chifeny bits

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padderpaws

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Can you tell me the pros and cons of a chifeny. I have never used one but have seen people using them. Do they keep you safe when leading difficult horses? Can you use them on any horse? When would you not use one?
 
They apply a lot of pressure on the tongue, we use one when loading a horse that rears (nearly went over on concrete), it stops him from rearing given the pressure being applied to his tongue.
Think they are used (used to be used) a lot for leading stallions, probably for the same thing that we currently use it for.
 
HandleyCross said:
I've uaed them when i did stud work leading mares and dealing with the yearlings. They can cause alot of damage in the wrong hands as they apply pressure on the tongue. I perfer to use a made up bridle to lead misbehaving horse
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yes totaly agree chifney in the wrong hands can be dangerous but use to use one on my freinds mare who had no manners and was a nutter to lead in from the field but she behaved herself with the chifney
 
i know this is a bit off the subject (sorry OP) but what if the horse sticks its tounge over the chifney? my horse does this (when in the rare occation he has one on)

but it does make horses who dont listen to the head collar so much more manageable and rearers dont tend to rear with them on :)
 
cassie summers said:
yes totaly agree chifney in the wrong hands can be dangerous but use to use one on my freinds mare who had no manners and was a nutter to lead in from the field but she behaved herself with the chifney
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I do agreee that there are times when they need to be used and safety is important. Its if they are in the wrong hands they can cause problems
 
Hear hear most horses don't even try to mess about with a chifney on however I have seen someone tie their horse up with a chifney on !!??!
 
I have used a chifney before, they are a very useful item of equipment. But in the wrong hands can do more harm then good.

I used it on a Horse that I used to bring in, it was bolshy, reared, bolted. Just a horrible Horse to be honest. The owner was too scared to do any groundwork, there was no way I was going to do it. So to protect myself I used a chifney and it worked. 99.9% time. My non Horsey mum came up to the yard and watched me bring him in (I was about 14) she went balistic (understandable) and forbid me to touch this Horse again.

I would use one again if I needed too, but only in certain cases.

I remember watching a woman tie her Horse up from the chifney, Horse pulled away and the result wasn't pretty!
 
I use a chifney on my girl as she's 5 and can get flighty if the other horses around start galloping about (excitement of her being in). Behaves totally different in one too, I can walk next to her with the rope loose in my hand, she doesn't pull or anything- extremely useful piece of equipment but again can cause more harm than good in wrong hands.

I was taught the do's and dont's by my instructor and then started using it!
 
Thank you all again. A useful piece of equipment in the right hands. Obviously, tying up a horse in one is a no brainer but when you say "in the wrong hands" what sort of behaviour is the person doing??
 
Itys very harsh, so when a yank on leadrope with a headcoller would be fine, it would be very painful in a chifney. Just treat it like a really harsh bit as you would when you are riding. I dont like the idea of dragging a horse about in a chifney, and generally being rough with it.
I often use a headcoller underneath with another leadrope, however I have only used a chifney a handful of times. Prefer to try a pressure halter first :)
 
By "in the wrong hands" I mean someone that does not quite understand what the chifney is.

It puts pressure on the tongue when they pull/rear. So it's important that when the Horse is behaving the handler keeps a more relaxed rein to keep the pressure off. Never yank down on the rein/rope and no pressure at all. The Horse will soon learn that if they walk nicely next to you without misbehaving, no pressure is added and when they do misbehave pressure is added. So for the handler to add pressure when Horse is behaving is very confusing for the poor Horse and won't educate at all.

Hope that makes sense.
 
I used a chiffney on my old boy reared and boxed down on you or bolt and buck towards handler.
I have to admit I was very nervous of using one to begin with :(
I was taught by YO before being let loose with it. She basically said that when he goes up you do something similar to half halt on leadrope, nothing to hard and it had an amazing effect on him :)
I used it for 6 months and never again had no need but if used correctly can be a god send.
For people who said it was cruel my answer what I got from YO was handlers safety came first, but the yard had children on not safe a 17.2 on the rampage plus if gate was left open he could get onto road and that on a main road was not worth thinking about for horse and the public.
 
I have used them on several horses. Some of them have been stallions, others just rude bolshy horses.

In the winter it was used to turn out. I would rather a horse have a chifney in its mouth than end up with broken legs / back / whatever myself
 
My two are reguarly led in chiffneys! My exracer at times tends to just blow his brains out and doesn't respect anything other. TBH, he seems much more relaxed in a chiffney, it's part of his routine, like it was when he was in racing for 6 years. He just knows when it's in, he behaves! Don't get me wrong we still get a bit of jogging and blowing but we're safe!! The amount of times I perservered with bridles, headcollars with chains etc etc and either had my hands ripped apart (I know, I should've worn gloves, before I get a telling off ;) ) or he literally almost killed me! I don't take the risk now!

My other boy an idxwb won't lead in a headcollar or anything that applies nose pressure, he just rears and bu**ars off! I think it was due to his previous owner as he was her first horse and as a 5yo and a pretty big boy, walked all over her! She just used to let go of him! Since having him I'v had to do a lot of work on his manners! He's just a very large dominant horse, who knows his strength! I lead him in a chiffney also, after lots of leading work and still getting nowhere, so would rather be safe! Don't get me wrong some days he's in a headcollar (no wind, no distractions etc etc) but generally he's in a chiffney!!

I do agree chiffneys have their place and they must be used in the correct manner by experienced hands as they can do a lot of damage if used incorrectly. They are a serious piece of kit! I once saw someone turn their horse out in one, he was a complete nut job and they got to the field the horse just barged through the gate and took off, chiffney in, leadrope dangling! Luckily we managed to get to the horse before it took off again and didn't stand on it's leadrope, that would've just been awful!
 
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