# Eggbutt vs. Loose ring snaffle



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

I'm not an expert but I think loose ring is better because it's harder for them to lean on the bit because it moves. What kind of mouth piece do you use? He may fight it because he doesn't like the actual mouth piece. My horse like her oval mouth loose ring snaffle(double jointed). If you use a plain snaffle he may not like the nutcracker action.


----------



## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I prefer the eggbutt over the loose ring since the loose ring can slide around a little too much in the mouth for my horse's liking. My horse can get a little strong and fiesty when he wants to keep galloping. I have much more communication in the eggbutt when traveling at more lively speeds and including the fun of jumping. I think if we attempted cross country in a loose ring, I'd end up somewhere in Canada!


----------



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Really depends on the hard mouthed horse. I am assuming you are trying to soften up his mouth, & do some suppling? I would try both, see which he goes lighter in.


----------



## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

You will not see a difference in severity based on cheek in a snaffle like that. You would need to go to mouthpiece or totally change the action. Though much of this sounds like a training problem, not a bit problem, to me. Which means a need to transition to leg and seat cues as opposed to rein cues.


----------



## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

While this sounds more like a balance issue (and maybe a ridingissue) than a bit issue there should be little difference on an experienced horse. 

A loose ring snaffle should have rubber bit guards between the rings and the horse's face to prevent the skin of the lips getting caught where the loose ring slips thru the mouthpiece. If that is happening with a loose ring snaffle you will get head tossing and resistance.


----------



## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Interesting question, I like to ride in French Link Snaffles, and my original ones where eggbutt. When I bought Ace she was going beautifully in it, but then I found out that up here in Canada if you want to ride in a French Link in dressage, it has to be a loose ring. I changed her over and she was horrible in the loose ring. I did some research and found lots of people reporting the same thing. 

I can't remember now what the explanation was, but several people reported the same thing I was finding, she became heavy in my hand, and was running through it.


----------



## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

BarrelWannabe said:


> Which bit is better for a harder mouthed horse?
> I'm riding in a loose ring right now. We have good turns, an ok stop but he likes to fight it. I usually try to keep my hands low and quiet when he does this. I know that's him being stubborn but I'm curious as to whether or not an eggbutt would make any difference.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


If your horse is trying to brace/lean on bit loose rings would be a better choice in my experience. However some horses really like the stability of the eggbutt (my qh would be the one, she hates loose rings). So given you use same (or similar) mouthpiece I'd suggest to try to borrow different ones and try (if you can, of course).


----------



## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Golden Horse said:


> Interesting question, I like to ride in French Link Snaffles, and my original ones where eggbutt. When I bought Ace she was going beautifully in it, but then I found out that up here in Canada if you want to ride in a French Link in dressage, it has to be a loose ring. I changed her over and she was horrible in the loose ring. I did some research and found lots of people reporting the same thing.
> 
> I can't remember now what the explanation was, but several people reported the same thing I was finding, she became heavy in my hand, and was running through it.


Some horses don't like the jiggling the loose rings give. I tried loose rings (same oval mouth, same brand) on my qh and she went bananas next moment I started to trot. The problem I run into with eggbutt though my paint lean on it and just let me "carry her", or "locked" on it without listening. Loose rings didn't give her a chance to "lock" because of all movement.

It's interesting you can only show in loose rings with french mouth in Canada. Over here it doesn't really matter what kind of rings as long as mouthpiece satisfies the criteria.


----------



## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

It's frustrating, I'm not sure if it's just our clubs interpretation, but...looks around furtively...shhhh, seeing as I have never been asked to drop a bit for inspection, I have been known to ride in an eggbutt french snaffle, if a single joint is allowed I really struggle as to why a french link isn't


----------



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

Golden Horse said:


> Interesting question, I like to ride in French Link Snaffles, and my original ones where eggbutt. When I bought Ace she was going beautifully in it, but then I found out that up here in Canada if you want to ride in a French Link in dressage, it has to be a loose ring. I changed her over and she was horrible in the loose ring. I did some research and found lots of people reporting the same thing.
> 
> I can't remember now what the explanation was, but several people reported the same thing I was finding, she became heavy in my hand, and was running through it.


Interesting you say that because a few of the girls I let ride Bella say that they have a have a problem with her being heavy and running through the bit also. I don't have a problem with her but I only work on w/t with her right now(I stick to using the lesson horse when I want to canter because I do have a problem with her at the canter) Maybe I'll order an eggbutt or d-ring and see if that makes a difference, thanks for the idea.


----------



## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Golden Horse said:


> It's frustrating, I'm not sure if it's just our clubs interpretation, but...looks around furtively...shhhh, seeing as I have never been asked to drop a bit for inspection, I have been known to ride in an eggbutt french snaffle, if a single joint is allowed I really struggle as to why a french link isn't


How very bad not following the rules! :lol: I know here the mouthpiece should be of the same metal, and I remember reading some good reasoning behind the rule. But french mouth vs jointed - that's strange... :roll: May be you have to come to show to US! 

Interesting enough (I don't have plenty of experience though, just several different shows this year) they never did bit check on any horse either.


----------

