double birdle :(

Sorry if this is in the wrong section. I was just reading on the internet about diferent bits of tack and bridles, bits etc and came across the double bridle. It has 2 bits!!!! Im rather apaulled! Sorry if im wrong but I think if you can't get enough reaction from a horse with just 1 bit it needs more training not another bit shoved in its already full mouth....
Any opinions?

Double bridles are not the crazy tool they look like. Its not cruel and both saddleseat and dressage use them. The curb asks the horse to bend at the poll. And the bridoon, the tiny snaffle, asks the horse to lift its head.
They are used, usually, just for shows. I use em, but I ride at home in a eggbuttt french link. I think my mare is actually more comfortable with one than the kimberwick I switched to for hunt classes.

Haha oh dear you haven't had a lot to do with tack options yet have you mate?
Doubles do have 2 bits yes, but they are not as harsh as you would think. In the wrong hands yes yes you can flip a horse over backwards if the rider decides to swing off the curb rein, but generally a double is used simply to refine the aids once a horse is going softly and correctly in a snaffle. In dressage competition it is compulsary for a horse to wear a double bridle above advanced level and in FEI competition other than young horse classes.
As nasty as they look, I promise you, they're not torture devices :)
Hell, a simple snaffle bit can be an instrument of torture in the wrong hands.

Mmmm maybe the picture I saw was a harsher one. It was a sanffle and another bit which I wouldnt explain as a tiny snaffle... how many reins would you have when using this bridle?

Sorry saddledragon but I just have to pick you up on that one. The bridoon is a normal snaffle bit that any horse should go softly in, and should happily flex at the poll and stay in self carriage without the curb pressure. A horse should be able to remain in collection, and for purposes of simplifying here, should 'bend at the poll and lift it's head' of it's own accord when ridden correct from behind and held with the rider's seat. The double bridle, particularly the curb, is merely there to refine aids that should already be near spot on, it just gives you little bit of extra control :) Unless the horse is going kindly in a snaffle, there is no point putting the horse in a double.

Nope you're thinking of a double, the previous poster just described it a little incorrectly. The double bridle consists of a bridoon bit, which is a normal snaffle, and a curb bit, which is a straight bit with no joint, that sits a little lower than the snaffle and has two bars to which the curb reins attach, giving it a slight lever action. A rider should not even need to touch their curb rein except when asking for a little more refinement, and even then it requires only a twitch of the curb rein. Otherwise it is like riding with a snaffle :)
There are 2 sets of reins, the snaffle rein which connect to the bradoon (snaffle) bit, are held normally between you pinky and ring fingers on each hand, and the curb rein is held between the next 2 fingers. It does take a bit of practice to be able to ride efficiently with 2 sets of reins, but once you have got it, it's a great skill to have :)

Ok thanks for the info I was just kinda shocked and im only used to snaffles never really needed much else...

My horses do go in a snaffle, eggbutt...a bridoon is a small snaffle. It shouldnt be used alone. Its too small, it could slip if used alone. Yes, the curb is for refining position. A bridle its self is an aid. I was taught that way. Its not a 'headsetter, but the bits do work in that manner.

These are the type od bridoons I use. Not the thick ones. I think dressage peeps, use a fat mouth curb and a fat mouth snaffle, not these bits.
I was refering to ss uses for a double bridle.

Snaffles are best. Unless your riding upper level dressage or saddleseat, there is no need double bridles. I am a saddleseat rider, even I wish they would change the rules. Yes, it is a rule that any horse, not the jr's, must wear a double bridle. My horse doesnt like any curb pressure and goes just fine in a snaffle. To me, it should be the riders discresion.
I am way more impressed by the horse that goes well in a snaffle than one in a double bridle. I do have to say I really enjoy our fancy browbands.

SaddleDragon I didn't say the bridoon could be used on it's own as though acting as a snaffle bridle - but you absolutely do not have to ride off the curb when using a double bridle, I like to have just about a loop in my curb, just a very light contact and only take a little more on it when I feel the need to refine an aid or asking for a little more fine tuning for a movement the horse is finding difficult in the collected paces. But yes, I am referring to a dressage type double bridle now showing. I don't use my bit/s to position the horse's head, I use them to contain energy I have created in the hind end and refine the energy and direction given from my seat. In fact, I prefer not to use my reins for any more than containing that energy, and occasionally on certain horses that are not quite up to the standard of fine tuning to respond to seat only, I will take a little more contact and use the bit in conjunction with seat to give the aid. It is only even used to strengthen the seat aid, which should be your initial aid anyway.