The bridle cheekpiece buckles to the small top ring and the rein goes on one of the rings below the mouthpiece. When you take a contact, the cheek pivots around the mouthpiece. The top ring tips forward and draws the cheekpiece down, so some of the rein pressure lands on the poll instead of the mouth.
Pressure at the poll asks the horse to lower his head, and that’s the reason most riders reach for one: a horse that runs on with his head in the air, or gets flat and fast into a fence.
This is where most of the confusion comes from. With the rein on the big ring, level with the mouthpiece, there is almost no leverage and the bit behaves much like a snaffle. Each ring further down lengthens the lever, adding poll pressure and quickening the response.
Lots of riders use two reins, one on the big ring and one lower down, so the leverage is there when they need it and absent when they don’t. If one rein is all you can manage, start on the highest ring that does the job. Dropping a ring is easy. Undoing a habit of riding on the bottom ring is not.
Strictly, no. In a true gag such as a running gag or the Neue Schule Tranz Angled Cheltenham Gag, the cheekpiece or gag rope runs through the rings. Take a contact and the bit slides up towards the corners of the mouth, lifting as well as pressing on the poll. A universal’s cheekpiece is buckled to a fixed ring, nothing slides, and it works by leverage. If you’d like the theory in more depth, read leverage bits explained.
It’s optional, and it changes the action. A strap fitted between the top rings limits how far the cheek can rotate and adds pressure in the chin groove, while easing some of the poll pressure. Riders use one to sit a horse up in front of a fence, not to bring his head down. A soft leather strap such as the Fager Leather Curb Strap or the Neue Schule Leather Curb Strap is kinder than a chain here. See the full range of curb straps and chains.
We get asked this a lot. On the Beris 3 Butterfly Gag, Butterfly is the name of the mouthpiece, which Beris also puts on its hanging cheek and Kimblewick. The gag effect comes from the three rings, and the butterfly decides how the bit feels on the tongue.
The cheek gives you the leverage, but the mouthpiece still decides whether the horse is comfortable. The Neue Schule Tranz Angled Universal has a smooth lozenge for horses that are fussy about tongue pressure. The Bombers Happy Tongue Universal gives the tongue more room. The Neue Schule Waterford Universal suits a horse that leans. The Shires Blue Sweet Iron Universal is a sound budget option. Everything else is under gags and universal bits.
A universal is a guess until you’ve jumped a course in it, and the good ones aren’t cheap. Many of ours can be taken on 30-day trial through the Bit Bank, so you can try a ring position, or two mouthpieces, before committing. If you’d like help choosing, call our Bitting Specialists on 01405 861800, option 3.