Full Cheek Snaffle?

I never really knew why my mare was in a full cheek, but she works fine in it.
My question is: I know the full cheek can have an attachment to the bridle, keeping the bit upright in place. What is the purpose of that? My mare doesn't have hers like that, so then should I put her in a regular D ring? I'm new to learning the importance of tack, and I just want my ponies to be comfy.
Posted via Mobile Device

Bit holders are inexpensive and they're necessary if you're using a full cheek bit, so the points of the bit don't stab your horse in the face.

JJ goes best in a low port, jointed, full cheek. You can bet your boots I bought the bit holders.

I've also heard then called bit keepers instead of bit holders.
Less than $5 a pair at the local tack shops, go splurge.

Sorry if this is a small derail, but SR is this what you use??



I bought this from another poster on here and I tried it on Bert today and she seems to be very happy in it, cross fingers and hope that it works for her.

So I should go find some bit keepers maybe?

Some keeps are always good on a full cheek.

They keep the sides in place, and keep the bit from sliding and rotating out of place, which easily happes with full cheeks.
Posted via Mobile Device

Thanks! Next time I'm in town ill look for some!
Posted via Mobile Device

Full Cheeks were designed to sit in the horses mouth in a particular way, and that is achieved with the use of the keepers.

Always use a Full Cheek with the keepers to ensure your bit is sitting in your horses mouth correctly.

I use the full cheek snaffle, too but without keepers. Never had a problem with the bit sitting incorrectly in my geldings mouth.

Correct Placement in Mouth:



Incorrect Placement in Mouth:



I don't think "placement" is the correct word - but Angle is. The bit was designed to sit in the horses mouth. With the keepers, the bit rests in the mouth at the angle it was designed to sit.

I use keepers, because I want the bit to be placed properly in my horses mouth as it is designed to rest.

I asked this question in another thread, and still have not received a satisfactory answer, so here goes again:

What do you mean by "rotated correctly in the mouth?" I saw in the opening post that you mentioned the correct orientation of the mouthpiece, but it seems to me that tilting it back with a keeper would actually negatively affect the position of the joint. Of the full cheek snaffles I've seen (which, admittedly, is only a handful), the mouthpiece is always perpendicular to the cheeks, just like in an eggbutt or D-ring. You don't rotate those for everyday use....and if you rotate the full cheek using keepers, aren't you going to bring the joint down so that it breaks over the tongue rather than straight back? It seems that this would also influence the ability to do any sort of lateral reining, as, unless your horse is carrying a perfectly vertical headset, you'll be pulling across the joint rather than breaking it.... (this all makes sense in the picture in my head, but I'm afraid it's not coming out in words very clearly)

The safety thing I understand, so I always try to be hyper-aware when using my keeper-less full cheek.

Read more: Bit Information (Snaffle and English-Type Bits)