Bit Encyclopedia Part 3: Specialty Bits and Effects of the Bit
Double Bridles:
Overcheck Bits:
Overcheck bits are placed on the roof (palette) of a horse’s mouth. They are connected to a strap that goes over the top of the horse’s head and down the neck, connecting to the breast collar, girth, or saddle. Should a horse try to lower their head, the overcheck will pull or stab the palette, causing pain so the horse is forced to keep their head raised.
Overchecks are primarily used for standardbred racing horses or carriage horses. Sometimes, they can be used for riding if a horse is “easily distracted.”
Some overchecks do not go into the mouth, but rather around the chin. I have more information on those types here.
Snaffle Overchecks:
Mullen Overchecks:
Bent Overcheck:
Birch Overcheck:
Mohawk Overcheck:
Chain and Mulemouth Overchecks:
Mckerron Overcheck:
Speedway Overcheck:
Hutton Overcheck:
Crit Davis Overcheck:
Double Bar Crabb Overcheck:
Double Bar Crabb with Spoon Overcheck:
Pro Steel Italy Leverage Bit:
Speciality Bits:
These bits are used for extra pain and control of horses.
Mini Snaffle Bits:
Snake (Lasso) Bits:
Safety Bits:
Chifney:
Effects of the Bit:
Injuries to the Mouth:
Bit seat
Bits and Breathing: https://horsesandpeople.com.au/a-bit-free-pain-free-future-for-the-free-breathing-horse/
Resources on Bits
World Bitless Organization: https://worldbitlessassociation.org/
Massive Paper on Studies With Visuals: https://worldbitlessassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Data-and-visual-evidence-for-the-bit-free-debate.pdf
Above Paper on Google Drive:
Papers from Dr Cook: https://bitlessbridle.com/articles/
Bit Use and It’s Relevance to Rider Safety: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159123000278#:~:text=Abstract,modern%20understanding%20of%20animal%20welfare
Bit Injuries High in Show Horses: https://thehorse.com/197631/study-finds-high-rate-of-bit-related-lesions-in-trotting-horses/
Oral Lesions from Bits: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2019.00206
Tongue ties: https://horseracingkills.com/issues/tongue-ties/
What is a Tongue Tie: https://horsesandpeople.com.au/what-is-a-tongue-tie/
Champing at the Bit for Improvements: A Review of Equine Welfare in Equestrian Sports in the United Kingdom. Tim Holmes & Ashleigh F Brown https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9100173/
The 2020 Five Domains Model: Including Human–Animal Interactions in Assessments of Animal Welfare: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/10/1870
Bits Hurt Horses (video): [link]
Bits and Horse Riding (video): [link]
Abuse of Bits (video): [link]
Bit Bridle vs Bitless Bridle (video): [link]
Bit Abuse (video): [link]
Dr. Cook on Bits (video): [link] and [link]
Abuse of Bits: http://blog.nerdette.org/?p=1590
Dr. Cook on Bits: https://www.bitlessbridle.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=5
Riding Bitless: http://thinklikeahorse.org/index-7.html
Stacey Westfall Ride Horse Without Bridle or Saddle (video): [link]
British Veterinary Association (2021):
https://www.bva.co.uk/media/4273/full-bva-position-on-animal-welfare.pdf
Cook, W.R. (1999): Pathophysiology of bit control in the horse. J Equine Vet Sci. 19: 96-204
Cook, W.R. (2010): Damage by the bit to the equine interdental space and second lower
premolar. Equine vet. Educ. (2010) doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3292.2010.00167.
Cook, W.R. (2019): Clearing the Air on the Bit-free Debate, Horses and People Magazine,
November-December 2019.
Cook, W.R. (2021a): Pain free Horsemanship. https://en.weltexpress.info/2021/09/29/pain-freehorsemannship/
Cook, W.R. (2021b): Sudden death in the racehorse – World Bitless Association
Cook, W.R. (2023): Sustaining the social license of equestrian sport.
https://horsesandpeople.com.au/why-not-bit-free-expert-says-its-time-to-draw-the-equestrianiron-age-to-a-close/
Cook, W.R. and Strasser, H (2003): Metal in the Mouth: the abusive effects of bitted bridles.
Sabine Kells. Qualicum Beach, BC Canada
Cook, W.R. and Mills, D.S. (2009): Preliminary study of jointed snaffle vs. crossunder bitless
bridles: Quantified comparison of behaviour in four horses. Equine Vet. J. 41, 827-830
Cook W.R. and Kibler, M. (2018): Behavioural assessment of pain in 66 horses, with and
without a bit. Equine Vet Educ. 31 551-560 https://doi.org/10.1111/eve.12916
Cook, W.R. and Kibler, M (2022): The effect of bit-induced pain in the horse on the feelings of
riders about riding (2022) – World Bitless Association
Danish Animal Ethics Council, June 2023: Statement on the use of horses for sport.
Glendell, G (2014: An open letter to the British Horse Society.
May Davis (2014): The Occurrence of a Congenital Malformation in the Sixth and Seventh
Cervical Vertebrae Predominantly Observed in Thoroughbred Horses, Journal of Veterinary
Science 34 1313-1317V
May-Davis et al (2023: “Congenital abnormalities of cervical vertebrae C6 and C7.” Journal of
Equine Veterinary Science.
Mellor DJ. (2016): Updating Animal Welfare Thinking: Moving beyond the “Five Freedoms”
towards “A Life Worth Living.” Animals (Basel). 2016 Mar 14;6(3):21. doi:
10.3390/ani6030021.
Mellor, D.J. (2019a) Equine welfare during exercise 1. Do we have a bit of a problem.
https://www.slideshare.net/SAHorse/equine-welfare-during-exercise-do-we-have-a-bit-of-aproblem
Mellor, D.J (2019b) Equine welfare during exercise 2. Do we have a bit of a problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY4yEC7lhco
Mellor, D.J. (2020a) Mouth Pain in Horses: Physiological Foundations, Behavioural Indices,
Welfare Implications, and a Suggested Solution. 2020 Mar 29;10(4):572. doi:
10.3390/ani10040572.
Mellor, D.J (2020b). Bit Blindness. VetScript 33(9), 32-34; VetScript is the Monthly Magazine of
the New Zealand Veterinary Association.
Mellor, D.J. and Beausoleil, N.J. (2017): Equine welfare during exercise: An evaluation of
breathing, breathlessness and bridles. Animals. 7, 41 doi:10.3390/ani7060041
Mellor, D.J., Beausoleil, N.J., Littlewood, K.E., McLean, A.N., McGreevy, P.D., Jones, B. and
Wilkins, C. (2020). The 2020 Five Domains Model: Including Human–Animal Interactions in
Assessments of Animal Welfare. Animals10 (10), 1870; doi:10.3390/ani10101870
Mellor, D.J. and Burns, M (2020): Using the Five Domains Model to develop welfare assessment
guidelines for Thoroughbred horses in New Zealand. New
Zealand Veterinary Journal, May;68(3):150-156. doi: 10.1080/00480169.2020.1715900. Epub
2020 Feb 20.
May-Davis (2023): May-Davis, S.; Dzingle, D.; Saber, E.; Blades Eckelbarger, P.
Characterization of the Caudal Ventral Tubercle in the Sixth Cervical Vertebra in Modern Equus
ferus caballus. Animals 2023, 13, 2384. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ani13142384
Taylor, J: (2022) “I can’t watch anymore: the case for dropping Equestrian from the Olympic
Games.” Epona Media, Copenhagen.
Wilkins, C: (2023): “The mystery of the missing lamellae.” Horses and People, pp 43-49