I noticed a few horses being ridden in a dropped noseband at a few shows. I’ve always used the typical cavesson noseband “just because”.
What is the purpose of the dropped noseband? If you use one, why? What differences did you notice with your horse?
My gelding likes stability and anything rattling/moving in his mouth makes him mad. When he’s mad, he bucks violently. 
He also has a single piece mouthpiece for additional stability. The noseband is slightly large for him, so it can ONLY be a bit loose, but it essentially holds the bit up into the corners of his mouth and more still - he’s one who also benefits from having a few wrinkles instead of just one, as that’s the position he prefers. It generally keeps the bit OFF the bars of his mouth altogether, which is also important to him - he came to me with a fear of the bit, and having it up off his bars even when relaxed and on a loose rein is important to him. Before I switched to a drop he would be VERY dramatic when I was bridling before I put the flash on. He would open his mouth and act like he was gagging on the bit trying to get away from it without the flash helping hold it up a bit - which was part of why we thought he might really appreciate a drop.
Some people will talk about a drop working well for holding a horse’s mouth shut (usually opponents to it.) It hits the soft part of the nose - that’s just a horrible way to imagine someone using one.
@netg : These comments are from ignorant people with no real understanding of the equipment nor it’s use. It’s a shame as it can be a great tool.
Drop noseband are meant to stabilize the bit in the horse’s mouth. It should be well adjusted ; I prefer those that can also be adjusted on top of the nose.
How is a drop different from a flash in effect? I feel like the flash replaced the drop in the last couple decades and the only place I’ve seen drops for sale is the back bins of used tack rummage sales. I’ve never used either so curious.
I’m curious - does the drop noseband provide more stability than a flash or are they comparable in that respect? And slightly off topic - if you have a horse that likes the stability of the drop noseband (or flash), how do you transition to the double bridle?
I must say, I do love the classic look of a drop noseband on a slightly roman nosed horse.
I like them on young horses as it keeps the noseband buckle off the developing/changing molars
I think the drop is a lot more stable than the flash. Flash nosebands pull down the nose and you have very little control over the actual fit of either the top or bottom. They only provide the stability if they are tight. A drop noseband (or micklem) can provide the same stability with a looser strap because of the greater angle created by the attachment point. That is, you get extra stability from the leather wanting to be straight and from the direction of the pull being more towards the direction of the horse’s poll. On a flash you are basically just encircling the mouth below the bit.
In addition the flash requires the very tight (upper) cavesson to try to keep the pieces in place.
i don’t understand why people deny that other people use the drop to secure the mouth closed. the drop by virtue of coming closest to the nostril[s] of all modern cavesons, prohibits the degree in which the horse’s jaw can open, which in turn makes for a quieter mouth and draws the illusion of accepting the contact – because the horse cannot gape his mouth to avoid the bit. i have found this is the primary reason people go for the drop. if you want a stable bit, pick a stable bit like a baucher or a d-ring.
by virtue of application, the drop functions by holding the bit upright to the corners of the mouth, instead of allowing the bit to “hang there” by the cheek pieces. it certainly does put the bit in a more stable place, until rein action is applied. the force of a rider’s hand trumps any flimsy piece of leather, and then the bit is only as stable as the person wielding it…
in a professional sense i have seen more than one professional put a younger horse in the drop to hide resistance - this way they can push them forward and show off their gaits without losing the illusion of acceptance to contact.
as a ring steward i’ve seen a few drop nosebands in utility, usually on the younger horses in training level / 1st level, occasionally one or two at an event but not often. in bit checks i have yet to find a drop noseband that was fitted correctly to the horse’s head, which is two fingers width of looseness between the jowls and strap, and between the bridge of nose and strap. i have never been able to fit even a single finger between the bridge of nose and strap in any of the competitors that i bit-checked. often times the drop sat very low and interfered with the nasal cavities.
FWIW, years ago one of my projects had an inconsistent tongue wag that did not show every ride, but seemed to be related to canter work. my trainer suggested i put him in a drop as he would have a harder time pulling his tongue out if the bit was higher in his mouth. i did that but i also called the vet - we x-rayed his front feet and turns out he had incredibly thin soles and the canterwork was hard for him. put pads up front and i never saw that tongue out again…
sometimes it’s worth investigating why they are resisting the contact over slapping on a band-aid noseband.
Oh I totally agree people use nosebands to glue the horse’s mouth closed. I just think that people use the flash for that more and that if that is your goal the flash is more “effective.” It has been one of the most distressing things for me while practicing dressage, not only that it is widespread but also how many trainers insist upon it.
I do think it is possible to use a drop for the purpose of stability and that its use can be effective and productive… though of course it is certainly possible to misuse it also. A horse that really values stability sometimes really likes the soft rubber Duo/nathe type bit.
I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a flash used well and I’m sorry to see how difficult it is to buy a bridle without one and even how long it took me to have enough strength of my conviction.
And it’s not my experience that the horse has ever gone better with its mouth tightly shut. At most IMHO it’s a placebo.
i’m with you… and it is really hard to find a bridle that doesn’t have a built in flash. in my search for one that was 100% removable (AKA no ugly flash-tab) i found the eponia ginger which comes with a 100% hidden/removable flash, seen here.
agree with you on the tightly shut thing. i catch rode a horse for a while last winter and lessoned with the trainer that trained it - every time i got on the trainer would want to tighten the noseband significantly. my best rides with that horse were not in my lessons…
but the flash being a required part of a bridle is a very pervasive idea, in both dressage and eventing.
I find that a horse that goes well with a drop usually goes even better in a Micklem. And I hate the idea of using any noseband to tie a mouth shut. I also hate crank cavessons and wish they’d never been invented.
I also see poorly adjusted (too low, most often) drops and Micklems, most likely resulting in discomfort. I was chatting with someone last week who went on and on about how awful Micklems are and how horses hate them. I can only guess that she witnessed poorly adjusted and probably too tight Micklems.
The flash was meant to act as a dropped noseband with a regular noseband: so one could put it on or remove it at will. It was also meant to be easier to properly fit as dropped noseband can be a challenge! Horse’s don’t have the same width/shape of nose.
The thing is, more than often, nosebands aren’t sturdy enough for a flash attachment, that’s were crank noseband came into play.
And people don’t adjust the noseband high enough… which cause the flash to fall onto the soft part of the nose and doesn’t work… so people tighten up more to get some « results »…
@beowulf : I see no one here denying that yes, there are some people who uses noseband, cranks, flash and drops to close their horse’s mouth… They are simply clueless fools and don’t know how to use these tools.
You might have seen lots of too tight bridles but I’ve seen lots of illfitted ones that were too low and too loose… which is not better. People aren’t educated enough on proper fit and function. It’s sad.
And slightly off topic - if you have a horse that likes the stability of the drop noseband (or flash), how do you transition to the double bridle?.
By the time you transition to a double bridle, which is usually more stable in itself, the horse should be more stable in its mouth. The right combination of bits and the curb chain should make things smoother.
Also, at that point, the rider’s hands and aids in general should be more stable as well. 
I like a drop noseband. If they are good enough for the Spanish Riding School, they are good enough for me. I don’t use them to force the mouth shut. You can always get two fingers under my drop nosebands. I thought that the flash noseband happened so that people could shut their horses mouths and still use a standing martingale.
https://goo.gl/images/oUK1Bc some upper level riders still use them. I like them as well and have one for one of my young horses.
This is the bit I use as well.
I did not find a solid single piece which fit the shape of his mouth well. He has a fat tongue and low roof, so the flexibility and narrowing in the middle made this bit soft enough for him without too much bulk for his mouth.
That said, he’s one who will never be ridden in a double as he isn’t showing anyway, and would be a challenge to ever fit in one.
By definition, the vectors and materials mean that a flash noseband cannot be sturdy enough to properly hold up the drop portion. I always understood that the initial inventor was someone who wanted to use a drop with a standing martingale. I think they became popular in dressage just because some people liked the look of the cavesson with flash over the look of a dropped noseband, which was much more common before the flash came on the scene. (Yes, I am old enough to remember before there were flash nosebands.)
The flash was developed (in part) to be able to use a martingale on the noseband, since you can not put a martingale on a drop. It’s sort of a cousin, that also offers the bit stability with the flash noseband.
The drop used to be much more popular before flashes came out in the 1990s, at least as far as I remember in the USA (yes, I was riding dressage then).
I’m glad more and more companies are offering non-crank, non-flash, as well as drop noseband options. I have no particular allegince to any one style, I use what the horse needs, but “less is more”- and less to clean
I also love brown tack and white padded bridles- what is old is new again, indeed
Beowulf you never tested my drop noseband then. One of my horses goes in a drop because he hated the flash (and I do too, but my trainer prefers flash). It is properly up so as to not constrict his nostrils, and loose enough to put fingers under. Basically it is just tight enough to stay in place and not slip off the end of his nose. Reason for not just using plain cavesson is that that was the part he objected to. he came with very bad teeth, dental work had been neglected for way too long, and I think the cavesson had rubbed where points were so he learned it hurt.
the mare that is in a flash also has hers adjusted so loose that it couldn’t hold anything closed. Its just there because my trainer likes a flash. That mare actually prefers her western bridle with a curb bit. She goes so much more relaxed in the curb bit than she does any snaffle. Go figure. On contact, stretching, lifting etc. Its a curb with swivel rings so can be ridden two handed for western dressage. I need to play with some mullen mouth bits for her to see if that works better for her for regular dressage than the snaffle
My Irish horse didn’t care for a flash and didn’t care for a plain cavesson. Being Irish he was brutally honest and very opinionated. I tried him in a fulmer and it was fine but he really liked a loose drop noseband and a loose ring, french link snaffle of no particular brand. Say what you will about covering up issues, this horse was happier in a drop than in any other noseband. In his case I do believe he liked the mild stability of the drop and however it positioned the bit in his mouth. He had a weird bony cyst under his jaw and I think the drop kept stuff out of the way of it.
My cob transitioned well from snaffle (baucher french link) with drop noseband, to double (with his baucher as the bradoon and a low port weymouth) surprisingly easily. After trying a loose ring bradoon and an eggbutt bradoon and him having an absolute kiniption fit, I decided to try his (relatively small-cheeked) baucher in place of the bradoon and he’s been perfectly happy since. I do have to make absolutely sure to use a lip strap in conjunction with his curb chain though. He despises the noise of the moving chain but is equally unimpressed with it being adjusted too snugly to try to quiet it. A lip strap works well to make him happy.
As for the original question, I prefer a drop to a flash. I have found that unless I crank the cavesson as tight as possible, a flash will always pull it down, and it drives me absolutely batty. I also admit that I am a sucker for the classic look of a dropped noseband with a full cheek or baucher too 
I tried him in a flash once, to help stabilize the bit, but he threw a fit and wouldn’t stop trying to rub it off on everything he could. So I tried a drop and he was infinitely happier. The bonus for me is that his thick cobby head looks lovely in the drop, especially since I use it on a rolled bridle.
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