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Double twisted wire bit...

40K views 89 replies 38 participants last post by  lilkitty90 
#1 ·
I was at the tack store yesterday and I saw a bit with a mouth peice similar to this. I can tell it has to be extremly harsh, but what else can anyone tell me about this bit? I'm just curious because I've never seen it before. Thanks!

 
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#18 · (Edited)
Or perhaps it is used by trainers that took on a horse that the owners had screwed up so badly trying to be the horses buddy that it takes a bit like that to get the horses attention.

Why does this bit have to be "harsh"? Why does "harsh" have to equal cruel?

I don't own this type of bit but I wouldn't roll my eyes at anyone that did just because of this bit.
 
#4 ·
This is JustDressageIt's description of a double twist bit on the sticky at the top of this forum:

Double Twisted Offset Wire

This bit is very very harsh. You have two different mouthpieces protruding up into the palate at once, they both crackerjack on the tongue in different places, then two wires irritate and hurt the horse’s lips to “make it listen.”

Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-tac...naffle-english-type-bits-36522/#ixzz0pk1qHzzq



Ugh is all I can say. I agree that this will never fix the issue at hand, only force the horse to "respond"/cave to the pain.
 
#5 ·
Twisted wire bits, single or double, should be banned IMO, from every show and riding organization out there. They are a lazy shortcut for a horse that is hard mouthed or has other training issues. I have seen horses with bloody lips at shows before, with trainers dabbing colored cream over the wounds so the judges won't see... It's downright disgusting.

ANY trainer that uses them or recommends them is a sorry excuse for a horse-person IMO, and should be flogged.
 
#8 ·
I have seen horses with bloody lips at shows before, with trainers dabbing colored cream over the wounds so the judges won't see... It's downright disgusting.

ANY trainer that uses them or recommends them is a sorry excuse for a horse-person IMO, and should be flogged.
Oh my goodness! That is just horrible! I don't know how people could say that they love horses and do that to them. It is just wrong :( and yes, they should be hit for doing stupid stuff like that.
 
#11 ·
They're all too common in the 2/3yr old "Snaffle Bit" WP classes I have seen, breed and open.
Wow! That's sick!

Although I do remember checking a known local trainer (I was looking for the place to put my horses in training), and I asked what bit he's using. His dad said "snaffle with wire mouthpiece"! Well... They didn't go there... :lol:
 
#12 ·
I tried to buy a new games pony a while ago - A little 12.3h pony who was in a very short tie down and very amped up. I rode her and was sure she would go much better with a nice snaffle and no tie down. I offered them a little lower than their asking price, and they turned me down.

They then turned around and sold her to another girl I know (And don't like) for $1,000 LESS than I had offered.

I saw her on the pony a few weeks ago and she was back in a short tie down, but now with the added fun of a double offset twisted wire bit.

She definately chose the better home for the pony, don't you think!
 
#14 ·
C'mon, wild_spot, some people are just nuts, you know that! :D
 
#16 ·
Oh and I forgot, I saw the girl who owned the pony that same weekend, on her new horse, in an equally short tie down with head straight in the air *Headdesk*.

People don't like to be told they're wrong unfortunately...
Silly thing is, I didn't even mention the way she was ridden or anything about her training. I guess she just though my relaxed, gadget free Bundy was terribly unhappy and from a bad home :p

I honestly lose a lot of respect for peple who feel the need to resort to a bit like this to control their horse. The sad thing is the ones that think they should use it are generally the ones who will abuse it - And the ones who could use it properly are those who don't have a a need to!
 
#17 ·
Lex, an awesome 22 year old gelding at the barn, is ridden in one by his owner, but with shanks. I ride him alot, and I put him in a thick TT, and the difference is amazing. When I first saw what bit was on his bridle, I almost had a heart attack. And he's such a sweetheart!
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#20 ·
I would guess most inexperienced people would be just as afraid of it as the people that have posted thus far in the thread. If used properly there is no reason that this bit has to cause anymore pain than a regular snaffle. You can't design everything to be idiot proof. Some things will always require some skill to use.

If you think it's so bad then don't use it but there is no need to suggest that someone that does use one is less of a horseman because he/she uses one. If they use it incorrectly then you can judge them but why not wait and see what kind of horse comes out in the end. I know people that ride in expensive rope halters that they call hackamores. They have awful horses and both are terribly unhappy.
 
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#21 ·
I know people that ride in expensive rope halters that they call hackamores. They have awful horses and both are terribly unhappy.
Its so funny that you mention that....a woman at my barn uses a PP "hackamore"--a rope halter with reins attached to it--and her horse is just a bratty spoiled arab boy if their ever was one under saddle--dumped his rider multiple times for silly things, stops and goes when he feels like it, etc. The woman went on vacation and asked the BO's 13 year old to ride her horse for her...she slapped a snaffle in his mouth and BAM, perfect and respectable horse. The woman did not want to use a bit for whatever reasons she may have (although knowing this woman its because she didn't want to hurt him, that horse is like her child) but he turned out pretty good while wearing one.
 
#24 ·
Yeah, I remember "county", he was fun to argue/discuss with though. As well as RD (who is on different forum now).
 
#30 ·
(as JDI mentioned) Snaffle bits are made to be ridden with contact on the reins (unless you're riding incorrectly with slack reins in a breed show hunter class...). There is no way to be gentle 100% of the time with a twisted wire snaffle bit, single or double, when you're riding with the correct amount of contact with the horse's mouth, period.

Using a twisted wire bit (or a corckscrew bit) is a lazy and uneducated way to put a bandaid on a larger issue.
 
#32 ·
I have to agree with Kevin. Though I would likely never use one like the one the OP posted, sometimes it is just impossible to get a horse to respect the bit without teaching them that it can hurt them. On an older horse that had had it's mouth ruined by a stupid rider, sometimes it takes some pain to realign that horse's way of thinking. However, using this as a starter training tool on a young horse is just too much.

If a trainer can't get what they want from a fresh, young mouth without tearing it up, then there is some serious gaps in their training process.
 
#33 ·
I agree with Kevin on this one. That bit is not something to not use ever. That bit could be useful sometimes. We have a horse that is very hard mouthed, he was trained as a driving horse and because of poor horsemanship and stupid owner his mouth is ruined. He is so insensible that even with spurs is hard to control him. He is very sweet but he doesn't respect the bit. So in his case I will use such a bit, but only with someone with good hands. I will not put a novice rider on him, or myself. With such a bit you must know what you do, and you must have light hands. And I don't think that you should use this bit often, just for one, two or a couple of days. You need to teach the horse to respect the bit and then you can change this bit with a milder one.
 
#34 ·
I still think it has no place in a horses mouth. If there is a necessity to inflict pain to get a response it IS possible to do so in a simple, SMOOTH, snaffle. The difference is that the smooth bit can also be comfortable for a contact, but the twisted wire cannot.

You only need to know how to use leverage to your advantage and you can make a snaffle as gentle or harsh as you like - I see no need to use twisted wire anything.
 
#35 ·
These bits make me shudder. Whether you ride with contact or not, there will be contact at some point otherwise why in the hell put a bit in their mouth in the first place? Even with very gentle hands I fail to see how a bit of this design is necessary.

I wouldn't want a twisted wire bit in my mouth so I wouldn't put one in my horses mouth either. Bits should not be designed to compensate for poor skills.
 
#37 ·
I feel like this bit has its place, but no one uses it in the correct place.

I think I recall someone in another thread saying how they needed one on a mule, I believe, because his mouth was so numbed and scarred that he physically COULD NOT FEEL anything else. That is a reason to use this bit.

But I think it's true that most people who could use one properly wouldn't need one in the first place.
 
#39 ·
I think I recall someone in another thread saying how they needed one on a mule, I believe, because his mouth was so numbed and scarred that he physically COULD NOT FEEL anything else. That is a reason to use this bit.
In that case, you can use a hackamore or other bitless alternative. I know more than a few "hard-mouthed" horses that go quite well in some form of bitless bridle, or comibination bit (that uses a smooth mouth).
 
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