Most riders err on the side of using a bit with too much control or with too little control. Either one is not ideal, but it can be difficult to determine which is worse. With a less secure rider, you may end up with the rider balancing on the reins, the horse resenting the unfair contact, and running through the cues or ignoring them. So using a less severe bit will on the one hand be easier on the horse but the rider will gradually lose even more control.
On the other hand, a more severe bit will be harsh on the horse, but instead of merely losing control over speed, the rider may end up with some serious behavioral problems due to the horse becoming very resentful or frightened to the point of acting out. The rider will be safer at first, because he will be able to slow and stop the horse with the harsher bit. Yet he may become more unsafe at some point if the horse feels he must rear or buck or spin to avoid the harsh contact. Obviously, it is hoped that the rider will learn to use the gear properly, communicate with the horse and develop an independent seat. When that is the case, either bit will probably work fine for the pair.
Control gets even trickier with a square horse. If you use a bit that is too severe, the sensitive horse may have such a strong reaction that it renders the bit useless. For instance, it is a good thing for some horses to be ridden in a Pelham bit with two reins. The horse can be ridden on the snaffle rein when he is calm, and then if he becomes too strong the curb can be engaged for more serious brakes.
On an excitable and reactive horse, I tried out a mullen mouth Pelham. This went fine when the horse was not excited. We trotted and cantered around on the snaffle rein, and it seemed to be going well because the mare felt comfortable with the smooth mullen mouthpiece and moved forward into it. Then the horse got all worked up about something. Suddenly, the mare was bulling right through that smooth, thick mullen. No problem, that’s what the curb rein was for. Unfortunately, the curb had more leverage than the mare was used to. A light touch stopped her in her tracks. Yet she had all this excitable energy and needed to go forward before she exploded. She was about to leap up or rear, so the curb was released and it was back to the mullen. She rammed forward again, out of control. The touch of the curb would stop her and she’d panic, even with an instant release. Obviously this was not the bit for her. Perhaps a curb with much shorter shanks and a more severe mouthpiece than a simple mullen would have been a good solution.
Control can be a serious issue for the very hot-blooded, reactive horse. Some horses can handle being put in a more severe bit than they need, if the rider’s hands are delicate and the bit is only used when necessary. For others, the balance of pressure must be just right or the horse will panic and lose control. For this reason, it can be difficult to discover the best bit for these horses. You may find that one bit will work for some more controlled situations, while another might be better for other situations. This is similar to the eventing horses that go in a snaffle for their dressage and sometimes the stadium jumping portion of their event, but may be ridden in a gag bit or pelham while going cross country.
A huge part of being in control when on a horse is being able to steer the horse. I’ve always said that if I have to choose, I’ll take steering over brakes. It’s just like being out of control in a car: would you rather be in a runaway car with no brakes while you could still steer around corners and aim for a bush rather than a river? Or would you rather be in a car with no steering that you could eventually get to stop after a mile or two? You might end up in the water or over a cliff first.
For this reason, I never choose a bit that has the primary action of being a curb bit. I’ve been on a lot of horses that were trained to neck rein, but I’ve never been on a horse that could neck rein so well we could avoid a tree that we were galloping toward, five feet away. If a horse is galloping flat out and has suddenly lost the ability to stop, his “supple” neck and smooth turning ratio turns into what amounts to a steel rod jutting out in front of his body. That means I need a bit or hackamore that has the ability to direct rein so I can pull the horse’s head a few inches off to the side, hopefully pointing him somewhere safer than where we were going while I continue to work on slowing him down.
Those who work with reactive, square horses need to understand that horseback riding is based on an illusion of control. Even riders who only ride mellow, tractable horses are never truly in control of a 1,000 lb animal. The horse complies with our wishes and we feel as though we are controlling him. At any moment, the horse can relinquish control and take matters into his own hands. As well, the horse has the illusion that we can control him. Even the strongest bit will only stop a horse if he will allow himself to believe that stopping will relieve the pressure and/or pain from the bit or headgear. If he believes running is the best way to relieve pressure and pain, then you will continue running, on and on until the horse drops.
This concept is important to understand, because when a horse is panicking, he must always, always be given a release of pressure even if it means the rider or handler has a temporary loss of control. Those who hold back tightly on a panicking horse often get severely injured when the horse leaps in the air, flips over backward or somersaults. This is how you end up underneath horses, dragged behind horses, or severely trampled over. Because of this, you will often see good riders on horses that are reacting badly to something dancing and prancing all over the place. This allows the horse to have an outlet for their energy while keeping the forward movement slowed to a reasonable pace. Those who instead try to keep the horse still to make themselves more comfortable will soon learn the hard way that horses can and do “explode.”