Northern Horse Blog

Bits and Their Uses

There’s nothing much to riding a northern horse. It consists simply of communicating clearly what you want the horse to do and then not falling off when he does it. Of course, you have to have built up the relationship with the horse to the point where he accepts you as dominant and is willing to do what you ask.

Bits are probably the most misused and misunderstood pieces of equipment we use. The purpose of the bit is to refine communications, to clarify subtlety. A bit is not a means of overpowering a horse.

Actually you can’t overpower a horse. If you hurt him any self-respecting horse will chuck you if he can. If that doesn’t work he’ll bide his time and bite or kick when the opportunity presents itself. Why go there?

A lot of times when you see someone using a harsh bit they are actually trying to make up for a lack of riding ability. They are having difficulties because they are confusing the horse with conflicting signals or haven’t established dominance. Whatever the reason, they decide that the horse has a problem. And he does. The problem is sitting on his back, yanking on his mouth.

If the hands are soft and the communication is subtle there is no such thing as a harsh bit. For riders who have reached that level a curb or a double bridle simply makes their communication clearer.

Any result achieved with a bit can also be achieved without one. In fact it can be attained without any tack at all. It just takes more skill and more time.

When Pat Parelli was starting out he had a saddle mule that he used in reining competitions. He won time and again using nothing more that a rope halter on the mule’s head. In fact he did so well that he was eventually banned from competing because he didn’t use a bit!

If you want to see a demonstration of what can be accomplished without any tack at all, take a look at this video of Stacy WestFall that I posted last September.

Here are two videos about bits. The first is about understanding how a curb works.