Contact, Snaffles, and Leverage Bits

I have received some great questions recently, and I thought I would put them with my responses into a blog post. 

Q:  Why do we ride English with contact and western with a loose rein?  Do we only ride western with a loose rein on a finished horse? When training a western horse in a snaffle is the contact the same as English?

A:  Good questions. The short explanation is contained within the difference between a direct action and a leverage bit.  

Snaffles are direct contact (rein attaches to the ring directly at the mouth) so a hand movement directly affects the mouth. Ex: 0.5 lb pressure on rein = 0.5 lb pressure in mouth.

You ride a snaffle with contact so you affect the mouth in the smallest way possible. If you hold the rein with contact on the bit and just squeeze your fingers like you were squeezing water out of a sponge the horse can feel that.  Additionally, if you have contact and you keep your hands in the same place in space, but just turn your wrist a little, the horse can feel that too. 

An interesting exercise is to try this with another human for good information and feedback.  One of you is the “horse,” holding the bit in your hands.  Your friend is the “rider,” and holds the reins as though she were riding.  Have the “rider” do things like keep contact on the bit and just squeeze the rein, or turn her wrists.  Notice how the bit feels to you, and how it moves in your mouth/hands.  Then you and your friend can switch places to experience the action from the other point of view.  It is amazing how such a subtle motion on the part of the rider has such a dramatic effect on the bit in the horse’s mouth.

 

Another type of bit is a leverage bit.  Bits with a shank are leverage bits because of the pivot point that is created by attaching the reins to the shank, which is below the mouthpiece. 

Because there is a pivot point creating torque, any little movement of the hand/rein is greatly magnified in the horse's mouth. Ex: 0.5 lb pressure on rein = 5 lb pressure in mouth. With a leverage bit you should use just the weight of the reins to affect the mouth in the smallest way possible. You can do the above exercise with a shanked bit, too, noticing how much more effect the "rider’s" hands have on the "horse’s" mouth.  

Therefore, the way you use contact is not really a western versus english thing, but more closely related to which type of bit you use.  Both types of bits are used in English and western riding. A horse (and a human for that matter) should be proficient riding in a snaffle before they ride in a leverage bit. There are all kinds of variations on bits, bridles, and reins, which affect the action of the bit in the horse’s mouth, but this is the short explanation.

Let's look at another type of leverage bit.  This is a bit called a "Tom Thumb", and this photo series shows some of the effects it can have in a horse's mouth.  It's worth noting that any bit with a single joint in the center of the mouthpiece (leverage or direct contact) can have this nutcracker effect if the reins are held too closely together with pressure.

Q:  With all our use of negative reinforcement to teach moving away from pressure, how does the horse understand that we want him to be on the bit in a snaffle? Why doesn't that constant pressure make them irritated and confused? 

A:  The expression "on the bit" is sort of badly phrased - you want the horse propelling himself and his back/topline forwards and upwards using his haunches. When that happens, a consequence in the chain of events is that his head drops and he reaches forward with his nose, creating contact. You only use as much contact as the horse gives you. You cannot create contact with your hands or the reins, the HORSE has to create the contact he is comfortable with by using his haunches. The only way you have a chance of influencing how much contact the horse gives you is by influencing how he uses his haunches.  When he reaches for your hands you can gently return the feel like a handshake, which recycles the energy through your body back to his haunches. You are correct, if you constantly put pressure on his mouth with your hands he will become irritated and confused. However, if the horse initiates and sustains the contact because it helps him balance and communicate with you better, then he's not confused or irritated.  This concept is often called "back to front" riding, because you initiate the energy in the horse's engine, his haunches, and you see the effects in his front end.

Q:  What if the horse didn't create contact, do I leave a loose rein?

A:  Yep. It's a process and as he learns to use his buns he'll start to look for contact. It can take weeks of daily work- don't rush him! He has to build up muscle to do it. You can gently feel his mouth but definitely don't pull or hang on him.