No, Your Bit is Not "Only as Harsh as Your Hands"

The equipment we advocate for in training and our attitudes towards it directly impacts the wellbeing of our horse partners, whether we admit to it or not. Because of this, I think that it is important to be critical of equipment and breakdown the mechanisms behind the results said bit or gadget provides. Unfortunately, all too often, we see horseback riders lazily justifying the equipment they use on the basis that it can only be as harsh as the hands behind it, negating the actual physics of how the equipment itself works the vast majority of the time this excuse is used. On top of this, such justification allows riders to breeze over the harshness of equipment they used without actually having to show any awareness of how their bit or training gadget enacts pressure and why their horse responds to it. It means that there is an easy justification for just about any bit or training gadget that doesn’t demand any hands on knowledge of the workings of said product from the rider. Saying that something is only as harsh as the hands behind it can justify anything if you try hard enough. You could claim a steak knife isn’t harsh if the hands are soft enough, but that doesn’t erase the nature of the equipment itself and just how easily misused sharper, harsher bits are even in the best of hands.

The fact of the matter is, regardless of hands, some equipment is just harsh. You could have play dough hands and it wouldn’t change the fact that your horse would be inherently more uncomfortable in a thin twisted wire than they would in a smooth mouthed snaffle. On top of this, if all of the riders who feel compelled to use harsh bits to cover up holes in training actually had the soft, amazing hands they claim justifies the use of their equipment, would they need it in the first place? Probably not as a readily. Good and soft hands should also be able to work to soften a horse without muscling them into softness by way of aversive gadget. At the end of the day, all riders need to acknowledge the fact that the reason why “bitting up” even works is because of the bigger bit increasing the consequence of non-compliance. Your horse does not “like” their gag bit more, they just soften more readily because if they didn’t, the discomfort would grow increasingly worse until they submit. They may not soften so readily in a soft snaffle but it wouldn’t be due to them “disliking” the bit, it would be due to the fact that they can more comfortably fight against the pressure than they may be able to in a harsher set up. Humans anthropomorphizing equine behaviour to the point where they take submission to certain equipment as inherent enjoyment of said equipment is extremely problematic. At best, horses are just indifferent to the equipment we use, even the soft stuff. They may like the enrichment their halter brings them if they associate it with going somewhere fun, being led to the field, going on hacks or doing something they like, but the nature of the halter, bridle, bit etc isn’t something that the feeling of elicits joy from the horse. The riders are the ones who typically “like” the equipment that makes their rides easier or allows them to hit their next training milestone faster, even if it is to the detriment of the horse, simply because it brings them joy by allowing them to bypass some of the more tedious and boring aspects of foundational training.

As horse people, it is up to us to level with ourselves and honestly look at what the driving factor behind the use of most training aids or harsher bits is. It all relates to the desires of the rider and almost never what is actually best for the horse. In terms of producing equine partners who will have lengthy careers and stay sound, achieving softness without needing to amp up the level of pain or discomfort to do so is how you would get the lightest, most pliable horse. As soon as you start to increase discomfort as a form of control, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get a tense horse at some point or, at minimum, you’re sacrificing your horse’s comfort in training to produce a faster result. I’m not saying in every case that this is a terrible thing but with the sheer number of bits and training aids on the market, it is pretty clearly an epidemic of laziness that there is THIS much stuff out there that claims to bypass training, make the horse softer, get them calmer etc and it is selling.

People are eating these products up without critically looking at how they may negatively impact the horse. On top of this, it allows people to remain in denial about the fact that the equipment a horse “needs” to ride is almost entirely a result of the program they’re in. The idea that there’s these horses who come out of the womb needing much harsher bits and that will "never” be safe in a snaffle or bitless is something that plagues an awful lot of training barns due to the inability of that specific program to produce horses soft enough to do these things. Then, they teach those within the barns that it is the fault of the horse rather than a commentary on the program itself. This removes all accountability from the riders and trainers and places that fault on the horse for being so strong or so uncontrollable that they require their twisted wire gag or always need to be ridden in draw reins, tie downs etc. It blames the horse without acknolwedging the fact that 9 times out of 10, it is actually the rider who needs the equipment, not the horse. What do I mean by this? Riders who do not have the tools to fix horses without gadgets or bitting up will view it as impossible to do so because, like their horses, they are a product of the programs they’ve been in and a product of what they have been led to believe. The lack of ability to do something makes it feel impossible and when something feels impossible, people are a lot more compelled to insist that those who state something as being possible are merely lacking of well-rounded experience.

I used to be one of these riders. When a horse would rush fences, I would bit up, instead of, you know, training it. When they would get heavy, I would feel compelled to use draw reins or something to take the workload off of myself and make it feel easier, allow me to achieve things faster, even if the horse wasn’t physically ready to do so. I am not lying when I say that the reason behind every decision to bit up or to slap on X training aid was entirely catered to my own desire to move quicker and virtually never considered the horse or what was the best approach for them, even if at the time I would claim something differently. In most cases, slowing down and going back to basics to build that good foundation without intense force through discomfort or pain is going to produce better, faster and long term results than any quick fix training gadget or bit will. Most of our mistakes as riders stem from wanting to move too quickly rather than too slow. It is a lot harder to screw a horse up by taking your time, but time isn’t something most equestrians want to be overly generous with because patience is hard, especially when you’re constantly comparing yourself to people on social media with these speedy, results based training programs that work to churn horses out to shows and get them jumping high ASAP without regard for what is best for the horses’ wellbeing. The entire competition circuit in virtually every discipline encourages this exact mentality by largely rewarding it in judging along with immensely encouraging it on social media and virtually every other facet of the horse world. We see it everywhere, even with the entire idea that a horse can have their potential “wasted” when, quite literally, the horse could not give less of a shit about said potential in the show ring. We have made it our culture to guilt trip riders for not doing enough with their horses, for not moving fast enough and it has resulted in a mindset that is quite insidious towards our horses.

So, here is the truth: your soft hands do not change the nature of the equipment you use. If you use something that serves the purpose of further leveraging pressure to make it harder for your horse to resist, the equipment itself isn’t soft even with your soft hands. The choice to use harsher equipment serves the sole purpose of utilizing gadgets for the means of increasing the consequences of resistance. Even with soft hands, your horse is still meeting further discomfort from any type of shanked bit, abrasive mouthpiece, gag, curb action etc than they would from a smooth, direct action bit or bitless. Even when using them “properly” gadgets like draw reins still run the risk of forcing a horse into a false position they’re not ready for and making them hold it for longer than they’re comfortably capable of. Even in the best of riders, this is easy to do because you cannot feel the horse’s muscular fatigue. That is why it is inherently riskier to be tempted into using harsher and harsher equipment to achieve shortcuts. Does it mean every rider who is compelled to do these things is being unfair to their horse? No. However, I would say that these shortcuts are most appealing to those who probably are not the most qualified to use them.

I am of the mind, as a trainer, that any horse can go in a snaffle or bitless if they’re trained to do so. Does this mean in every instance everywhere all horses can do it no matter what they’re being asked to do? Maybe not, however, we could see a lot more snaffle mouthed and truly “soft” horses if we prioritized it more in how we trained horses, but currently, that really isn’t a priority. The speed of results for the rider hold importance over what speed is actually fairest and most beneficial to the horse. This confounds the actual number of horses out there who could be going around a lot more relaxed and soft than they are, because they’re merely a product of their training programs and responding to the information they’ve been given from their riders. Riders without the support or tools to learn softer methods will almost always reject those who state the possibility of such, as it feels like an attack on what they’ve always known. They aren’t typically the most receptive of these outside opinions because they go against everything they’ve been taught and can also demand walking a harder, more lengthy road in training. I know this because I’ve been one of these riders and, frankly, I don’t at all think it’s a coincidence that since I learned how to ride better and prioritize foundation more, I haven’t needed any of the bigger bits or fun little training gadgets I used to use so frequently. I think it does myself and my horses a disservice to have the mindset that we all just lucked into being snaffle mouthed horses who can also go bitless. You can’t get lucky time and time again like that, especially when every horse prior frequently used gadgets or a pelham or elevator to jump in.

As riders, we commonly say to never blame the horse but, ironically, the vast majority of the time it is the horse who is blamed for needing the equipment they are ridden in when it is more of a commentary on the rider and the programs the horse has been through than anything else. Horses will fluctuate with what they’re ridden in from rider to rider as they go from home to home. This isn’t a result of the horse changing so much as the parameters of their training and management changing as well as the abilities of their rider. The equipment we use and how we manage our horses is reflective of us and these things are all more interconnected than most people want to realize. It is no coincidence that it is usually the areas where horses receive the least amounts of turnout, socialization and other important basic necessities are typically heavily correlated with having the most excitable, ill behaved horses who require heavy equipment to get around. By addressing management and training practices and looking hard at the why behind our choices of equipment, we only will get better as horse people because it will force us to consider every action from the standpoint of the horse rather than what is most convenient for us.

The bit is as harsh as the mechanics allow it to be and it is your job as a rider to showcase your true softness by your consideration towards your horse. Be careful not to justify equipment that may benefit you but only to the detriment of your horse’s comfort. Softness is more than just your hands, it is where you draw the line for what you view as fair to use on your horse for regular training. The softest hands won’t want to be the on the other end of the rein for certain bits and equipment because they recognize that they cannot make up for the aversive mechanics of what they’re attached to.