^ Indeed
My horses don't NEED anything. Selena goes completely bareback and bridleless if I ask of her. She can be ridden in pretty much any bit. I've had her in ports, no ports, billy allens, cavalry shanks, mylers, combination gags, jr. cowhorses, sweet sixes, hackamores, bosals...But I settled on a bit that compliments her strengths and weaknesses to what she works best in, and that bit is an 8'' shank Billy Allen reiner bit.
Now we have a horse at the barn who goes in a bit with a lot of gag. Now, he gets way lifty on his own, so for his work that gag complimets his style. If I was to use that bit on Selena however, I would have a trainwreck on the barrel pattern. She would duck in, drop her shoulder, etc. The gag works for that gelding very well because he lifts naturally quite a bit. But the bit I have Selena running in right now has just enough for me to manuever her with finesse and keep her elevated just enough that she can make a performance out of it.
If a horse came to the barn for training and the owner said "find me a bit that works", I would evaluate what the horse needs than train in a snaffle on the foundation and building, then when it came time to really work I would find something that complimented his style. If that bit happened to be a chain bit, so be it.
I could acheive what I wanted in a snaffle, and it can be done if I asked with the right cues, but the purpose of these step up bits is so that way it's easier for both horse and rider to achieve the goal in a high pressure situation. If I'm at a barrel race running for a couple hundred dollars, I want the bit my horse works good in with the least amount of effort from them and me and no other will do. Making things as easy as they can be in competition is the goal. No, we aren't covering up issues with the foundation, we're just using the tools available to get the job done to the best of our abilities. It is not wrong to set yourself up with the proper equipment for success.
No bit, not even a snaffle, can fully bring out the best in every single horse out there. End of story.