Hanging Cheek Snaffle

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Gorgeous George

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What are these bits like? My instructor and I have been doing a bit of experimenting with George's bit further to my post a week or so ago and at the moment along with patient schooling we are using a 3 ring snaffle (dutch gag?) with a french link and the reins on the middle ring, he is going quite nicely in this, is much calmer and it is giving me the confidence to get him working forward in all 3 paces.

However, I don't really want to use this bit on a permanent basis as I believe it's not dressage legal (even for v basis tests??) and I can already see that it may encourage to George to overbend so I was wondering if a hanging cheek snaffle also with a french link might be worth considering for the future?

Thanks
 
I've just put my mare in one of these and it's lightened her front end considerably but I can't get her on the bit now. Plus I've lost a bit of the braking power provided by the pelham I'd been trying her in.
She certainly likes the hanging cheek as such and gets a very wet mouth but I need to try it for a while longer to see what the real results will be.
 
yes a dutch gag is not allowed in any dressage test, even on the snaffle ring. I find the hanging cheek snaffle quite a useful bit but I have found they either go really well in it or really crap. Well worth a try. I find it does tend to keep them more steady in the head, and horses that play with a bit like a loose ring tend to stop messing. It can be good for lifting the head slightly too if the horse is a bit on the forehand. I have only tried one with a regular jointed mouthpiece though, I have not tried one with a french link.
 
You're right - no form of gag is dressage legal. It would be worth trying the hanging cheek as you will find the action very similar to the gag using the middle link - the top ring will provide some poll pressure which will help round the horse up encouraging it to work ina correct outline.
I'm not sure whether it might cause overbending, I used one on my event horse some years ago, but let's just say overbending wasn't one of his problems! You could try one on loan, www.shop4bits.com offer a trial service for 30 days for £5 per bit. They loan out the Neue Schule bits, and I know for a fact that NS do a hanging cheek with a lozenge. Thinking of trying it on mine!
 
Is a hanging cheek a Baucher bit?
I have just ordered one from Myler as I need something stronger than my sprenger snaffle (the one with the little link in the middle) for hacking.
Has anyone got the Myler one?
 
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Is a hanging cheek a Baucher bit?

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Yes, hanging cheek / filet baucher - same thing!

I don't have the Myler one but MD's previous cob had both a hanging cheek french-link & a hanging-cheek waterford, the latter of which she always used when out & about!
Useful bits, I quite like them!
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You're right - no form of gag is dressage legal. It would be worth trying the hanging cheek as you will find the action very similar to the gag using the middle link - the top ring will provide some poll pressure which will help round the horse up encouraging it to work ina correct outline.


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The hanging cheek/baucher does not provide any poll pressure..
 
to be honest i tried two on my pony, one french link and one waterford-both were completely useless. i too went from the 2nd ring on a dutch gag. i had no brakes and it didnt provide poll pressure at all. all it did when i pulled was make the cheekpieces all floppy-and yes it was fitted correctly.
 
Yes me too... I'm about to buy one, and it says on the blurb they do. Also my instructor said it does too??!!
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A bit I find really useful for sharp horses that are difficult to soften is an eggbut with a single centre roller, like this;

BAEbit.jpg


They're quite rare, but dressage legal. They can be a little sharp though. I show jump my horse in a gag as he has a tendency to go on his forehand and become long and strung out. (Personally I'm of the opinion poll pressure lifts, regardless of what other peple think!) I tried the hanging cheek and had success for a while, but found the poll pressure to be very minimal, if nonexistent and he gradually got a tad strong and leant on it a bit. So I used the above with success and now opt for the action of a single, centre roller but in a milder myler bit which is also dressage legal. Hope that's helpful!
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Hi - re poll pressure debate - below is an extract from 'Enlightened Bitting' by Heather Hyde (founder of Neue Schule bit company):

"Baucher /Hanging snaffle - This causes poll pressure (dressage legal as a Snaffle or as a Bradoon used in conjunction with a Weymouth). When a contact is taken the upper arm is angled forwards causing the mouthpiece to lift - thereby suspending it in the mouth and reducing the pressure across the tongue and the bars - this is often beneficial for cases of over sensitivity. Any extension above the mouthpiece causes poll pressure - this in itself has a head lowering action. However, if the horse is going forward into a contact and active behind this will encourage a rounding action and help tremendously with the outline."
 
Thank you Donadea, however, I'm still of the opinion that poll pressure, although causing roundness from the poll, is a head lifting action, not lowering, often lifting horses that are on the forehand.

However, a hanging cheek in my opinion does apply poll pressure.

In another article by Heather Hyde a gag/bit that applies poll pressure is described as having 'a lifting effect in front and is especially good for showjumping as you can sit the horse more on its hocks (bottom) and turn tight. This bit is used regularly by many international showjumpers and eventers. It is also used generally for horses that tend to lean owing to its uplifting action.'

The article is here. But is very long!
 
Yeah confusing isn't it?!
I'm actually looking for a bit for XC that will give me a little extra control without being too severe, does anyone think a hanging cheek might be suitable? As I tried her in a bubble bit and she wasn't overly keen on it...
 
Well IMO the action of a bit with poll pressure is best described as promoting self carriage and an outline, ie. flexion from the poll whilst lifting of the neck, off the forehand.

Donadea, at the risk of high-jacking the OP's thread.. If you're horse has a tendency to lean and if a continental gag has proved too much and the baucher is not enough; try a beval cheek, also mentioned in the article I posted. But every horse is different, so give it a go and see what your horse likes best!
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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You're right - no form of gag is dressage legal. It would be worth trying the hanging cheek as you will find the action very similar to the gag using the middle link - the top ring will provide some poll pressure which will help round the horse up encouraging it to work ina correct outline.


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The hanging cheek/baucher does not provide any poll pressure..

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It does provide poll pressure and can be a really useful bit, I used to use one on my old horse for dressage (she was a bit of a bolter) and she went really well in it, although it can encourage them to lean a little if you do not ride them up enough.
 
Just found a jointed happy mouth baucher on bit trial website with following comment:

"It may prove a suitable alternative to a snaffle, for children riding ponies that need an extra bit of help to stop, or horses that are slightly too strong in a snaffle."

Comments??! I'm not a child riding a pony but I do need an extra bit of help to stop!!
 
Personally I have found that a hanging-cheek will act more as a 'reminder' to pay attention, work & behave - if your horse or pony needs more than a 'reminder', it wouldn't be my first choice!
Hence why the Baggage is in a kimblewick, not one of the hanging-cheeks I have sitting in my tack room! lol

I have only found them to be a gentle one step up from a plain snaffle when accompanied by a french-link or simple jointed mouthpiece!
In conjunction with a waterford mouthpiece for example, they can be rather more effective but I certainly wouldn't credit them with any real extra 'stopping power', no!
 
Ok, well i might give it a try and see what happens! it's a bit difficult to know what's best at the moment as still trying to get out to our first event (don't mention the weather.....), so I'm not 100% sure how she'll ride XC. Out schooling she gets quite keen, but I'm conscious she's only just 5 and I really don't want to bit her up to the eyeballs at such a young age!
 
It's all relative though isn't it?

On a sensitive little horse, the added poll pressure etc. might just be enough - on a strong, bolshy cob for example, it wouldn't necessarily be enough of a 'step up' if you see what I mean?
 
My pony (who is incredibly sensitive in the mouth) will ONLY go nicely in a hanging cheek straight bar bit with one of those barrel mouth things in the middle. They have really transformed her TBH as she will now accept a contact and reach into the hand.
 
Ok..so I got this off Wikapedia:

Action: The baucher has an eggbutt-like ring at the mouthpiece for the rein, with an upper cheek that has a ring at its end, to which the cheekpieces of the bridle are attached. The mouthpiece does not slide on its ring (which would have put the bit in the gag bit category instead of the snaffle). This bit lies flat against the horse's face, and is quite fixed in the mouth and concentrates pressure on the bars. However, contrary to common belief, this bit does not create poll pressure.
 
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