for training the Dutch olympic jumpers, among other notable teams. In that book, the author describes the "make-up" of a horse-of-arabian-decent jaw bone, and how the French snaffle was THE correct bit for that jaw.  Owning a horse-of-arabian-decent at the time myself, I took particular note of what were, otherwise, incidental comments in a book on training olympic-grade horses.

 "French mouth: a double-jointed mouthpiece with a bone-shaped link in the middle. It reduces the nutcracker action and encourages the horse to relax. Very mild."

Hmmm... "reduces nutcracker action", "encourages horse to relax", "Very mild".  That description ignores one additional fact - no upper-palate pressure. Sounds like my kind of bit! (assuming I was going to use one in the first place).

For every time I've been told "he/she needs a strong bit", I've gone to the French snaffle instead, with near-100% success.  Those words are a sure-sign to me that the horse's mouth probably hurts, or at least is "dead" from over-bitting - to be cooperative (rather than manipulated) that horse needs less bit, not more - and that's my opinion - and my experience.

The snaffle bit, in general, dates back to 5th century Persia; the "French mouth" to 15th century France. Softness has worked for a very long time.

There are other bits I like (for different reasons), and at some point I will always ask the horse what works for him or her. Most of my clients will ultimately choose a large, hollow German mouth, but starting soft with a French-mouth seems a much more appropriate place to start - it is kind, and effective. And I've had cases where nothing more was ever required - they stayed on the French-mouth their entire career.

Perhaps I'll blog my opinion of loose-ring versus fixed ring in the future - another of my pet opinions.  For the time being, note that a proper French snaffle is a loose-ring affair, and for 600+ years has owned the title "softest bit".