Training: Secrets to a Soft Mouth
Horsemanship and proper bit selection combine to create a horse with a soft,
responsive mouth. In this first of a two-part series, discover the functional
subtleties of the wide variety of bits used in the barrel racing industry.
A soft mouth means different things to different people.
Some people want a horse “on the bit,” meaning the horse actively carries
the bit in the mouth neither pushing beyond nor hiding behind it. Reiners
and reined cowhorses are ‘on the bit’ responding to each subtle cue. Most of
these horses are trained to do their job with little guidance from the rider.
Others want a horse “just beyond” the bit, meaning the horse isn’t super
responsive to every subtle move a rider may make with their hands, but isn’t
pushing through the bridle and rider’s commands. Most of these horses are
used to being ridden with more contact from the rider. They tend to be more
forgiving of mistakes a rider may make with their hands in the heat of battle,
but they have to be reminded from time to time to not be too pushy.
No matter your preference, barrel racers can all agree we don’t want a horse
that’s running through the bridle or that’s constantly forcing us to pull.
A soft, responsive mouth is developed through proper horsemanship. And,
the first part of horsemanship is choosing the right communication tool for
the task, given the horse’s level of training.
“You could have the most elaborate bit collection in the world, but if you
don’t know how to use them, they’re worthless,” says bit maker Troy
Flaharty of Tryon, Okla. Here Flaharty, reined cowhorse legend Les Vogt
and barrel racing bit maker William Crutcher of L&W Bits explain the basic
principles of how bits work and how choosing the right bits help keep your
horse soft in the mouth.
Common misconceptions
“Bits aren’t severe,” says bit maker Troy Flaharty. “The people pulling on
them are severe. It’s about feel, and what bit gives you that feel as quickly as
you want it. I want to get a response right now. I don’t want to have to pull
three, four, five times and then get a response.”
According to Flaharty, people should judge bits by the response a rider gets
from the horse rather than how the bit looks. What is better—a horse ridden
in a light bit that’s pulled on constantly or a horse ridden with a “severe” bit
that gets a quick release from a correct response?
It’s a big misconception, Flaharty says.
Selecting and correctly using the right tools in your horse’s mouth are part of
fundamental horsemanship. This portion of Bo Hill’s infamous bit collection
is the envy of most any bit connoisseur. Photo by PixelWorks
“People think that their horses are so light and ride in light bits, but then you
see them wrestling with their horses and pulling on their mouths—that’s
what makes hard mouths,” he says. “They get numb to it. In my opinion, if
you would use a bit that gets the response you’re looking for immediately so
you can release pressure—that’s what keeps the mouth soft.”
Attempting to save a horse’s mouth by under bridling is “hogwash,” says
veteran horseman and reined cowhorse hall of famer Les Vogt of Arroyo
Grande, Calif. Trying to save a mouth by using bits that the horse can push
on and ignore just programs him to become evasive.
“You always want to use enough bridle,” he says. “By enough bridle, I mean
right below the fear zone. That preserves the mouth because it commands
respect.”
Vogt says using the right bridle versus one that lets a horse learn bad habits
is like the difference between the easy-going and tough teachers you had in
school.
“There were teachers that let you do what you wanted and then there was the
one that you didn’t like very much because they demanded your attention
and respect,” he says. “Which one did you learn more from? You learned
from the one that said, ‘You’re here to learn, dude, and there are
consequences if you don’t show respect.’ The right bridle is like a good
teacher.”
Bit Basics
Bits are designed to work on different pressure points to communicate with
the horse. The corners of the mouth are often the first point pressure is
applied. Bits also provide pressure on the on the inside, outside and top of
the bars of the mouth, the tongue and the palette (or roof of the mouth).
Outside the mouth, you can have pressure on the nose, at the poll and curb.
Some bits and hackamores also have side pull pressure on a horse’s face.
“Your bit is like a telephone that translates your thoughts to the horse,” says
Vogt. “Each bit is designed to hit a different pressure point and intervene in
different order. A well-designed bit will focus on a single pressure point at a
time and in the same order every time.”
Snaffles
Snaffles, or ring bits, are often the first bits introduced to horses. They work
by applying direct pressure on the corners of a horse’s mouth. Depending
upon their size and shape, they can provide some side pull, too.
Technically, a snaffle can have any type of mouthpiece and still be called a
snaffle because it works on the corners of a horse’s mouth. However, all
broken-mouth bits are often referred to as snaffles, when some are indeed
“curb” bits that provide leverage. (For the purposes of this article, snaffles
will refer to O-ring and D-ring bits.)
The difference between an O-ring and D-ring is contact, Crutcher says. In
the region around his hometown of Columbia, Tenn., a large number of
horses are run in some type of snaffle.
“An O-ring will gag a little bit and let them know it’s coming, where as a Dring is a quicker response,” he explains. “An O-ring within stoppers (to
prevent it from sliding the entire length of the ring) is going to give quicker
response, plus it’s going to give you a little more lift.”
Crutcher advises using hobbles with all snaffles.
“When you pull an O-ring, especially one that has stops, it’s going to turn
sideways and go through the mouth,” he says. “If you’ve got the hobble on
back, it prevents the O-ring from going through the mouth, plus the ring is
doing its job pushing against the jaw, while you’re pulling on the other
side.”
Weight is also an important feature for snaffles, according to Flaharty, who
wants to translate clear-cut signals to his young horses. Weight makes the bit
go back to the neutral position quicker so the horse receives a very clear-cut
release.
“I’m a big believer in my snaffles having a lot of weight to them,” he says.
“I believe a horse learns through the release of pressure, so the quicker that
snaffle will move away when you release the pressure, the quicker the horse
will learn to give to it.”
Flaharty also likes his snaffles to arc, or bend, to conform to the horse’s
mouth and to distribute pressure over more points. This bend in the
mouthpiece is often called mullen relief, meaning it provides more room for
the tongue.
“Straight mouthpieces put all the pressure on the bars when you pull with
both reins,” he says. “With the mullen ones, when you pull with both reins it
distributes it [pressure] over the bars and tongue, and it won’t poke them in
the roof of the mouth like a straight snaffle (broken) mouthpiece.”
Curb bits
Shanked bits, bridles, correction bits, roper bits all refer to the same thing—a
leverage bit which provides rate and lift in the shoulders. As you pull on the
shanks, the mouthpiece rotates in the mouth until the curb hits, thus giving
you leverage.
“Lower leverage gives you more lift in the shoulders and high leverage gives
you more rate,” says Vogt.
The amount of leverage in a bit is determined by the ratio of shank (from the
mouthpiece to the reins) to purchase (from the mouthpiece to where the
headstall attaches). A bit that has four-inch shanks and one-inch purchase
will have 4 to 1 ratio.
“I have to move the bottom four inches to get one inch of rotation above the
mouthpiece to the curb strap,” Vogt explains. “The 4 to 1 gives you a lot of
rate.”
Vogt’s Elevator Bit, which is similar to the bits in Charmayne James’ 9”
Cheek Leverage Series, has a 1 to 1 ratio because the shank and purchase are
equal in length.
“We use it a lot in the cowhorse world to bring the shoulder up for lead
changes and such,” he says. “If you get one right in the Elevator Bit and then
put your contest bit on, they’ll be right there. They don’t get scared in it and
it’s pretty user friendly.”
Gags, lifters and more
Gag bits, especially those made for barrel racers, are often the combination
of snaffle and curb bits. They are used to lift the shoulders and encourage
vertical and lateral flexion.
Gags work on the corners of a horse’s mouth by slipping upward on a steel
or rope draw, and they come in countless varieties, from draw gags like the
Loomis, to lifter gags like Ed Wright’s or Sherry Cervi’s.
The slip of mouthpiece on a gag’s shanks gives a horse a lot of warning.
Some bits like a C-Draw Gag or Carol Goostree’s Double Gag have twosources of gag. The horse has the opportunity to respond to the first lesser
gag and then the longer, more powerful draw.
On other bits, like some of Sharon Camarillo’s Lifter Bits and L&W’s 179
Lifter, there’s very little gag before curb pressure intervenes. This makes the
response very quick.
“A shank will generally give you more rate, while a longer purchase with
have more lift,” advises Crutcher. “Shanks that have more bend, or sweep
back towards the shoulder, encourage flex more than a shank that goes
straight down that rides a little more stiff and square.”
For more quick action, Crutcher’s gag bits also feature an off-set or sweptback curb that’s anchored by a straight bar off of the purchase of the bit.
“It also keeps one more square going into a barrel,” Crutcher adds. You may
have noticed that many lifter-type bits have this feature. “If you’ve got a
horse that’s kind of leaning on you, it’s good for helping to keep them
square longer.”
Another conglomeration of bit types in the gag category is the combination
bit that adds nose pressure. Combination bits are good for horses with too
much bend or young horses just learning to hold their frame through a run.
How these bits are designed affects which pressure point is engaged first—
the mouth, noseband or curb. The lower the noseband is placed on the bit,
the more nose pressure you will have, says Crutcher.
“A lot of the ones we (L&W) have, the nose will hit first, then the mouth
and then the curb chain,” explains Crutcher. “Some the mouth will hit first.
If you have one that’s a little pushy, I’d rather the mouth hit first as opposed
to the nose.”
Unfortunately, one of the reasons that gag bits come in so many variations is
horses tend to get “pushy” with them. Other bits and aids like German
Martingales may need to be employed to keep a horse responding well in a
gag.
Mouthpieces
Mouthpieces are widely variable—dog bones, Dr. Bristols, chains, twists,
squares, square twists, donuts, double twisted wire, ports, mullens and
almost every variation you can think of in between.
The larger the diameter of the mouthpiece the softer the bit generally feels to
the horse.
“The smaller diameter the mouthpiece, the more feel it will have,” says
Flaharty. “It’s touching less area, so the horse is more sensitive to it.”
Solid mouthpieces are stiffer and can be used to square a horse that has too
much bend. Conversely, the more breaks in a mouthpiece, the more flex it
will have.
Take Vogt’s Sidewinder with its ported chain mouthpiece. He points out that
a lot of chain mouthpieces are longer than the horse’s mouth, so the first
break in the chain is just inside the lip, and when you pull, you’ll get lift.
“With broken or chain mouthpieces, I find that a horse is going to give me
more bend in his neck up behind the poll area,” says Vogt, who also advises
horsemen to consider the old adage that less is more when it comes to
choosing a mouthpiece for an edgy, aggressive working horse. “With a horse
that breaks or bends near the wither, he has all the power in the world to
throw a shoulder. That horse isn’t getting that inside hip underneath it to
turn, and it’s not going to be as near as good of a turn as when you’ve got
bend in the horse’s neck up behind the poll area. The flexy mouthpieces give
me the bend where I want it.”
Ports and donuts mouthpieces are designed to work on the tongue and roof
of the mouth. In bits like Ed Wright’s Pretzel and the ported chains, the freefloating port allows the tongue to rise in the mouth so the mouthpiece can
have greater contact on the bars, which gives the horse a chance to respond
before the port reaches the roof of the mouth.
Proper placement
No wrinkles, a smile, a grin, two wrinkles—how you place a bit in a horse’s
mouth greatly affects its feel. A bit with more “bite” might work more
effectively set lower in the mouth, while a softer bit might have the perfect
degree of communication with two wrinkles in the corner.
Where you place a bit in a horse’s mouth can affect its sensitivity. This
Flaharty square-mouth O-ring is resting on the lips rather than being drawn
up with wrinkles in the corner. The purpose is to give the horse clear-cut
contact and release.
Take Flaharty’s square-mouth ring snaffles for instance. Because of the
weight and “bite” of these bits, he wants it relaxed in the horse’s mouth
rather than picked up in the corners. This allows the horse to pick the bit up
when contact is initiated, and conversely, a correct response gets an
immediate release back to an extremely neutral position.
“Again, horses learn from the release of pressure, and if that bit is always
sucked up in their mouths, they never have any release,” he says.
Riders who prefer a more constant contact with their horses’ mouths may
use a milder mouthpiece drawn up further in the horse’s mouth. Gag bits,
too, generally require more wrinkles in the corner to work affectively.
However, there are no hard and fast rules.
“When people tell me they need just a little less bit,” says Crutcher, “but
when they try to use less bit the horse gets away from them, I tell them to
drop the bit in the horse’s mouth just one hole on the headstall.”
In some cases the opposite is true. Crutcher had a leading futurity rider go
from hating to loving his 5-Bit simply by pulling it up a little higher in the
mouth. He had been riding it adjusted too loosely to be effective.
Loading the arsenal
When Vogt heads to the arena, he takes at least three bits for every horse
because he never knows when he might need to change his pressure points
for better communication.
“If we have any kind of problem, its kind of hard to ride back to the tack
room,” he quips. “It’s just not in our system. You get it in your mind that
you’re just going to tough it out. That puts you in a contest on your horse’s
turf. If you feel that situation coming on, or even if it has already started,
switch bits. You’d be surprised how quickly the argument is over. You
always want to have an arsenal of bits that will work on each horse.”
Vogt also suggests that riders have a competition bit (A Bit) and a
complimentary schooling bit (B Bit).
“If you use your A Bit on a daily basis, your horse will get fairly used to it,”
he says. “But, if you hang it up in your barn, you’ll find that it’s your happy
bit. It makes you happy because you know it’s going to work when you get
to the big races. If you used it daily, he’s going to get used to it and run
through it under contest circumstances.”
Your B Bit, on the other hand, should allow you to fix communication leaks
in your training.
“With the proper bit in slow work, you have plenty of authority and respect
to create the form that you need,” Vogt says. “Warm up in something else,
pull that bit off right before you go in, put your happy bit on, get the money
and then take it off!”
No magic bits
For all that they do and for as many countless options as there are, it’s
important to remember that bits aren’t the magical solutions to training
problems. Bits are just one important aspect of basic, proper horsemanship.
“There’s no magic bit,” says Flaharty. “You can’t just put any bit in a
horse’s mouth and expect them to do everything. You still have to teach a
horse to give to pressure. You still have to teach them where to put their feet.
You still have to train your horse no matter what bit you use.”
Stay Tuned
Next month, expert trainers Jolene Montgomery show how they use basic
horsemanship techniques in conjunction with a variety of bridles to keep a
horse soft and responsive in the mouth, and most importantly through the
entire body.
Tanya Randall is an avid barrel racer and veteran contributor to Barrel
Horse News. E-mail comments on this article to This email address is being
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