When it comes to bitting, I am aware of two anatomical traits that make Rockies a little different from most other horses. The first one was related to me as soon after I became interested in the breed, but I have not taken the time to see if I can measure this difference for myself. I was told that Rockies tend to have lower palates than other horses. In other words, their tongue is closer to the roof of their mouths. As a result, there is less room in their mouth if a snaffle bit folds. A few comments here: 1. I have not personally run into any Rockies that can’t hold a snaffle bit just fine, but I have light hands, so that may be why I haven’t seen any problems. 2. The snaffle bit is a bit of flexion and softness, you should only be applying pressure on one side or the other, only the lightest contact with both sides simultaneously (to avoid the nutcracker effect). In this way, you would avoid bumping any horse’s palate with the bit. 3. I’ve heard the Billy Allen mouthpiece helps all of these things. This mouthpiece limits the range of motion of the snaffle. If I had problems, I might look there.

Anatomical difference #2: Elizabeth Graves first pointed this out to me (Thank you Liz!) and since then, I have found this to be fairly common in Rockies. Many old time Rockies have shorter lips (not jaws)- meaning the corners of the mouth are closer to their nose than other horses. Since their corners of their mouth are closer to the front of their face, these horses tend to carry the bit closer to their canine teeth on the bars of their mouth. This can make bitting a little more touchy for a horse. If you place the bit too far back, it will stretch their lips too much. On the other hand, if the bit is too close to their canines it might bump those. I have a few horses that are this way, but I have not had any bitting issues with these horses. I do however, bit them up on a highline and adjust the headstall until the horse seems most comfortable long before I decide that bit fits correctly. They tell me when they are comfortable and go from there. Of course, a hack would be another entirely appropriate option.

Neither of these two traits are exclusive to Rockies and they are certainly not common to all Rockies. These are just two ways that Rocky Mountain Horses tend to be different from other breeds. It is little differences like these that make our breed unique.

I’ll try to get some pictures of what I mean up here soon, check on back for those!