SmoothRide Baucher Snaffle
- Best for
- for nervous horses and developing riders
- Feel
- gentle curved lozenge with copper roller
- Material
- Stainless Steel
- Thickness
- Medium (13-15mm)
- Ships from
- Burlington, Ontario
- Returns
- Yes, within 30 days, used or unused
Dressage legality
- USEFLegal
- ECLegal
- FEILegal
- USEALegal
- EC EventingLegal
FEI Young Horse classes also require a 14mm minimum mouthpiece.
SmoothRide bits are made of stainless steel bits that have been sanded down for horses comfort.
This bit features a curved mouthpiece as well as cleverly designed lozenge with a copper roller which continues along the anatomical shape of the bit. The curvature in this bit creates a mild tongue relief.
We find this to be a great starter bit and a less expensive alternative to other premium bits as it is versatile, generally well accepted and tends to take up less space in the horse’s mouth without being unnecessarily harsh than many other alternatives.
We find that horses that resist the flat links often seen in classic double jointed snaffles tend to like the smoothness of this bit.
The baucher or sometimes called hanging cheekpiece creates the most stability of all cheekpieces and pulls the bit up away from the bars.
The hanging cheek stops the bit from being pulled through the horse’s mouth and is therefore a great alternative to full cheek or even eggbutt bits for younger horses.
This cheekpiece is often used on sensitive young horses or those who prefer bits with bar relief or a negative poll pressure.
Mouthpiece thickness: 4.75" and above - 15mm ; up to 4.5" - 12mm
Total Cheekpiece Height: 90mm
Cheekpiece Height Top to Mouthpiece: 50mm
We don't make this one in every size yet. Tell us which you need and we'll count you in. Enough riders asking is how new sizes get made.
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Questions riders ask about this bit
Riders often choose this bit for:
- Young or green horses: a versatile medium 15mm lozenge and a solid default
- Horses learning to take contact: gentle, with a copper roller in the centre link
- Some horses with tongue issues prefer it over mullen designs
- Horses that chew or grab the bit with their teeth (metal, non-ported)
The Baucher holds the bit steady, lifts it off the bars and puts no pressure on the poll under contact. Often the pick for rooters and bar-sensitive horses.
Every horse is an individual. If you are not sure, take our two minute quiz or write to hello@agadors.com and we will help you decide.
A Baucher is a snaffle. The reins sit level with the mouthpiece rather than below it, so the bit has no leverage, and a curb strap only does something on a bit that does. There is nothing here for it to act against, so adding one will not create curb action or poll pressure.
If you want to use one anyway, and some riders do purely to steady the bit a little further, it buckles onto the small top ring where the bridle cheekpiece attaches, not onto the large rein ring. It is not traditional on this cheekpiece and it is not necessary.
Where it tends not to work is a parrot mouth, wolf teeth, or a habit of getting the tongue over. Those usually want something more anatomically supportive, so tell us what you are seeing.
Worn the usual way the curve gives mild tongue relief. In the loose ring, eggbutt, D-ring, full cheek, elevator and gag versions you can deliberately fit it inverted, which gives mild bar relief instead.
That makes it a free diagnostic. If your horse goes better one way than the other, you have learned whether the tongue or the bars are the sensitive part, which tells you what to look for in every bit after this one.
SmoothRide Blue is sweet iron. It arrives blue, develops a patina, and horses often find the warmer taste more palatable. It does need drying after rides.
What size do I need?
Bit size is the width of the mouthpiece. We list inches. Some bits are stamped in centimetres, so a bit marked 13.5 is 13.5cm, which is our 5.5".
Measure your horse rather than going by their height. A 17hh horse can have a 5" mouth. If you already have a bit that fits well, measure that instead and match it.
Fixed cheek (eggbutt, Baucher, D-ring, full cheek): about 0.5cm of clearance each side. Loose ring: up to 1/8" between the corner of the lip and the bore hole each side. If you ride in bit guards, or your horse has fleshy lips that catch, order a quarter inch up from your fixed-cheek size.
Too wide slides side to side and can pinch the corners. Too narrow presses on the lips. If your current bit fits with no room at all, stay at that size. If it "just" fits, go up a quarter inch.
Send us a photo of your horse in their current bit and we will tell you what we see.
Can I return it if it does not suit my horse?
Most of our metal bits, yes, within 30 days, for a refund or an exchange, and we do take them back used. That is the point of the 30 days: a bit you have not ridden in tells you nothing.
What happens to it then is that we resell it as a Demo unit, clearly labelled and priced lower, rather than as new. That is also where the demo units on this site come from.
Three things cannot come back: rubber mouthpieces, Final Sale items, and Demo condition bits. Rubber because it cannot be brought back to a saleable state, and the other two because they have already been through this once. All three are marked in the product title and description.
Optional return coverage pays for a prepaid return label on eligible returns. You can still return an eligible item without coverage; buy your return label through our returns portal. Coverage does not change which items can be returned. See the return policy for full terms.
We do not run a trial or loaner program.
How do I know if this is right for my horse?
Ask us. We would rather look at your horse than have you guess.
Useful things to tell us: what they go in now and what is not working, your discipline and whether it needs to be competition legal, the size, and what their mouth looks like inside. Peel the lip back and look at the tongue. Is it fleshy and full, or thin and tucked? Is the palate low? Are the bars sharp to the touch?
A photo of your horse wearing their current bit tells us more than a paragraph.
One thing worth saying up front: the bit is one variable. Saddle fit, dental work, noseband tightness and rider hands cause a lot of what gets blamed on bits. If your horse has changed suddenly, get the teeth and the saddle checked before you change the bit.
Does mouthpiece thickness matter?
Our range runs 10mm to 16mm. For reference, 10mm is narrow, 12mm narrow to medium, 14mm average, and 16mm wide. 14mm is an ordinary thickness in the bit world, not a thick bit.
The counterintuitive part: a horse with a big fleshy tongue usually wants a thinner mouthpiece, not a thicker one. The average horse has around 16mm of space from tongue to palate, so anything over about 14mm starts competing with the tongue for room. More material in a mouth that is already full makes things worse.
When will my size be back in stock?
A restock is usually 4 to 8 weeks. Canada tends to land first and the US follows about 2 to 3 weeks later, so if you are in the US and it shows in stock for Canada, ask us. We can often ship one across the border, which adds roughly $10 in duties.
Sign up for the restock alert on this page and you will hear the moment your size lands.
Two honest caveats. Some cheekpieces get discontinued and will not return, and we will tell you plainly if yours is one of them. And sizes 6.5" and up are not something we stock regularly, because the orders are too few to justify holding them.
Still deciding? See how this compares with similar bits.
Choose options
- Best for
- for nervous horses and developing riders
- Feel
- gentle curved lozenge with copper roller
- Material
- Stainless Steel
- Thickness
- Medium (13-15mm)
- Ships from
- Burlington, Ontario
- Returns
- Yes, within 30 days, used or unused
Dressage legality
- USEFLegal
- ECLegal
- FEILegal
- USEALegal
- EC EventingLegal
FEI Young Horse classes also require a 14mm minimum mouthpiece.
We don't make this one in every size yet. Tell us which you need and we'll count you in. Enough riders asking is how new sizes get made.
Thank you. We've noted it. If this size launches, we'll get in touch.
That didn't go through. Please check the email address and try again.
Done. We'll email you if it returns to stock. No newsletter signup, just the one note.
That didn't go through. Please check the email address and try again.
Correct Placement
How To Wear It
SmoothRide Mouthpiece
Baucher Cheekpiece
Stainless Steel
Dressage legal under USEF, EC, FEI, EC Eventing, and USEA rules.
Not sure?