Poll Pressure Guide: What is poll pressure in bits for horses? | Help & Advice | Houghton Country

Poll pressure is pressure exerted by the rider that ends up, via a bit and bridle, on and around the horse’s poll. The horse’s bit describes a piece of metal, plastic or rubber that attaches to the bridle and sits in the horse’s mouth, over the top of the horse’s tongue. Reins attach to either side of the bit and the rider holds onto these reins, allowing them to exert some force through these reins to control the horse and influence his movement. Horse bits come in different designs with different styles of mouthpiece (the part that lies across the horse’s tongue) and different cheek types (the part that the reins attach to), and it is the design of the cheek piece that dictates whether the bit exerts any poll pressure. Poll pressure is not exclusive to discussions surrounding bitting, and can also be exerted by the choice of noseband. However, it is a term that is commonly used when talking about bits for horses. For an overview of which style of bit may be suitable for your horse, read our Bitting Guide. This poll pressure guide provides a more focused look at the poll pressure effect of some bits specifically, explaining what poll pressure is, which bits makes use of it and why you may choose to make use of it.

As we have touched on, poll pressure is the amount of pressure from the rider’s hands that ends up on or around the poll. There is a negligible amount of poll pressure exerted by just the weight of the bit in the horse’s mouth before rein contact is taken by the rider. When the rider picks up a contact with the horse’s mouth via the reins, there is force exerted, which increases when a heavier contact, or a pull or ‘check’, is taken. This force, once created, cannot disappear until it is absorbed by the horse. It travels through the reins and bridle to be dispersed on different areas, including the mouth and poll. 

The poll describes the area between the ears on the top of the head including the area just behind the ears, where the headpiece of the bridle sits. Recent research has found that, in contrast to the somewhat misleading term ‘poll pressure’ and what was commonly believed until recent years, the points of highest pressure while the horse is being ridden with a conventional bridle are each side of the poll, the base of the ears and behind the browband – not the poll as such – as well as within the mouth. Another area where a surprising amount of pressure ends up is where the browband attaches to the headpiece – at the TMJ, as research by bridle manufacturer Fairfax found. Modern bridle designs have responded to these findings, with anatomical bridles featuring broader headpieces that are cut away from the base of the ears and cheekpieces designed to buckle further down the face, away from the TMJ. 

The force that comes from the rider’s hands cannot disappear, and so must be distributed through the bridle between these areas and the horse’s mouth. The above research focused on the effect that a change of bridle design has on the amount of pressure and where this pressure is displaced; research by Neue Schule has quantified how much poll pressure each cheek type of bit employs. With these advances in research, it is possible to choose your bit and bridle either to employ or relieve poll pressure. 

In short, bits that exert poll pressure rotate anti-clockwise when contact is taken by the rider, meaning the cheekpieces become tauter against the horse’s face and so pull downwards. This pressure on the cheekpieces can end up on the TMJ, at the base of the horse’s ears, behind the browband and directly on the poll. 

Looking at this picture of Neue Schule’s Elevator bit, you can imagine if the reins were to be pulled, the bit would turn anti-clockwise and the cheekpieces would pull down on the horse’s poll.

Bits that have this action are poll pressure bits. Gag bits, bits that have a lever action, and pelhams fall under this category. Most bits that you would consider a stronger bit, for use to improve control while jumping or during faster work, probably exert some poll pressure to have their effect. Snaffles, including eggbutts, loose rings, D rings, full cheeks and hanging cheeks, never exert poll pressure, and their action is only on the mouth. 

You can see looking at this D-ring that when rein contact is taken up, the bit will not move and no poll pressure would be exerted.

Common poll pressure bits include universals, Dutch gags, wilkies, elevators and pelhams, seen in showjumping, eventing and showing, and used by competent leisure riders on stronger horses. In the higher levels of dressage, we start to see the rider employ a weymouth on a double bridle, a second bit that sits in front of the snaffle, to exert poll pressure and fine-tune the influence the rider’s hands have over the horse’s way of going.

Different horses respond to poll pressure differently, and different poll pressure bits have different effects depending on their design. Some poll pressure bits lower the head, helping to encourage a horse that perhaps holds its head high or is ‘pokey-nosed’ to drop. Bits in this category would include pelhams, wilkies and some gags, but individual horses are likely to respond differently to each of these bits. Bits that have a lever effect employ a pulley action as the cheeks of the bit slide through the mouthpiece, and these bits can have the effect of lifting the head. Lever bits include gags such as universals or the Neue Schule Jumper pictured above. Don’t forget that a bit is not made of a cheek type alone – subtle differences in the shape of the mouthpieces of different bits can dramatically change the effect of a bit on the horse, so when choosing a bit for your horse, both the mouthpiece and the cheek type must be carefully considered. Our Bitting Guide explains how different mouthpieces as well as cheek types work.

Many stronger horses respond well to poll pressure bits, and using one often enables the rider to give a single clear aid to regain control, rather than having to continuously fight the horse if they are not responding to the same aid in a milder bit. With very strong horses, using a poll pressure bit would be kinder than using a milder bit, which is likely to result in the horse’s mouth being damaged by constant strong rein aids in an attempt from the rider to gain control. 

It has been commonly believed for many years that the hanging cheek, or baucher as it is also known, is a bit that exerts some poll pressure, and that it is the only dressage legal snaffle to do so. The poll pressure research conducted by Neue Schule has demonstrated, however, that when rein contact is taken up, the cheekpieces attached to the hanging cheek bit billow out – the cheekpieces become less taut, and so the poll is relieved. Hanging cheek bits, or bauchers, can therefore work well for horses that are sensitive around the poll. 

The Neue Schule Tranz-Angled Lozenge Baucher.

A poll pressure bit is usually chosen for a stronger horse for use during faster work such as showjumping, cross-country or hacking in open spaces, with the poll pressure exerted enhancing control for the rider. Poll pressure is a general term which describes pressure that is transmitted from the rider, through the reins, and onto various parts of the horse’s anatomy, such as the TMJ, base of the ears and poll. Bridle design and choice of bit affects exactly how this pressure is distributed. Bits that exert poll pressure are not dressage-legal, and a snaffle must be used for dressage. If a rider steps up into a double bridle, commonly seen at the higher levels of dressage, in showing, and by competent riders in showjumping or for hunting, they will start to utilise poll pressure from the weymouth, the curb bit that sits in front of the snaffle. A rider may not like the thought of exerting poll pressure on their horse, but bear in mind that any force traveling through the rein from the rider must end up somewhere, and it can be kinder to spread this force over several places than concentrating it on the mouth if the horse is strong and a mild aid with a snaffle bit is having no effect.

Our range of bits that make use of poll pressure include Gag & Combination Bits and Pelhams & Kimblewicks.