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"Slow" and "fast" bits

From: Bob

Dear Jessica, Your site is awesome. Thanks so much for providing all this help to so many people. I have benefited from your advice many times. I have a question about bits. I looked in the archives and learned a whole lot about bits, but not the answer to this exact question.

What exactly is a "slow" and a "fast" bit? I was at a cowhorse competition with some friends, and one of them knew one of the guys competing, so we hung out with him some. We got to talking about old-style California training, and he showed us a couple of his bridles, that were just awesome. Hand-hitched horsehair and these incredible bits with "spoons" on them. I've seen spade bits before, but these were amazing. He said something about one bit being "slow" and two of the others being "fast", but I couldn't guess what he meant, and we had to leave before I had a chance to ask him, there were a bunch of people hanging around asking questions, not just us. I've been wondering about that ever since. Can you help? I'd like to figure out if my bits are slow or fast or what.

Bob


Hi Bob! Lucky you - it's a privilege to meet, let alone watch and talk to, one of the old-style California vaquero trainers.

The "speed" of a bit, or whether a particular bit would be called "fast" or "slow", depends on the actual and comparative lengths of the purchase and the shanks, as well as on the slant of the shanks. (NOTE: we're talking exclusively about Western curb bits.) The longer the purchase and shanks, the more leverage, and the "faster" (all things being equal) the bit. The shorter the purchase and shanks, the less leverage, and the "slower" the bit. The mouthpiece will factor into the horse's physical comfort level, of course, and should be chosen with that in mind. The angle and height of the port will certainly have an effect on the "speed" of the bit. Overall, the "speed" of the bit ought to be chosen with the horse's psychological comfort level in mind. A nervous or green horse would typically be more comfortable with a "slower" bit; a highly-trained bridle horse can wear a "fast" bit, and will seem to be respond, not to the movement of the rider's hand, but to the rider THINKING about moving his hand. Part of this is training; part is the bit's "speed".

The difference in "speed" is simply this: given the exact same amount of movement from the rider's hand, a "fast" bit will create more leverage, faster, than will a "slow" bit. In other words, if the rider moves his hand four inches to create leverage with Bit A, and moves his hand only two inches to create leverage with Bit B, then Bit B would be a "faster" bit, because the rider's hand would need to travel only two inches before the bit's signal was felt by the horse's mouth.

This might mean that the difference is in pounds -- a hand movement might create two pounds of pressure on the horse's mouth with Bit A, and four pounds with Bit B, or it might be in ounces, with a tiny hand movement creating one ounce of pressure with bit A, and two ounces with Bit B. (And if you don't think that there's much difference between one and two ounces, trust me, there is a big difference, and your horse will recognize it.)

You probably already understand and employ some of the principles of "slow vs fast" bits. For instance, you know that a bit with a longer purchase and a longer shank is a more severe bit than one with a short purchase and a short shank. You probably know that the position and design of the shanks makes quite a difference to the effect of the bit: if the shanks hang straight down or curve forward, the movement of the rider's hand will be felt much sooner and much more strongly than if the shanks are curved back (think "grazing bit"). The swept-back shanks make the bit "slower"; the forward sweep would make the bit "faster".

If you get a chance to meet and talk with this vaquero again, ask him about leverage bits vs "signal" bits - and get ready for a good long lecture. And don't worry too much about the apparent severity of the bits - the vaqueros who train true bridle horses are very soft and quiet with their hands, using the bits for signals rather than for leverage. The horses respond to the slightest movement of the rein and the slightest rotation of the mouthpiece - there's generally not enough movement of the rider's hand to put pressure on the horse's tongue, let alone the bars.

I still prefer my spade bits on the wall, to admire, for two reasons: one is that there are very few trainers left who follow the old vaquero traditions and take the time and trouble to create completely educated bridle horses - and on anything LESS than a completely educated bridle horse, a spade bit is not a signal bit, it's a painful, powerful leverage bit. My other reason is that I've seen too many riderless horses damage their mouths by stepping on a rein attached to a severe bit. I realize that this isn't a big problem when horses are trained to STOP when their reins drop loose, but I would worry anyway. ;-)

Jessica

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