Being 'On the bit' | Page 1 | The Scrapbook: For old post and threads | Guild Forums

TheMollyMon

Offline

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:00 am

My trainer is coaching me and some friends to ride 'on the bit'. Oh and if you don't know what on earth I'm going on about
Wikipedia explains it fairly simply here

It does improve a horses' suppleness and general eagerness to be ridden. It is also more comfortable in the long run for them to be ridden that way, although you shouldn't ride them on the bit all the time as it requires a lot of effort and can strain your horse.

I was simply curious if it was simply just an English riding thing or if western riding has a similar skill? I am totally ignorant to how Western riding works and am under the impression that you have little contact on the horses' mouth? Is this true?

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:29 pm

An old mare I use to own and rode western was neck reined. She was specifically trained with a hackamore, which is bitless. Too.
At the barn I use to work at I rode with a girl, she had two horses. One was just a trail horse, Sassy, and the other trained to do barrels, Little Bit. I was riding Little Bit and all it took was a slight touch to the neck with the rein and she would turn. It was amazing. lol.

Wiki definitions(explains it better than I could, lol):
Neck reined: The horse responds to a neck rein when it has learned that a light pressure of the right rein against its neck on that side means for the horse to turn left, and vice versa.

Hackamore: A hackamore is a type of headgear for a horse which does not have a bit. Instead, it has a special type of noseband that works on pressure points on the horse's face, nose, and chin.

Your average hackamore...
User Image

.Lady Rosewater.
Captain

Invisible Sophomore

11,650 Points

100
100
100

Offline

Ewyna

Offline

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:58 pm

i often hike (i'm not sure i can use this word for this activity with horses, but well i don't know how to say it otherwise in english), and i had a horse one time that had a hackamore, i really like the experience and the fact that my horse had no bit, that was funny too.

and about dressage (yay ! a word from my country ^_^), it's way more difficult than it seems to be, only when you try for yourself can you truly inderstand how it's diffucult to do things right.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:02 am

Some of my horses ride in Snaffle Bits or a Hackamore.

Queen Sabrina
Crew

Offline

Queen Sabrina
Crew

Offline

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:03 am

My horse Roany is believed to being ridden in a Tom Thumb but I'm not too sure since his owner before me never told me.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:04 am

Also I have a horse that hates bits and only rides in a Hackamore, he's a Chestnut Appendix Quarter Horse Gelding named Copper.

Queen Sabrina
Crew

Offline

TheMollyMon

Offline

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:16 pm

I know a few horses with hackamores but not at my stables and they're definitely rare around London. The idea of no bit kinda works at my stables 'cos there are a few horses with ride with a rubber bit or nylon bits (pics here) which are much softer on the mouth.

@Ewyna: I compete in dressage fairly often. It requires so much concentration 4laugh One day I'll show post some pics of me at my comps for you guys but atm I don't have any on the computer, they're all prints. mrgreen

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:20 pm

Queen Sabrina

Some of my horses ride in Snaffle Bits or a Hackamore.

Eggbutt snaffles are the most common at my stables. We barely use much else though a few of the stronger horses wear snaffle or curb bits. A couple have German Silver (I think that's their name...) and cupro nickel but they're generally the younger ones or the ones with hard mouths 'cos they've been mistreated or whatever.

TheMollyMon

Offline

Queen Sabrina
Crew

Offline

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:10 pm

Really? awesome pal and thanks for the Link on the Hackamore though sadly the image won't show due to bad internet connections or problems on my computer.

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:11 pm

Wow and I've never heard of the German Silver or Cupro Nickel. I hate it when horses get mistreated especially the younger ones.

Queen Sabrina
Crew

Offline

jaimelechateauxgonflables

5,550 Points

200
200
200

Offline

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 3:18 am

Riding 'on the bit' has nothing to do with the exact bit that you use, or even if you use a bit at all! [I use an absolutely beautiful loose ring single jointed snaffle smile ]
I tend to use the term 'working round' more often [than the term 'on the bit'], as the horses energy is powering from the hindquarters, over the back and up into the hands, it really has nothing to do with the bit. When the horse is working round/on the bit, it has impulsion and drive. The paces are a lot better and its better for a horses physiology.
I find that to get a horse working correctly, I allow them to stretch at the beginning of the workout, reaching their head toward the ground. This way, they are still working round and over their back, without so much strain on the musculature.
If you let the horse work with his head up in the air like a giraffe, it creates really bad musculature and they cannot carry a rider properly, so even if you aren't working your horse collected, you really should train it to stretch out toward the ground instead.

It isn't just an English thing, reiners use it often too. Their horses work round and with impulsion. The main thing about being on the bit is IMPULSION. It needs to be forward moving and swinging through the back. Reiners do this too [I'm not sure about other Western Disciplines though]

Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gaia Guilds

AllAboutHorses

Quick Reply

More Information