Fine Tune Your Riding. The Double Bridle.
Learning horse riding is probably more difficult than learning to drive your car. Follow the basic instructions that are common to all cars and you’ll eventually be able to drive any car within a short time. Horses have some rules but you have the added ‘feature’ of individualism. Learn to ride one horse and get on another and the techniques you used on the first horse might be ignored, or worse still interpreted differently by the second horse. Imagine driving off in your nice new car, hitting the brakes only to find the horn beeps.
So in order to get a specific horse to work the way you want you need to read and learn his own individual instruction manual. Most riders just read a generic “horse riding basics” manual and never get around to reading “Grey Mare called Dotty – A Detailed Instruction Guide V4.2. Author – Dotty !!!”.
Horse bits and their different types are a plenty however there are 2 main categories that most fall into, namely Snaffles and Curbs. Most riders and most horses start out with a simple Snaffle bit and rein control of the horse occurs via direct pressure applied by the reins to the bit. Often as the horse gets older and possibly more petulent and the style of riding changes it is common to use different variations of the Snaffle such as a French Link Snaffle. Sometimes such as if the horse becomes stronger relative to the rider a curb type bit such as a Swales might then be used which introduces leverage to control the horse.
The most important thing at the end of the day is if the horse likes it, goes well in it whether it be a Butterfly Flip Bit, an Eggbutt Snaffle or whatever then go for it. However the discussions around the choice of a suitable bit often revolve around the concept of control and a leverage bit with its power often is the conclusion. However one should look more at horse riding as achieved by identifying and refining a set of signals that your horse responds to. This is where the Double Bridle has arisen as a practical but somewhat specialist approach that combines features of both snaffle and curb bits.
Experienced riders find that that double bridle gives them a more complete “signal set” and allows the horse to be directed in a more nuanced manner. For advanced and sophisticated forms of riding such as dressage it is a prefered bit.
The double bridle comprises two separate bits with four reins attached. The bits are a bradoon snaffle and a curb bit. A bradoon is a snaffle bit designed to be complementary to the curb bit. For example it must not too wide and placed higher in the mouth so it stays clear of the curb bit’s port. The curb bit or the Weymouth provides the rider with the ability to engage curb pressure when needed. The mouth pieces must be thin enough so the horse can comforable take the bits in his mouth but not so thin that the tongue gets caught. It can be a good idea to search out a custom horse bit maker to to get a complementary set that will fit your horse.
The rider needs to master the art of keeping both bits under their control but only applying either as necessary. For example in modern dressage, most riders keep a soft handed contact with the bradoon bit and only employ the curb bit to get the horse to collect.
And here lies the beauty of this dual bit solution and for the advanced rider it is the perfect solution. But beginner stay away – your time will come.
