The [very] high palate

[SillyHorse]

During my new horse’s first visit with the dentist today, I asked about his palate. We often hear about potential issues with a low palate, so when the dentist said he had an “extremely high palate” I began to wonder what, if any, bitting issues/recommendations come with a very high palate.

He has a big, strong neck and can get good and braced in the throatlatch and poll. He is pretty difficult in the snaffle (a curved mouthpiece with a copper bean), somewhat easier in the double. The curb has practically no port at all, and the bradoon is a plain loose ring with a bean. The bridles and bits came with the horse and are what his previous owner/trainer were using.

I’ve been thinking about what snaffles to try, and the information about his palate brings me here to ask for ideas. Any suggestions are welcome.

[Can_tFindMyWhip]

I would try the Verbinden from Neue Schule.

Horses that brace in the throat latch tend to tuck their tongues back a little and push it against the bit. It’s difficult to explain without a visual. The Verbinden doesn’t give them a spot to lean their tongue against.

[Jackie_Cochran]

If your horse has a very high palate you will have absolutely no problems using a single-jointed snaffle.

I have ridden horses with three-piece snaffles (french-link & lozenge) that are fussy in the bridle. When I put a single jointed snaffle on they quiet down, take up contact fine, and do not suck back (my riding teacher says I have good hands, I do not know if these horses would like a single-jointed snaffle with harsher hands.)

I am now riding one horse with a double bridle with a regular cheap Weymouth ported curb bit. He does NOT have a high palate. At first I got him a French-link egg-butt bradoon and it was fuss, fuss, and fuss some more. I got him a single jointed eggbutt bradoon and his contact improved immediately and he no longer fusses at the bits. The same goes for riding this horse just in a snaffle, he is MUCH quieter with his mouth in a single-jointed snaffle. Of course the single-jointed snaffle MUST fit his mouth, too wide and it is back to fussing.

[SillyHorse]

Thank you both for your responses.

Jackie, I have thought about a single-jointed snaffle. It seems that we dressage riders very seldom use it. I wonder why.

CFMW, I borrowed a Verbinden from a friend to try, but it is a little too narrow, so I’m toying with the idea of ordering one from Smartpak. They allow you to return bits. Before I do that, though, I think Ill try a single-jointed snaffle. Maybe that’s all I need.

[Jackie_Cochran]

Back when I started riding back in the Dark Ages dressage riders still used single-jointed snaffles.

After my experiences with two horses I am REALLY wondering if the double jointed snaffles are really milder than the single jointed snaffles.

I think a lot of the problems with single jointed snaffles may have come from the bits being too wide for the horse’s mouth. This is one beef I have against loose ring bits, they HAVE to be a bit wider so the corners of the horse’s lips don’t get trapped where the ring goes through the mouth piece. In physics I always heard that the longer the lever the stronger the effect and I see no reason why this fact, established for thousands of years, suddenly does not matter when we put a bit in the horse’s mouth.

One book I read, “On Seats and Saddles; Bits and Bitting” by Francis Dwyer he said that he did not like double jointed snaffles at all because they could act like a twitch on the lower jaw. Now he was in the Cavalry (Austrian) and they rode with one hand so I could see that. Then I remembered that when I rode with my favorite double jointed bit, a Dr. Bristol, that the horses were MUCH happier with me if I widened my hands, sometimes so much it drove my riding teacher crazy. When I got my hands closer like my riding teacher wanted the horses all sucked back some, which ended when I widened my hands back out and they cheerfully reached for contact and kept contact. Could the rider holding their hands close together with a double jointed bit turn the bit from mild to excruciatingly painful? I don’t know, I just ride with my hands much wider than dressage riders and the horses I ride are much happier with my hands that way.

Two horses basically told me that they greatly prefer the single-jointed snaffle, and in the single jointed snaffle they do not react as badly when I bring my hands closer together.

[DinkyDonk]

My little grade mare is the same way–prefers a single jointed snaffle over the double jointed ones. Whatever works…

[Jackie_Cochran]

I recently got the impression from the two horses referred to above that the did not appreciate the fact that the double jointed snaffles JANGLED in their mouths.

I do not know if they were objecting to the increased vibrations from the bit or the fact that they two joints had a lot more movement in the mouth, all I know is that they started relaxing a little bit more, and they reached out for contact with less leg when I switched to the single jointed snaffle/bradoon.

After much thought I realized that the double jointed bits that felt “alive” to my hands were the Dr. Bristol (of the correct size and put on the bridle properly-there are four ways to put a Dr. Bristol on the bridle and only one is really comfortable for the horse) and the double jointed dog-bone snaffles with a copper roller. With those two bits the horses “talk” to me with their tongues and they seem to understand when my fingers “talk back” to them.

The French link and the lozenge double jointed snaffles feel DEAD to my hands, the horses do not talk to me as much with their tongues and they do not react anywhere near as promptly to my properly timed hand aids. The horses react a little bit better if the double jointed snaffle is titanium or titanium covered, but my hands still get that DEAD feeling instead of an interesting two-way conversation between my hands and the horse’s mouth.

When I ride with a single-jointed snaffle I really miss this conversation with the horse’s tongue, but it the horse finds a double jointed bit too jangly I listen to the horse and usually by the next ride I use another bit. It may take me several bits before I find one that the horse considers properly comfortable. Shrug, in my universe the horses’ preferences rule so long as they go forward freely and reach confidently for the bit.