A Bit or a Hackamore?
By Caryn A. Tate
How do you know whether you want to start your colt off using a bit or a hackamore? Which one is the best for you and your horse? I’ve found it difficult to find any very good information on both, that simply lays out the facts of each piece of tack, even online.
To start with, a bit and a hackamore accomplish the same end goal: to teach your horse to listen to your hands, and to turn when and how you ask him. Which is better depends entirely upon who you talk to. But what I hope to accomplish here is to show you the way that each tool works; that way, you can make up your own mind as to which one to use with your horse.
Bits encompass an extremely large amount of territory—there’s such a wide variety of them that I will have to write a couple of other articles focusing only on them. Here I will just go over the basics of bits and how they work.
Bits are fitted at the bottom of a headstall, which is the piece of headgear that is put on a horse when ridden. When a bit and a headstall are joined, they’re called a bridle. The basic type of bit, that is used largely when you’re first starting to ride a horse and teach him, is a snaffle bit. The way to tell this is simple—a snaffle has a “broken” mouthpiece. The mouthpiece, the part of the bit that actually fits inside the horse’s mouth between his teeth, is made up of two pieces of metal instead of one solid one. The reason snaffle bits are used on colts or horses that are just being broken/trained is because of that mouthpiece. The design of it is gentler on a horse’s mouth, and also makes it easier for the horse to understand what you’re asking of him. You could say it’s more obvious than other types of bits. The reason for this is, again, the construction of the mouthpiece—for instance, when the rider lifts the right rein to ask the colt to turn right, the mouthpiece’s right half will shift in the horse’s mouth, cueing him to learn that this means to turn right. By contrast: with a different type of bit that has a solid mouthpiece, when the rider lifts the right rein, the entire mouthpiece will shift in the horse’s mouth—it’s more harsh and less forgiving with which to teach a just-learning horse.
If you’re planning on using a bit later with your horse, a snaffle can be a good training tool because it will get the horse used to a bit in his mouth early.
A bit tip: I will almost exclusively use bits with copper mouthpieces. Copper will keep the horse’s mouth much more moist and comfortable than other types of metal.
Hackamores can also be used after your horse is more experienced; it’s just that you tend to see this less. A hackamore is made up of a hard rounded piece of rawhide or leather, called a bosal [pronounced boze-AL], that is fitted around the horse’s nose and comes together behind the horse’s jaw. A horsehair rope, called a mecate [meck-AHtay], is used with the hackamore to rein the horse.
The reason hackamores are well liked is because many people believe they teach the horse to turn his nose better than a bit does. When asked to turn, stop, or back up, the horse must tuck his nose in to accomplish these things with a hackamore; in other words, a hackamore inspires correct form from a horse. With a bit, there’s much more of a chance that a horse might throw his head up when asked to stop, turn, or back up.
The reason it’s preferred that a horse tucks his nose when asked to do something is simple, really—when a horse is in correct form, his nose is tucked down and his neck is slightly arched (this is called “flexing at the poll”). This form enables a horse to make his body more compact, swifter, and more powerful. It also gives the rider more control over the horse’s movements. It’s more than useful when barrel racing, roping, reining, turning a cow, or doing just about anything on a horse.
Hopefully this information helped a lot of you out there!
About the Author:
I have lived around and worked with horses my entire life, and learned how to ride when I was a small child. Riding and training horses are great loves of mine, and I enjoy helping other people overcome training issues with their horses. I love working with horses and developing relationships with them, as well as talking about them with other people who are as passionate about the subject as I am.
Caryn may be contacted by email at scribe_79@yahoo.com.
Article courtesy of Suite101.com.
