Snaffle bits come with several different mouthpiece options — a mullen mouth, which is straight, and either a single or double jointed mouthpiece.
It’s important that the mouthpiece be configured in the proper way for the bit to work properly. Since many bits are made with ring cheek pieces, it can be inadvertently attached to the bridle incorrectly and will cause a lot of pain to the horse.
When a snaffle bit has jointed mouthpiece, it is important that the joint drape downward. This allows the bit to fit into the bars of the mouth (where the horse has no teeth) and drape over the tongue.
If the bit is attached to the bridle backwards, the snaffle joint creates a sharp angle because the joint is bent in the
wrong direction. If the rider were to pull on the reins when the bit was backwards, it would drive the joint into the palate of the horse’s mouth and cause pain.
Thank you- this helped a lot i got the parts all messed up and this helped me out a lot.
i have a 3 ring WH bit i need to know if the d-ring goes toward the horse or away when putting on a bridle its a 2 twisted bit
It’s not entirely clear to me what a WH bit looks like. I looked at some examples on the Internet and if you are using a shank, it’s important that the shank curve back toward the horse. If it’s a three ring gag bit, the same advice holds true: make sure that the mouthpiece of the bit curves in a gentle U shape with the bottom of the U facing outward.
Is is possible to have it upside down? As in, does it matter which way the two joints link? (In your picture the right side seems the be the one that ‘sticks up’ as opposed to the ‘flat’ left side.) Does it work the same the other way around?
It is possible to put a bit in upside down but the mouthpiece won’t work properly. As you can see in the photos, when the two joints are oriented in the correct way, the bit forms a U or V shape where the middle points outward, away from the horse. If the bit is reversed, the V of the bit will poke the horse in it’s palate and be quite painful.
I understand the ‘u’ vs. ‘v’ concept. Your pictures are great. Hard for me to explain this but — if I flipped the bit over your first picture so that the top was on the bottom as opposed to a 180 turn in your second ‘v’ picture) the left side of the joint ‘sticks up’ and the right side was ‘flat’ (I’m talking about the little circles in the middle of the bit that connect). . .is that the same thing? It should still make a ‘u’ that’s why it’s so confusing but I hope this clarifies the question more and I haven’t been able to find any pics this way, thanks for the help!