Ekidemy

A double bridle carries two mouthpieces, each with its own pair of reins: a thin snaffle, known as the bridoon, and a curb bit, a bit with shanks fitted with a curb chain, the chain that lies in the chin groove. Every candidate must know what it is for and be able to take it apart, put it back together and fit it; in the dressage option, you ride in it.

Purpose and effect

• Raising effect

  The bridoon

  It acts on the corners of the lips, in line with the rein: its effect is to raise. It is the everyday bit, the one for the constant contact and for steering. Its reins, the wider pair, are buckled together at the end.

• Lowering effect

  The curb bit

  It works as a lever: when the rein tightens, the shank tips back, the mouthpiece presses on the bars and the tongue, the curb chain presses on the chin groove and the cheekpieces act on the poll. Its effect is to flex and to lower. Its reins, the narrower pair, are stitched.

The two bits complement each other: the bridoon raises and keeps the contact, the curb invites the horse to flex at the poll and relax its jaw — provided it already answers the snaffle. The strength of the lever depends on the length of the shanks and the adjustment of the curb chain. In a hard hand, the double bridle constrains and hurts; used well, it brings lightness and finesse.

Taking it apart and putting it together

1. 1Name as you strip itUndo the buckles one by one, naming each part, and lay them flat in the order they sit on the head. This is the time to clean and oil them.
2. 2Prepare the headpieceSlide the main headpiece, the one that carries the throatlash, through the browband.
3. 3Fit the curb bitAttach the curb cheekpieces to the eyes at the top of the shanks, then to the headpiece. Rein rings and curb hooks face backwards.
4. 4Fit the bridoonAttach the bridoon to its own slip head, slide it through the browband under the main headpiece, and buckle it.
5. 5Fit the nosebandIts headpiece goes through the browband, under the other two. With a double bridle, you use a plain cavesson noseband.
6. 6Curb chain and reinsHook the curb chain on one side only, lying flat: it is fastened once the bridle is on. Thread on the lip strap, the thin strap that holds it, if there is one. Finally, attach the bridoon reins, the wide ones, and the curb reins, the narrow ones.

Fitting it on the head

• Bridoon: touching the corners of the mouth, making one wrinkle there, two at most.
• Curb bit: on the bars, below the bridoon, without the two bits overlapping and without the mouthpiece touching the tushes, the canine teeth.
• Curb chain: twisted until it lies perfectly flat, sitting in the chin groove. With the curb rein taken up, the shank should not tip back more than about 45° before the curb chain comes into play.
• Noseband, throatlash, browband: adjusted as on a snaffle bridle — two fingers under the noseband, a fist under the throatlash, a browband that does not pull the headpiece against the ears.

Riding in a double bridle

The commonest hold keeps one rein of each pair in each hand: the bridoon rein under the little finger, the curb rein between the ring finger and the little finger, both coming out between thumb and forefinger. Other holds exist: adopt your instructor’s and stick to it. The bridoon rein is the one with more contact; the curb rein, barely taken up, acts only through a slight closing of the fingers, then eases again.