Das Snaffle Bit
"A bit," says California horseman Benny Guitron, "is just a device to communicate with a horse."
This article originally appeared in Western Horseman magazine - by Benny Guitron
Guitron should know: he's used his bits and his experience to pilot horses to wins in events ranging from working cow horse classes and reining to western pleasure. Along the way, horses and riders trained by Guitron have picked up dozens of AQHA, APHA and NRCHA World championships as well.
Training from his Merced, California ranch, Benny Guitron is an all-around horseman of the traditional school. "I'm in the horse business," he flatly states, and his Guitron Ranch's fifty or so stalls may, on any give day, house reiners, cutters, rope horses, big-bucks pleasure horses, an English prospect or two, a few cow horses, and perhaps even some gentle trail horses. Though he takes his show string to major west coast Quarter horse and cow horse events, the burly horseman is perhaps best known as the guy to see when you're looking for a horse. "I try to sell a couple horses a week. Some will go in the few thousand dollar range, and some will go for fifty thousand or more- it takes all kinds," Guitron says.
How does Guitron communicate effectively with his ever-changing inventory of sale and show horses? In addition to nearly a half-century's experience in the saddle, the respected horseman's tack room holds many keys to his success. "Benny's tack room is like the Library of Congress for bits," says trainer and former Guitron associate Jimmy Nichols. "Benny has one of every bit ever invented, and he knows exactly how to use them. He also knows for sure if you hang one of them up in the wrong place!" Though his peers call him The Bit Expert, Guitron just smiles, and says with his characteristic dry wit, "Well, I do have a lot of 'em."
The training tools in Guitron's tack room captivate every horseman who views the massive collection. At any time, he keeps about 50 snaffle bridles and 50 shanked bits neatly arranged in the entry way to his treasure trove of tack. A wagon-wheel shaped rotating rack is home to about three dozen hackamores, and more than 200 additional bits hang from hooks along the wall and ceiling, and dozens, possibly hundreds more bits are tucked away in boxes and bags. Rare spade bits live next to experimental aluminum grazers, and much of the equipment is so unusual, it's hard to categorize. Though some of the bits are from famous makers, many are Guitron family favorites and one-of-a-kind.
Ask about a particular piece, and Guitron can recite its pedigree just like a favorite horse: "Oh, that one? Well, my Dad had it made by an old boy down in San Diego from an idea he'd heard about from Spain, but he added the rollers a few years later, then I changed the cheeks a little too."
There's more bits and tack in the attractive house Guitron shares with his 'better half' Paula Diuri. "The Good Stuff," as the horseman calls his favorite pieces, includes dozens of rare books, a stunning collection of braided work by Louis Ortega, and vintage bits by such famous makers as A.B. Hunt and G.S. Garcia. "But sometimes I use the good stuff, if I need it," Guitron adds. His collection is a working museum, not just art to be showcased or admired as it appreciates in value- even though some of his bits are valued at more than $10,000 by collectors. "All these bits were originally made because they did something- they weren't created just to be pretty," he explains. "What good was a beautiful bit to a vaquero if it didn't work beautifully, too?"
Known for his candor, Benny Guitron is typically blunt when asked how bits work: "Ask the horse," he says. "They'll tell you if you'll listen." He explains his statement: "No two horses are alike, so no one bridle will work on every horse. In today's show horse world, when I'm preparing horses for youth and amateur and open competition, trying to find the right bridle for the horse and the rider takes time and experimenting. There's all kinds of theory and talk about ratios and technical aspects of bitting these days, but for me, the proof is between my hands and the horse's mouth," Guitron states. He adds "I don't care what a bit's supposed to do in a catalog or in a store, I care what it does on a horse, and the only way to know that is to take time to use it, evaluate, and learn."
Asked about bitting generalities, Guitron has few rules. "I try to make an educated guess about what a horse might like," he says. "Trying to find a bit that the horse is comfortable with is my goal, so I consider the variations and shapes of the horse's mouth and might try four or five bits to find one that fits him physically and psychologically. For example, a horse with thick lips is probably going to have a thicker tongue, too, and need something with more tongue relief. Most of today's horses, though, are more Thoroughbred-like, with thinner lips and tongues, and thinner skin, than we used to see. These horses will respond to a lighter bit, with more subtle signals- they're just more sensitive than some of what we used to ride," he said.
In selecting a bit, the World Champion horseman says "I'll wait a horse out for more than a few days in a bit before I decide if I want to try something else. As long as I can pick him up and get some feel, then I want to keep exploring that bit completely before I go on to another one. I'm staging a comparison between several bits, and I have to really pay attention to the feedback from the horse to see if I'm on the right track or not. That's hard to do when we get in a hurry to show a horse or sell him, but I try to accomplish the same result as if I had all the time in the world. In the old days, the horse spent a year at every level of bitting, but that isn't economically feasible today, so it's up to the rider to help the horse learn faster," says Guitron.
Guitron also mentioned that a horse's maturity and experience affect his choices in bitting. "A horse's mouth gets shallower with age, which can make their regular bit uncomfortable as their teeth and palate flatten. Dental care is important all along, and so is knowing how savvy a horse is in the show ring: when they're young and naive and green and haven't shown a lot, you might get by with less, versus an older horse that's a little bolder and needs a little more bridle. That's why you have so many different kinds of bridles -every horse is an individual, and the relationship between horse and rider is always changing- hopefully evolving!" according to Guitron.
Though many riders have a specific rule about a bit's adjustment in the mouth, Guitron doesn't. "I like a little wrinkle, a little bend where the bit meets the lips, but if a colt won't pick up the bridle, I'll hang it a little lower and let him learn to pick up the bit, maybe learn to play with the roller if it has one." Regarding nose bands, he sometimes uses them, but says "Personally, I'd rather see a horse open his mouth a little when he's learning to wear a bit instead of keeping his jaw rigidly closed. If his jaw is tight and stiff, then his poll is tight and stiff and there's tension along the horse's neck and spine- that makes for a rigid horse. When a horse uses his jaw, he hinges his poll, so if a horse is a little mouthy it doesn't bother me. He hasn't learned how to hold the bit, but he's trying," explains the horseman.
Asked about severity of bits, Guitron places responsibility on the handler, not the hardware. "It's not a bit that's inherently harsh, but the way they're used. I mean, you can hurt a horse with anything- you can hurt them with a halter if that's your intention. You, the rider, still have control over the whole situation. Most people don't need much more than a simple snaffle, but for high-performance training, bits are like tools to a carpenter- they make the job easier and the finished product more attractive. Use what works, and no more, and be aware of the subtle differences with every bit you try," he suggests.
Benny's best bitting advice? "Buy a bunch of bits and try them on different horses- I do. Invest a lot of time, and learn what each bit does or doesn't do. Consider the horse, rider, and bit as individual elements that can add up in dozens of ways to create different effects, then pick your favorites and use them. No bit will solve a horse problem, but they can help counsel you through some tough situations!" says Guitron with a smile.
Any tour through Benny's Bits inevitably produces the question: "What's your favorite?" Asked on a recent training day for his all-around champion bit from the hundreds at hand, Guitron picked one, then another and another, until he had a considerable pile of leather and iron on the floor of his office. "Well, I don't really have a favorite," he answered. "That's like asking me for my favorite horse or restaurant. There's too many good ones to choose!" Pressed again for an answer, the California trainer agreed to select and discuss a few favorites in four categories: snaffles, hackamores, shanked bits, and specialties. This month, here are Benny's 'pick of the litter' choices in snaffle bits.
Eggbutt Snaffle:
This smooth iron snaffle, made by Jeremiah Watt, is about the mildest bit you can put on a horse. It's great for starting two-year-olds: getting them broke, teaching them leg aids, stopping, turning and changing leads. This is also a good bit to go back to with an older horse if you are just going to exercise him, and would be my choice of the snaffles for a recreational rider.
This design is a modified Egg Butt, which refers to the shape where the ring joins the mouthpiece. This smooth design can't pinch and has a nice weight to it. The mouthpiece is fixed- it doesn't slide up and down like a loose-ring bit- which some horses seem to prefer, and the mouthpiece itself is straight which gives a different feel than most snaffles. When I pull straight back on this bit, it makes definite contact with the mouth, instead of just wrapping around the contours of a horse's tongue like a traditional curved snaffle. This straight mouth gives a definite signal with contact, and I think you have a little bit better chance of developing a good mouth with it.
I always use a chin strap with a snaffle, which helps keep the bit from slipping through the horse's mouth when I pull from the side. The chin strap- leather, braided, cord, or whatever material it happens to be- helps keep the bit where it belongs, centered in the horse's mouth. I also always use a browband headstall with snaffles. It helps keep the bit even, and it's traditional too. To me, riding a horse in a split eared headstall and a snaffle bit is like going to the opera in your bib overalls-you're out of place!
Benny Guitron Snaffle:
This particular bit I designed, so I guess it's called a Benny Guitron. It has that straight mouthpiece I like, with a heavy, loose ring. I make them with a wide mouthpiece, about 5 1/2" and I have a 6" one, so there's not much chance of pinching a horse's lip with the ring, and it's made from plain iron. I'm not a metallurgist, but you just couldn't get the feel, the weight, that makes this bit work if you made it out of stainless steel.
I wouldn't use this on a two-year-old for his first few rides, but I recommend it for a three-year-old or a more experienced horse. It's been a good bit for me on futurity horses, to help tune them in to subtle rein pressure. My thought, in designing this bit, was that the heavy ring definitely releases on a slack rein This obvious signal helps teach a show horse to keep his head in a balance point, where he can feel the ring loose in his mouth, and feel it move for sure if I have to pick up the slack in my reins. The pull/release signal that we use to train a horse is heightened by this bit, so it's really good for a warm-up or training a snaffle bit pleasure horse, reiner, or cow horse.
This bridle has rope reins, but I usually just use plain harness leather split reins on my snaffles. These are round parachute cord that feel good and are a little stiff with the heavier rings of this snaffle- I just like the feel of the combination. I'd say this is the most useful of the snaffle bridles for a professional to use.
Crow's Foot:
This is a snaffle bit with what I call a crow's foot noseband. The crow's foot is iron, wrapped with leather to be softer, and is supported by a string that ties to the horse's forelock or the browband. The bit is a smooth snaffle with a straight mouth, but I made it from iron stock that is more square than rounded for a little different feel. The rings are stainless and don't rotate, which I prefer for the crow's foot: the rings fixed on the mouthpiece create a more consistent signal than using this with a loose ring bit.
This combination of snaffle and crow's foot works the horse's nose a little, helps them break in the poll and tip their nose in more than with a plain snaffle. If you want the horse to relate to the pull of a snaffle, but want to stay off their mouth, you can adjust the crow's foot snugger on their nose so that when you pull on your reins, they'll fell pressure across their nose before they get a pull in the mouth.
This is a great bridle for training a young horse on cattle. It helps them to turn a little faster on the fence without having to haul on their mouth. Because the crow's foot puts a little pull on the nose, and the bit works the mouth, it's a gentle way to help the horse learn to turn quickly and correctly. For any horse that has a problem breaking at the poll, the crow's foot helps encourage that yet keeps the horse in a snaffle, which is something that a more experienced rider sometimes needs to be able to do.
Half and Half:
California trainer Stan Fonsen designed this snaffle, and it's a really good standard. The little bit of twisted wire keeps a sensitivity on the horse's tongue, but the smooth section won't pinch or cut the horse's lips. It's more than a smooth snaffle, but not as strong as a traditional wire snaffle. It can be mild or have more authority, depending on the horse and how high or low the bit is positioned in the mouth.
This snaffle is also iron, with heavy rings like some of my other snaffles, and again, the straight rather than contoured mouthpiece. I just really like the feel of these bits and they work well on a lot of horses that have been ridden in a lot more bridle. We always try to use just enough bit to get the job done, but not intimidate the horse so he is afraid to take a hold.
You can get a lot of training done with something like this, with minimal confusion to the horse. It's smooth and mild unless the horse doesn't stay where he should, and then you pick up your hands and there's a little wire to remind the horse he needs to yield to you. I think this half and half is as good a training snaffle as you can have, for someone that has a good feel in their hands and is an experienced rider.
Gag Snaffle:
Gags work in different ways, depending on how they are set up. Gags act on the mouth as well as the poll and behave like a regular snaffle until you apply rein pressure, then the bit slides up in the horse's mouth and the cord or cable applies pressure across the horse's poll.
This simple little bridle has a smooth mouthpiece, about the same width and diameter as a snaffle I might show in. The cord that slides through the bit is small and moves freely, and you can put a little Vaseline on that cord to make the rings slide even more easily for a quick release. Smaller diameter cord moves faster than larger and also puts more concentrated pressure on the poll, and the fairly large rings on this bit also help the cord slide easily.
I might use this bridle to warm up a horse at a show to keep him light, to help him stay off my hands. It's a little better than a straight snaffle because of the poll pressure effect, and it helps a horse to drop off the bridle and stay round, especially in a stop. This also works if I feel my horse is breaking more in his withers than his poll as he stops- again, it helps him stay round. A gag bridle is not for everyday use, or for inexperienced riders, but can be a good tool for a professional to help tune a horse
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