This just popped up
Granted a very small sample size
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Totally makes sense because the snaffle bridles likely had flash and a tight crank noseband.
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I’m at a loss as to how one could determine that from the information provided?
But there was another similar report out about noseband pressure while working, with no detectable change in pressure from 0.5 to 3 fingers gap, so that might not matter. Results were for crank, flash and regular. Drop nosebands did have more adverse results, but that can’t be too surprising
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Makes sense. Nosebands and flashes aren’t bad in themselves, the issue is when they are cranked tight with no space.
I do wonder how the snaffle bridles were adjusted vs the double.
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I ride with a double bridle, Forward Seat (no collection), and I cut off the chin strap of my Micklem Multibridle.
I have trained 3-4 lesson horses aged from the late teens to the early thirties to the double bridle using this set up. I have also ridden these horses in a snaffle, usually the Fager Bianca.
Even when my curb rein is sagging/on the buckle the responses I get from the horses’ mouths when I give a rein aid is usually prompter and needs less weight on the reins when the 2 bits are in the horses’ mouths. My effective rein aids can decrease to me tweaking my rein fingers at the proper time in the horses’ strides.
With just the snaffle bit it seems like the horse’s first reaction is to start inverting. Then I have to explain to the horse that reaching out for contact is MUCH more comfortable. Then I can go to light contact with prompt reactions to my rein aids. I have “cured” a few of these lesson horses of their inversions and usually they reach out for contact with confidence.
With the double bridle bits in the mouth the first reactions of these lesson horses to contact, even with contact with just the bridoon, is to calmly reach forward with their mouths to establish and keep contact. My rein aids can become lighter, the horses respond to my rein aids throughout their bodies better, my riding teachers are happier with me and the lesson horse, and the horses are just more pleasant to ride.
Part of this is the action of the curb. When the horse feels ready and with my riding teachers’ consent I drop the bridoon rein and keep contact with just the Weymouth curb. The horses usually reach out for contact confidently, keep contact with my hands better, and are more responsive to my leg, balance and seat aids.
I am the only person at both stables who is allowed to ride the lesson horses with a double bridle. In fact I own the only double bridles at both stables.
There are reasons why riders use the double bridle. For me the main reason is that I can get a superior ride easier with a lot less force when I use a double bridle (for reference my contact goes from grams of force to a few ounces of force with both just the snaffle and with the double bridle.)
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My deduction was because a loose normal noseband on a snaffle has not pressure whatsoever. The difference I assume is that you don’t use crank and flash with a double.
If I had two bits in my mouth it’d take less force to get me to do things too. I’d like more research. I found the title totally misleading - the doubles do apply more pressure. Just not on the nose.
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This is pretty well known from an old school perspective isn’t it? Single jointed snaffles are a harsh bit due to the nutcracker action. We rode in mullens as kids because our hands weren’t good enough for jointed bits. Made horses going in a curb or double in self carriage was seen as the end point of training for a reason: hose can be ridden in less pressure and the poll pressure and the shanks can be used to communicate as well as simply pressure in the mouth.
I’d like to see the study done with more of an old school dressage rider though, if they can find one. Jamming the horse up into a heavy contact at all times is fairly new-ish, that’s not how I learned to ride dressage and I’m not that old.
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Maybe I am misunderstanding you and you do mean cranks AND flashes together, vs. cranks and/or flashes, since either is problematic when misadjusted.
People use cranks with doubles all the time…all of the crazy wide noseband padding configurations at the top levels are from people misusing cranks and then “making them more comfortable” by adding more and more padding. I suppose this is JMHO on the trend since I’ve never been in those barns to see the decision making personally.
Ok, I usually do see flashes plus super tight cranks when people misuse snaffle bridles
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Interestingly enough, a few years ago a company that was making ergonomic bridles did test stress levels and found out that crank nosebands created less stress responses than all other nosebands at equal tightness. Their supposition was that they create equal pressure and that was more comfortable, but when the subject doesn’t speak it’s all guess work.
So up until now we’ve had no appreciable testing of these things but we do have a whole lot of opinions that sound reasonable and yet are largely unproven… and now some testing has been done which shows that horse’s appear less stressed with crank nosebands, show no appreciable difference in stress markers from 0.5 to 3 fingers looseness in any noseband with the exception of a drop noseband, and the above findings in full vs snaffle bridles in upper level horses.
All very unpredictable, in fact the only predictable thing was the collective “I call BS!” response. 
Don’t get me wrong, I think more science is always a good thing, but the minor shock wave rippling through people’s dearly held beliefs is amusing. The swifties are right, haters gonna hate, hate, hate
Personally speaking, I’ve got one who freaking found his happy place in a full bridle. I can’t explain it, but in just the snaffle (verbinden) he’s a right pisser. In just a conrad style (driving liverpool) he’s better, but it’s not 
his happy place. In 4,862 other direct rein mouthpieces he’s a right pisser, but grudgingly thinks a loose ring Conrad shows some attempt to appreciate his wants and needs. But, damn, he’s so light and happy in the full bridle. And clearly as a driving pony, this isn’t JUST about poll pressure and curb chain pressure. So at least with my guy this made perfect sense. I was just genuinely surprised to see it worked for this sample group as well.
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“With the double bridle bits in the mouth the first reactions of these lesson horses to contact, even with contact with just the bridoon, is to calmly reach forward with their mouths to establish and keep contact. My rein aids can become lighter, the horses respond to my rein aids throughout their bodies better, my riding teachers are happier with me and the lesson horse, and the horses are just more pleasant to ride”.
I get the same reaction/results from my double bridle experiences.
I was taught in the French method and ride with a Fillis hold. I do not use a nose band with my double. The curb chain is set at a 45 degree angle and the curb is always a little lighter than the bradoon rein.
The Fillis hold permits me to move my wrist up or down, just a little to apply a little more curb or less curb. As needed.
Most of the horse’s I work with go in a simple, loose ring, single link bradoon and a “mors Lotte” style curb.
The horses I ride, relax more in it, and yes, they reach forward into it.
I introduce the double with much ground work, using a similar hold and aids as the in saddle hold.
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I remember the days when I patiently introduced the double bridle from the ground. But nowadays I am so unsteady on my feet and my balance is so bad that it would not go well.
My riding teacher leads the horse by the reins to the riding ring. If I am stable enough and have enough energy I might finger the reins separately for a minute. If I am not stable enough I just mount and we walk off, with my fingers delicately tweaking the bridoon and curb rein separately.
The horses “tell” me that the double bridle is not rocket science, that they understand it almost immediately (I have sympathetic hands), and they just do not understand why humans have so many problems with using one.
Then I drop the bridoon rein and just keep contact with the curb, then they relax and reach forward with their muzzle to get and keep contact with just the curb.
I get the impression from these horses that the curb, in my hands, feels like I am gently holding the bottom of their jaw and that to them it sort of feels like I am “holding their hand”, giving them a feeling of security.
This includes horses who have never had a curb or a double bridle in their mouth before, and who often take exception to my contact with the snaffle. The double bridle relaxes them as it seems to give the horse answers to all the questions the horse has about bits. With just the snaffle contact brings these questions “where exactly do you want my head?”, “WTF do you mean by that rein/seat/leg aid?” (as in do you want my head up or do you want me to flex at the poll, or do you want my to stiffen my lower jaw so it feels like concrete.)
With the double bridle all these existential questions fall to the wayside as the horse relaxes and starts lengthening their stride while reaching for the bit with confidence.
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