Common Misconceptions

Things I see on here a lot that frustrate me... Feel free to add!

1. Snaffle vs. Curb: There is NO SUCH THING as a snaffle with shanks. Full stop. ANY bit that uses leverage is a curb. A snaffle is a bit that exerts 1:1 pressure, I.e. 1lb of pressure on the rein, 1lb pressure on the mouth. A curb bit is any bit that increases the ratio any higher than 1:1, I.e. 1lb pressure on the rein, 2lb pressure on the mouth. Both curbs and snaffles can have mullen, jointed, double jointed, ported, rubber, sweet iron mouthpieces. One or the other does not denote what class the bit falls into.

2. Albino Horses: They don't exist! Horses that look white are either grey or dilute (i.e. Perlino, Cremello, etc). Albinism is presented with lack of ANY pigment. This means pink skin, white hair/nails and red eyes. Always. The lack of any of these means the animal is not a true albino.

I agree Wild_Spot. I am sure there other misconceptions. By riders and horsemen of all riding style and events.

^^ Yes, there are many more. Just ask any gaited owner (such as myself). There are plenty gaited misconceptions. I don't feel like listing all of them or starting any fights, though, so I'm going to skip listing them.

Hmm maybe they are misconceptions but their also might be people who don't really know and are trying to learn :) Just saying because I know I am one of those people....I am just starting to learn about bits and purposes etc and everything else horse related LOL it's a lot to learn and observe but I can understand how misconceptions happen :)

I think I may have written that wrong... Lol. I don't get frustrated with people who don't know the correct term etc... It's more that I get frustrated with epople who SHOULD know these things and have an opportunity to teach others but istead continue to give out incorrect information! A prime example is tack shops selling curb bits such as a tom humb as a snaffle. It may make more new horse people buy the bit, but it does nothing to help people educate themselves and treat their horses correctly!

Yeah, you're first point was probably directed at me. It is a logical thing to speak of a shank snaffle as they are sold through the US, Australia, and the web whether they technically exist or not. Those happen to be the ones I've been interested in, and they happen to hold the title "shank snaffle".

Just about the Albino horses, their was an old horse at my riding school & he was completely white, he had pink skin, but you could see it really well, around his eyes & around his nose & mouth. He had very freakishly red eyes too. I thought he looked really scary hehe.

Then he was a cremello. Albino horses don't exist.

Correction. Albino horses are born dead. So there is such a thing, a dead thing, but a thing.

Why is that?