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Just purchased a loose ring single jointed snaffle as I want to go back to basics with my horse. I was playing around with the bit in my hands and there were two things I noticed. A loose ring won't cause the joint to poke down into the tongue or up into the palate. Because it is on a LOOSE RING, the rings will rotate to allow the bit to sit in the most comfortable position in the mouth. Bar pressure, maybe, or lip pressure. But it's not going to poke the horse in the roof of his mouth unless you are on the ground and pulling downwards on the bit. From a rider position you are generally going to be pulling upwards or horizontally
I totally agree. It seems that people are in such hurry to get a horse finished and it’s sad because the process of training should be both about bonding and training. It should be enjoyable for both the horse & rider. Training a horse should be an ongoing process for their entire life. Enjoy the time you spend with you horse, don’t make it a race!
First, I love your videos. I love your logic and reasoning approach to things. That is hard to find these days. Second, another thing I have heard with the nutcracker effect is the middle joint of the single jointed bit jamming up into the roof of the horses mouth. What is your view on this? I think that if you get to this point your hands aren't soft enough and you need more training, but I would like your educated opinion of the mechanical view on this? I almost think the bar pressure would be felt before the joint presses into the roof of the mouth but would still love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
I enjoy your videos!!! I am curious about 2 piece snaffles versus a dog-bone type mouth piece, will you be doing a video on these types of mouth pieces?
We certainly can. Basically, a single jointed snaffle will have less affect on the tongue and work more on the bars and corners of the mouth. This makes a single jointed snaffle an excellent tool for lateral work. A double jointed snaffle (dog bone, French link, Dr. Bristol, etc.) will have more tongue pressure and less bar pressure. This type of bit is most ideally suited to vertical flexion type training. All of that being said, you will certainly find certain horses that simply favor one style over the other, especially with regard to horses not liking tongue pressure. I hope that helps.
Hi Daniel - Great video, thank you! I'm always looking for more information on bitting. I was wondering what you look for before switching from the single-jointed curb to the Billy Allen? You said you don't stay in the single-jointed curb for long, but how do you know when it's okay to continue on? Thanks again!
Basically, I am looking for the horse to be comfortable with the bit. When I put a horse into a shanked bit, I redo the training. We go back to simple flexing, circles, counter arcs and all of those foundation exercises. I am riding them two handed at this time, with the shanked bit. So, when the horse is staying in a frame and his mouth is calm and quiet and we have no "issues" with the shanked bit, I am ready to move on. Great question! Thanks!
Hi, I have a question. Why do you use a single jointed mouth piece and not a double jointed mouth piece? This way you can't hurt the horse even if you accidentaly pull too hard, right?
iline manja good question. Short answer is twofold: 1) single jointed bits are more lateral, and there’s nothing more important than mastery of lateral control, nothing! The fix for nearly every riding problem lies in a loss of lateral control. 2) double jointed bits are tongue pressure bits. The tongue is BY FAR the most sensitive part of all of the pressure points. So, it is actually far easier to cause defensive reactions to the Bit with one that acts mostly on the tongue.
@@bonniekiefer9504 I would suggest that you go to the link a couple of responses above and watch the video on correction bits and double vs single jointed mouthpieces. Your opinion that double jointed bits offer tongue relief is, unfortunately, incorrect unless a port of some sort is used to go over the Lingual nerve, which runs down the center of the tongue. A lot of what you’ve said is common misconception. You’re going to get a lot out of that video and even more if you check out the one we sell on bits. It’s highly acclaimed and used as a teaching resource in over 20 universities’ Equine Science/Studies curriculums.
Thank you for this! You have so many great videos and I'm learning alot about bits from them... but then that brings up questions... lol. I was going to try my boy again in a single joint snaffle... I usually ride in a double jointed snaffle with some texture on the mouth (not twisted, just some ridges, I guess you would call it) and a donut in the center. He seems to like it... would there be a need to go back to a single joint snaffle? It's been awhile since I've used one on him and from what I remember he likes the double jointed better. Also... he's 12 so when I ride him in a shank to practice for shows I have shown him in a DM lifter single joint mouth with regular length shanks. He's kind of always done ok with it, but this last show he really was chomping it. The 2nd class at the show I used a curb bit, I think the mouth was a grazing mouth. He did do better in that one and the judge said he looked better, but seemed to think that there may be an even better bit for him. So the day after the show, I tried a couple short shank correction bits on him and he seemed to do well with those. One of them was a DM lifter short shank correction. The only thing with the bits that are not as flexible is that he's wide where the bridle attaches to the bit and it rubs him... I think that's why always just stuck with the single joint shank bit was because it didn't squeeze him. I also found an old 5.5 inch mouth curb and he did well with that too. So I guess my question after all that... lol.. is after watching your other videos I was going to try a single joint shank like the one you have in this video which is a little different from the one I was riding him with, but you said that you don't stay in that bit that long... If he does well with the correction and curb bits... is there a reason to try him in the single joint shank that you showed in this video? Also.. in this video you mentioned a floating spade... which I don't have and have never tried... would that be something that he may like since he likes the double joint snaffle that I ride him in? Or would it just be best to continue with the correction and curb. He seems to be quieter with his mouth in those two types as long as they are wide enough for him. I also have a spoon bit that I could try on him, but not sure if it's wide enough at the top for him... I haven't tried it yet to see if it will fit him. And I think the judge had said it almost looked like he couldn't get a good hold of the bit... and I think you said in one of your other videos that a spoon bit gave them more to hold on to??? Ha... I'm so confused right now... lol. Sorry for the long comment.. I'm just trying to understand what bit does what and wanting to find him a bit that he likes and you seem like you could send me in the right direction. Thank you for all the information you are putting out there... it's great!!
I ride an older showjumper in either a jointed Pelham (only for showing) or my Dutch gag most of the time and I have to be so careful. I don't ride him in a snaffle because he will drag me and cut corners in canter making my nearly come out of my saddle at a pretty decent speed. I realised that when I ride him in a jointed Pelham I have to be very careful with my hand because if I pull even a little too hard I can cause some real damage and the Dutch gag only helps me slow him but because he's never done proper ground work he's an absolute pain. I was just wondering if you think I could get him working off of my leg with a softer bit and if oyu have any recommendations because I can ride him fine but he cannot do ground work well at all.
I know this comment is 7 months later but I would recommend working on your downward transitions. Starting at the walk teaching him to halt from the very lightest pressure on the bit. Keep your reins loose at all times except for when you are asking for a stop. The second he stops release the pressure and let the reins loose again. Keep repeating the excercise until he can stop from the lightest squeeze on the reins. You can do this in a very mild bit.
Samuel Johns I seldom say “never”, but I don’t see any value in them. I do see lots of things I don’t like about them though. I’ve also never noticed the elite human athlete whose coach felt they’d be more athletic and able with their head tied to restrict movement and balance.
Dear Daniel, im a show jumper beginner and i have one of my Jumping Horses that is sensitive in the mouth and i tried to use the nutcracker single jointed eggbutt bit as instructed by my trainer. what i noticed is that he became better in Jumping because of the contact but he is fighting with my hands and raising his head up consistently. i tried the double jointed simple snaffle. he likes it more and feels more relaxed but sometimes refuses to jump when my hands looses contact. please advise which bit i should use. thank you Ahmed Kuwait
That's hard to say without seeing the horse react with my own eyes. I'm not sure why you are losing the contact? I may not understand what you've described as you intended, as I've no idea why a change in bit would result in refusals to jump with lack of contact. It may simply be that your horse is looking for more guidance and feels lost and insecure when you lose contact. Frankly, I like to see a horse given his head when jumping. My suspicion is that either bit would work fine, you mostly need to work on your hands and being able to maintain a consistent, light, contact through all of the movements your horse is making. I really like to practice following my horse's mouth at all gaits as my warmup. At the walk and trot, their heads move side to side a decent bit in cadence with the gait. At the canter, the movement is more in and out and it is actually the easiest to get in sync with. When you really can get in sync with the horse's movements, your ability to communicate with him, especially with a tongue pressure bit like the double jointed snaffle, will increase greatly.
Daniel Dauphin loosing my contact when he kinda pull on the reins.. and before the jump since I consider my self beginner.. I’ll try to take a video and send it to you if you don’t mind helping me find the right bit 🙏🏼
You are supposed to first cue with your seat, then lightly pick up on the reins. If these don't work, then you have training to do. Pulling harder on both reins repetitively is only going to cause bad mouth habits and frustrate your horse. In short, it is not a very good method of training.
D-rings are slightly more severe, particularly off-set d-rings, but the difference isn’t large. The o-ring is better for colts learning to pack the bit because the mouthpiece has more freedom of movement. Again though, not a huge difference.
Any bit can be used for vertical flexion. I always begin that with a plain single-jointed snaffle. For the most part, snaffles and contact will get it done, with double jointed snaffles being the most effective for vertical flexion.
