Downunder Horsemanship Sweet Iron Snaffle Bit

Product Description

Downunder Horsemanship Sweet Iron Snaffle Bit

Clinton uses a snaffle bit on all his horses, and recommends riding in a snaffle bit when performing the exercises from the Method. Snaffle bits encourage lateral flexion, and lateral flexion is the key to vertical flexion. In other words, the softer you can get your horse from side to side, the softer he’ll be when you pick up on two reins and ask him to give to the bit vertically.

Clinton’s Snaffle Bit is a combination of a D- and O-ring and has a 5-inch mouthpiece that’s 3/8″ thick with 3-inch rings. Because of its design, it will not pinch the corners of the horse’s mouth like many other snaffle bits do. The bit is made of sweet iron, which encourages the horse to salivate. This keeps your horse’s mouth soft and more responsive to your rein cues during training sessions.

The Snaffle Bit comes in three styles: Smooth, Twisted and Square.

Smooth

If you have a horse that is light in your hands, choose a smooth snaffle.

Square

For a horse that leans on the bit, use a twisted or square mouth snaffle to make leaning uncomfortable.

Twisted

Once the horse responds to the square or twisted snaffle, go back to the smooth snaffle.

Clinton uses sweet-iron bits on his horses because not only do they taste good to horses, but they encourage a horse to salivate, which helps with a horse staying soft on the bit. However, since the bits do rust, they require regular maintenance. In order to keep them in good working condition, they should be cleaned and oiled on a regular basis.