Difference Between A Snaffle and A Curb
See also: Curb bit and bit shankThe snaffle differs from the pelham bit, the curb bit, and the kimberwicke in that it is a non-leverage bit, and so does not amplify the pressure applied by the reins. With a snaffle, one ounce of pressure applied by the reins to a snaffle mouthpiece will apply one ounce of pressure on the mouth. With a curb, one ounce of pressure on the reins will apply more – sometimes far more – than one ounce of pressure on the horse's mouth.
There are many riders (and a remarkable number of tack shops) who do not know the true definition of a snaffle: a bit that is non-leverage. This often results in a rider purchasing a jointed mouthpiece bit with shanks, because it is labeled a "snaffle," and believing that it is soft and kind because of the connotation the snaffle name has with being mild. In truth, the rider actually bought a curb bit with a jointed mouthpiece, which actually is a fairly severe bit due to the combination of a nutcracker effect on the jaw and leverage from the shanks.
A true snaffle does not have a shank like a pelham or curb bit. Although the kimberwicke appears to have a bit ring like a snaffle, the bit mouthpiece is not centered on the ring, and thus can be used to create leverage; in the Uxeter kimberwicke, there are slots which the reins in a specific location. Both are used with a curb chain, thus the ring acts like a bit shank and creates leverage, making it a type of curb bit.
A snaffle also will not be able to slide up and down the rings of the bit or cheekpieces of the bridle, as this would place it in the gag bit category.
Read more about this topic: Snaffle Bit
Famous quotes containing the words difference between a, difference between, difference, snaffle and/or curb:
“The difference between a photograph and even the most realistic painting—say, one of Courbet’s landscapes—is that in the latter there has been selection, emphasis and some discreet distortion. The painter’s deep instinctive feeling for mass and force has rearranged everything.”
—Gerald Branan (1894–1987)
“There is no difference between the client and the prostitute. If a man goes to a prostitute, he is also a prostitute.”
—Sister Michele, Indian nun. As quoted in the New York Times Magazine, p. 35 (January 16, 1994)
“To be honest, I knew that there was no difference between dying at their years old and dying at seventy because, naturally, in both cases, other men and women will live on, for thousands of years at that.... It was still I who was dying, whether it was today or twenty years from now.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“They use the snaffle and the curb all right;
But where’s the bloody horse?”
—Roy Campbell (1902–1957)
“The angels were all singing out of tune,
And hoarse with having little else to do,
Excepting to wind up the sun and moon
Or curb a runaway young star or two.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)