Austin Shephard on Bits and Bridles

August 14th, 2023 by Karen Quigao

Looking through the bridle rack at any trainer’s barn can be both exciting and daunting: so many bits, so many different reasons to use each one. We asked 9.8-million-dollar rider, Austin Shepard to share his insight on the bits he uses and why.

Austin-ShephardShepard begins with the basics when making your choice. “The bridle bit you use really translates what you are trying to do to teach the horse, whether it is in the early stages in a hackamore or side-pull to a bigger show bridle. It can help the horse mature or go back and go over some things they learned earlier,” he said.

Preferring to ride them only in a snaffle in their two-year-old year, Shepard is still prepared to step back into a hackamore as training progresses, if he finds a horse is a bit worried about the snaffle.

Shepard will begin to introduce a correction or something with leverage early in their three-year-old year.

“I like to put on a small short shank correction, with a leather curb and maybe something with a martingale as close as I can get it to a snaffle, but with more stop,” said Shepard.

However he does caution that, “It takes a while for them to really get use to the correction bit, they do not automatically pack it like they do a snaffle.”

When deciding to use a leather or chain curb strap, Shepard said the leather is a lot easier on them. “They definitely need something soft and loose, the tighter it is the more leverage it has. You don’t want to go from a regular snaffle into a dog chain and curb,” he explained.

As a horse becomes a three-year-old, Shepard might move into a correction with a longer shank adding a bit more leverage. Although he like to keep a horse in a correction for a while, he likes to show a horse in a solid elephant bit.

“Some horses I might keep in a correction or something like a Buster Welsh bit that swivels but it depends on the horse. If a horse gets a bit stiff in a straight bridle, I might go back to something that has a solid mouthpiece that has a swivel shanks on the side and still get a little left and right, but the mouthpiece simulates a show bridle,” he said.

Although the solid show bits can have an intimidating look to them, Shepard shed light on the biggest misconception about them.

“Putting a bigger bridle on a horse, people put it on with the attitude they are going to get a horse to back off of it, more than they are going to put them into the bridle. A lot of people go to a bigger bridle to get into a horse for something. You can also scare a horse in a twisted wire, it is all about how you use it,” said Shepard.

“By putting a bigger bridle on a horse, it allows me to have softer hands, to where I am not getting in the horse’s way when they are working a cow. I can stop a horse real quick if I use my hands and my feet right,” he explained.

Figuring out which bridle a horse feels comfortable in can be difficult but it is paramount when cutting cows.

“Once you put your hand down the bridle is really immaterial, you need to be able to go cut your cows in it. If a horse handles well and is comfortable in it, they respect it but are not afraid of it.”

Shepard tends to favor bits with a bit of weight to them but does not like the bars to be too thick and heavy.

“The thinner the bar,  the sharper they are, but a lot of the feel comes from the angle on the mouthpiece.” When looking at the mouthpiece he explained, “The 90-degree angle can be sharp and quicker. It’s right there on their tongue and is quicker than a mouthpiece that is rounded.”

Brain chains and tie-downs: what are they and when to use them?

A brain chain is a tie down that has a poll strap and is designed to help teach a horse to keep its head down. Shepard said,

“A brain chain is good for a horse that kind of wants to argue with you and wants to get their head up and doesn’t want to get broke in the face. It allows you to work a horse with your hands lower and not have to do near as much to make them come back to you when you are working a cow. Like anything, it can get over used.”

“I have noticed that the horses that you work in a tie-down too much, kind of get their feet out in front of their face, they rely on bracing against the tie-down and it doesn’t let them draw their front feet under them like they have to to turn around,” he explained.

“I don’t want one too loose, I don’t want their head to go above the saddle horn.”

The key, Shepard said, is to be consistent with the bit or tack you choose.

“Whatever you use on the horse, be it a bigger bridle, a smaller bridle, tie-down, brain chain, martingale or whatever, you have to use it enough so it makes sense to the horse.” Shepard said.

“You don’t want to confuse them. It has to be something you can use to work a horse on a cow and the horse doesn’t argue with you and the horse does what you want them to do without thinking about you.”

Once he finds the show bridle that his horse is comfortable in and works well with, Shepard will work them in that show bridle for a day or two before he leaves home to get them mentally prepared.

“I believe when you put a show bridle on at home they know the difference, they get more serious. I like to put a show bridle on a horse and then lope them some more before you go show them because when you put it on them, it is just part of game time thing to them.”

“I have seen some horses where you put that show bridle on them and they perk up so they need to go warm back up a bit with it on. I don’t like to just stick it on and walk to the herd,” Shepard said.

The bottom line is, the horse tells you what it likes verses you telling the horse what he should like.


Barn Management with Slate River Ranch’s Kellee Clarke

February 9th, 2021 by Simone Cobb

A well-run barn is the key to any smooth operation. Whether you have one or 50 horses in your care, it’s crucial that you have an organized space, know where everything is and are able to act in any kind of emergency.

Kellee Clarke has been the barn manager for Slate River for nine years and counting. She makes sure everything has its place, and most importantly gets put back in place. Her feed room, vet room, tack room and stalls are clearly labeled so almost anyone can walk in and know just what to do for any of the horses.

Keep On Reading!


For The Good Of Cutters: Past and Present

January 12th, 2021 by Simone Cobb

Buster Welch with the Sculpture in his Honor

From honoring Buster Welch and the King Ranch’s Little Peppy to supporting the next generation of cutters, the NCHA Foundation has been behind cutters of all ages for 40 years. The NCHA Foundation is the charitable branch of the National Cutting Horse Association.

The Foundation was formed in 1982 to raise money, support educational programs and preserve the history and culture of cutting. But interestingly, it’s played a lesser known but crucial and wide-ranging role than just being an archive, by providing funding when they see a need and supporting animal welfare and research.

Keep On Reading!


Kellee Clarke – More than a Loper!

April 13th, 2018 by Duncan Steele-Park

More often than not, lopers come and go, but Kellee Clarke has turned loping into a satisfying career thanks to her hard work, willingness to take on new challenges and interestingly, finding an outlet for her creativity.

An Australian native, Clarke moved to the States to work with horses where for the last eight years she has been loping for John Mitchell at the Slate River Ranch. With a passion for learning and a drive for taking on more responsibility, Clarke juggles loping, running the barn and managing the ranch office while starting up her own business.

“I wanted to make leather handbags and do them all by hand,” Clarke said. “When I grew up rodeoing, I made all my own shirts..so I’ve always had this creative thing going on.”

After purchasing all the materials, Clarke found that she never had the time to actually start.

Brumby Necklace

“One week I got so mad at myself because John’s wife, Hope kept asking, ‘have you made a bag yet?’ and it was really frustrating me,” Clarke said. “So one week I got super mad at myself and I said, ‘you have to finish one project by the end of the week.’’”

And since that week, Brumby Goods was born, but not in the way Clarke expected.

“I had kangaroo leather and lace because they were going to be part of my bags and I had some freshwater pearls and I had all this stuff sitting there,” Clarke said. “So I started tinkering around with it and the next thing I made a necklace with it. This long tassel necklace with these pearls on it and I was like, ‘that’s pretty cool.’”

 

Although Clarke hasn’t made any bags yet, she intends to expand the line later to include them.

“I had my logo and my name and everything for my business, Brumby Goods, that was all in place but the product wasn’t coming about,” Clarke said. “For now it’s evolved into jewelry.”

Brumby Earrings

Clarke officially launched Brumby Goods in February this year and is keeping up with working full time for Slate River Ranch while building her jewelry line, which has quickly gained a following.

Clarke says she gets design ideas while loping.

“It’s a matter of utilizing that time loping around and to just take that time to think about something,” Clarke said. “I’m constantly thinking about Brumby and what’s next.”

Brumby Bracelet

Clarke says she wants to stayed tapped into the western world and cutting/rodeo industry from her roots. One of her main materials, kangaroo leather, is used not only for its durability but connects her to her Australian heritage. Her company name, Brumby Goods also was chosen to tell people more about Clarke as a person.

“Brumby was something that came up..here in America,” Clarke said. “It’s a horse, it’s a little wild, free spirited and…it’s pretty catchy.” 

Clarke says she enjoys making the jewelry for women like herself.

“A lot of this stuff I had in mind for the working girl and the girl who rides,” Clarke said. “This was my original idea, to find something feminine but easy to wear.”

Clarke likes to make jewelry that is functional, durable, light and comfortable. She now ships across the country and overseas and also takes custom orders. Clarke initially made sales on social media, but now has her own website to properly display her designs, www.brumbygoods.com.

Although her career is focused on loping, she believes that having Brumby gives her something more to look forward to each day.

“Its given me something for myself,” Clarke said. “I’m accountable, it’s all me. It gives me something, it’s making something and being creative and I like to look at it and be like, ‘I made that.”

 

Watch the full video interview HERE


Privacy Preference Center

Essential

The website uses "cookies", which are elements of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your system. This element of data is a piece of text, not a program. The website can only access the information from a cookie sent by the website. We cannot access other cookies sent by other websties or the information contained therein. Additionally, we cannot learn your e-mail address or any other information about you through the use of a cookie. The only way we would learn such information is if you specifically and voluntarily submit that information to us, for example, through a registration system, by entering a sweepstakes or promotion, etc.

portal_user, wordpress_logged_in_7a09ebba98e3846521d6d67b1de247f6, gdpr, woocommerce_cart_hash, woocommerce_items_in_cart, _wp_wocommerce_session, simplefavorites

Analytics

The website uses "cookies", which are elements of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your system. This element of data is a piece of text, not a program. The website can only access the information from a cookie sent by the website. We cannot access other cookies sent by other websties or the information contained therein. Additionally, we cannot learn your e-mail address or any other information about you through the use of a cookie. The only way we would learn such information is if you specifically and voluntarily submit that information to us, for example, through a registration system, by entering a sweepstakes or promotion, etc.

Performance & Functionality

These are used to track user interaction and detect potential problems. These help us improve our services by providing analytical data on how users use this site.

_ga, _gid, _gat