i guess now on yahoo they have a thing called "ask" and you ask a question and then they post "the best answer" ??? anyway. I copied the question and the "best" answer which is actually one of the worst answers I've seen janice
How come the shanks are so long on Walking horse bits? When I look at gaited show horse magazines I noticed the bits have really long shanks and the chain is really far back and I don't think it's used as a curb, can't see how that is effective. Is it longhttp://www.magnoliafarmstwh.com/images/L... for looks or is it a gaited horse thing if so why? 3 months ago Additional Details 3 months ago I noticed they are loose jointed, not ridged. http://www.twhnc.com/images/Main%20Power... Report It by super_go... Member since: November 05, 2006 Total points: 1658 (Level 3) Add to My Contacts Block User Best Answer - Chosen by Asker walking horses work off the bit.. not off the leg like your traditional walk/trot type horses. the shanked bits are leverage bits... the leverage is what keeps the horse's head up in the bridle. when the rider pulls on the reins the bit affects the mouth, but also puts pressure on the poll... causing the horse to tuck the nose... which is a must for the horse to travel correctly. walking/racking horses cant move correctly if they're all strung out through the head and neck. they have to be collected with the head up and nose tucked.... and that's exactly what the bit shanks do! pleasure classes have a limit on shank length... you cant show in a shank over 8 inches long. now in performance horse classes (padded), there is no limit on shank length or mouthpiece type because those horses are extremely hard to steer (aka "tough mouthed") in general due to the way they're trained so the more shank you have, the more severe the bit action. the mouth pieces on padded horses are usually thin twisted wires, double twisted wire, or chain mouths and most are gag bits (the mouthpiece moves freely on the shanks). pleasure horses generally ride out of broken (snaffle) type mouth pieces or a light chain mouth. you select the bit that your horse performs the best in... not nessecarily the bit the horse is the most comfortable in or likes the best. the curb chain that runs under the chin has one purpose... to keep the horse on the bit and make the bit action stronger. it prevents the horse from getting off too much bit pressure. some people use the curb chain to keep a horse from getting it's tongue over the bit but that's actually what a caveson is for....and no walking horses are NOT shown in double bridles... those are saddlebreds! some arabians and morgans are also shown in double bridles but it's illegal to show walking horses in double bridles! 3 months ago Source(s): own/show/train walking/racking horses Report It Asker's Rating: Asker's Comment: you show them so you got to be right, but it sort of sounds like performance horses are trained poorly why would you want a tough mouth -- yipie tie yie yo
