Dwyer on Curb Bits—Part II

This week I quote Dwyer on the inside of the horse's mouth and how that can affect the selection of a proper curb bit. All quotes are from “Seats and Saddles, Bits and Bitting” by Francis Dwyer. Everything in parentheses is my additions, and I put really important things in capital letters.

On…

  Despite all I've read about how to position oneself in the saddle, and despite my best effort to follow advice, it is still easy to mis-understand, and easier still to slip into poor posture.

  So, re-reading the advice for beginners in the EC handbook, and re-reading Sally Swift's definitive work, and discussing it with my coach while doing my usual, strenuous riding without stirrups, we came to two observations, viz., that the stirrup bars and flaps of the standard European riding…

Dwyer on Curb Bits, Part I

Dwyer writes a lot on curb bits because back then the cavalries used a lot of curbs, either by themselves or as part of the double bridle.  From his experiences with 400 light cavalry horses in the Austrian Imperial cavalry he determined that many, if not most, of the problems that the cavalry troopers had with their horses came from improperly fitted and sited curb bits.

Dwyer (and Oeynhausen) found certain ratios in the horses' heads…

Dwyer on Snaffle and Bridoon Bits

Most of Dwyer's writings on bits concentrate on the curb bit, but he does have some words to say about snaffle bits, fortunately. As before all the quotes are from “On Seats and Saddles, Bits and Bitting” by Francis Dwyer. All the underlining and parentheses are mine.

On page 140 Dwyer lets…

Toronto's leading indie art gallery, URBAN GALLERY, presents their show for December 2018 with a whole herd of colourful, vibrant horses galloping across the gallery walls: VANESSA CUARTAS presents lively abstract equine portraits in her solo…

Dwyer's Philosophy of Bitting

The last two weeks, stuck at home, I have been reading, re-reading and digesting the bitting information in Francis Dwyer's “On Seats and Saddles, Bits and Bitting.” I have been questioning all of my old assumptions about bits and riding with bits. While reading and thinking about this information I have wondered if many of the modern fads in riding, which many of…