Large-mouth Snaffle More Harsh? Gimme A Break.

Recently, I arrived at a client's place to find she had purchased a new bridle for her horse and attached a small-diameter curved mouthpiece fixed-ring snaffle bit to it, replacing the medium-mouth egg-butt the horse had been using for a quite some time. As a former bridle and halter maker, I found the new bridle to be a beautiful and well-designed piece. But when asked "why the change of bit", she indicated she had "recently read that a large-diameter snaffle was actually more harsh than a smaller diameter one". OMG! "Gimme a break"!

I don't blame the client - she's just trying different things to make her horse as comfortable, and still responsive, as she possibly can. What irks me is the (usually self-proclaimed) "experts" who publish their rubbish as authoritative "research", which has a strong tendency to be nothing more than a personal opinion. In that context, I guess I'm no different, but I like to think my history of engineering coupled with horse training bears a bit (no pun intended) of credence.

I leave the debate about bit versus bit-less to another discussion - this is about bits, so I cut immediately to the root-issue:  any bit, indeed every bit, in the wrong hands can be a torture device. I've seen horses in what I consider horror-devices go comfortably and very well, because their rider had light sensitive hands; I've seen horses in the gentlest bits be excruciatingly traumatized because the rider's hands were harsh and cruel. The rider's hands are the ultimate determinate of whether any bit is harsh or gentle.

That said, there are some general guidelines about the mechanical characteristics of a bit and the relative harshness it will impart: mechanics that poke the upper palate, bind the jaw, press the tongue, etc., could all be considered more "harsh" than mechanics that don't do these things. But it's a little more subtle and complicated than that... to wit, what is the configuration of your horse's jaw? What does your horse respond to? How experienced are your hands? Do you direct rein or neck rein? What is your horse comfortable with (they'll tell you with gaping mouth, nose tossing, over-reaction, etc.)?

All these things must be considered, and possibly tried, when choosing a bit. There are so many bit designs available today that virtually any particular problem with comfort and/or responsiveness can be addressed. It may take a lot of trial and error - purchasing bit-after-bit to find the right one, but consider these:
- a given amount of pressure focused on a small area will feel intense. Distribute that over a broader area, and the perception of uncomfortable pressure is lessened. Translation: a large diameter mouth-piece is perceived with less harshness. Try it yourself: apply pressure with a single finger to something hard - say your shin-bone - it doesn't feel very good; do the same with two fingers, and it's nothing more than a "push".
- a hollow-mouth is much lighter than a solid piece of steel. Translation: a lighter chunk of steel is much easier to carry than a heavier piece of steel - duh.
-a loose ring bit can be chewed and played with (by the horse's tongue) without changing its action. Translation: the bit feels free and "alive" to both your horse's mouth and your hands. If lip-pinching is truly a problem (the usual and questionable criticism of the loose ring), the bit either is too narrow for your horse's mouth, or can be solved with rubber "lip protectors". To me, all fixed-ring types, especially egg-butts, feel heavy and dead, but then, I communicate through the reins just with flicks of my ring fingers.
-if you perceive that a snaffle bit imparts too much palate-poking and/or nutcracker action on the jaw, consider a double-linked snaffle such as the french-mouth (see my previous blog on this "go-to" bit).

In closing, in my opinion, whatever "expert" posited the notion that a large-diameter hollow mouth bit is more harsh than a small-diameter solid mouth is in serious need of some experiential and empirical logic. Just $.02.

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".

May Ramblings

Last week, I started a video series on "Conditioned Relaxation"® You can see the first one here:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF8E83D29F77B9F98&feature=view_all

That's Mr. Blue, the one that threw me on my face a few weeks ago (the first time that's EVER happened with one of my newbies). In that process, I completely lost his trust and it's taking quite awhile to get back there. But he's REALLY starting to get "Easy" and (not shown in the videos) learning about personal-space limits.

He really wants to be good, but so fettered with his past.  This could be a long road.

More CR videos with other horses will be up soon.

Regards,
-D

My Experience With Parelli - Please Listen To This

If you have looked into any of my writings or website, you already know that I am not a Parelli trainer.  I am a SATS trainer, and use that communication technology to teach (mostly dressage) skills to the horses in my care and/or instruction in very rapid timeframes. I also draw from any source if I think it makes sense and has value to the training I impart - and that includes Parelli, Lyons, Anderson, etc.

So, I am not making this blog entry to "bash" anybody, rather to point out a problem that surfaced with some recent clients. And it goes like this:

I have three Parelli-trained (or perhaps I should say "started") horses under my instruction. The clients came to me because they are dissatisfied with the riding progress made on their horses with the Parelli program.  Let's face it - horse owners want to ride, and therein, enjoy their time with their horses. The Parelli processes often take substantial time, and these clients apparently were not clear that they would be paying a trainer for 6, 12, 18 months and that the trainer would actually ride their horse two-or-three times in that period - if at all.

So now, they come to me because (assuming there are no acute problems to be solved) I am generally on the horse and communicating riding skills in one-to-two weeks. Except Parelli horses.  I have to spend an inordinate amount of time doing things like teaching the horse to NOT turn and face me when I am trying to mount, and it short-circuits my entire process.

The end result has a tendency to make me look like a fool, the Parelli trainer look like a fool, and the client look like a fool - none of which is really true, but everyone in the process has been short-circuited. Especially the horse.

So my advice to all is this: Parelli is a fine method (despite that it grants little acknowledgement to the higher-learning capacities of the horse) - if you have been convinced that is the only-best way to kindly train a horse, then by all means go with it! But COMMIT to it - with the full understanding that you need to stay with it for a very long time; you are not likely going to be riding your horse in the next two or three months, and if you call someone like me to make that happen, we all end up looking like fools and a lot of time and money is wasted.

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

When the cardinal directions have been learned, by placing her muzzle at each point in successive on-demand trials, it is time to move on to other body parts. Next in the series is the "shoulder", representing exactly that - the front shoulder. "Shoulder-left", and "Shoulder-right", instruct the horse to place her shoulder (left or right) onto the target. This generally requires at least one lateral step into the indicated direction.  And upon touching the target, the mission is accomplished.... "X!"

In the beginning...

This is a long way behind where Sierra is, but it is important to understand this one particular point... one's significance must be established. I am the source of your favorite treats, your food when you are hungry, your water when you are thirsty. You will touch your muzzle to my hand in response to the word "hold". There is no other option to obtaining what you want.  I will respond "X".

So What's Up (or Down) With The Easyboot?

Sierra is barefoot, 7x365. Just before a recent recreational trail ride, I commented to her owner how Sierra would (rather determinedly) move from one side of the trail to the other, often running into my leg to stay straight. I thought this to be an effort to avoid stones and gravel, and the generally hard footing here in the mountains, and suggested that perhaps she should be shod. The owner asked if I had ever tried an Easyboot Glove, that she just happened to have, but really hadn't used much. I'd never used Easyboots except for medical purposes, but said "Sure, let's see what happens".

Not 100 yards down the road, I was astounded. Not only did Sierra realize she no longer had to avoid the stones, but her neck and head magically went into the frame I'd been asking her to hold for the last several weeks - on loose rein! Sierra was never bad at holding frame, but would inexplicably "pop" her head occasionally, causing me to ask her to re-frame.

That's all completely, 100%, in the past. Now, I know that Sierra was apprehensive about stones, perhaps running into them sometimes. No more head-pops, she holds a low and collected frame on her own all the time, and increased traction on hard surfaces is a bonus.  Also, the "gloves" do not apparently affect break-over.

I don't actually know, but I suppose rubber shoes might accomplish the same thing - but those would have to be changed every six weeks, and the Glove needs to be replaced only when the tread wears out - replacing just the screw-attached sole once or twice a year (depending on mileage, wear-n-tear).

I'm completely sold on "Gloves".