jointed or unjointed bits - less severity

Question
hello ma'am, is jointed mouth bit good or unjointed (mullen) mouth bit good? i mean, which of these is severe, jointed or unjointed? which one would you suggest me for novice horses, both soft jawed and strong jawed horses?

Answer
The choice of a bit depends on many. many factors, but it can be an individual choice for each horse.

You have to look at different factors:

1. How much training has the horse had?
2. What is he used for ?
3. What kind of training has he had? (Sometimes people can destroy the nerves in horse's mouth by yanking and pulling).
4. The anatomy of a horse's mouth. Some horses have a thick tongue, low palates, very thin skin on the corners of their mouths, which would affect what you put in their mouth.

Remember that many horses are used successfully with Bitless Bridles, side pulls and hackamores...also jumping hackamores.

There is a three- jointed snaffle which many horses like...a French link. The middle link, I think, is better when it is shaped like a "peanut". This is  easier on the horse's tongue.

Mullen mouths can also be fine. Some horses go well in them ...they do not like the nutcracker effect of a snaffle.

If a horse has a hard mouth it is the fault of past trainers, and care must be taken to reschool the horse to the rider's seat. I have sometimes found the only thing to do is to use a Bitless  and this has worked well.