Why not a snaffle forever?

I have heard many times people asking why should they change from a snaffle when their horse seems to like it just fine. The snaffle is a great bit to start unbroken horses because you can pull on it and communicate directions using two hands. You can pull pretty hard and the horse is not confused or frightened. It learns to follow direction in learning its new role. But the snaffle is only good for those very simple tasks it has been ask to do. In time the horse will lean on the snaffle and loose his feel because of the way it works. When it is time to ask more complicated things of him you need a bit what will communicate to him in more ways. At the same time it will not allow him to lean on the bit but instead give to the pressure. You can always go back to the snaffle when necessary to remind them of lessons already learned. Some people look at the Spade bit of the Vaqueros with alarm because it looks so harsh. Most horses that graduated to the spade were over ten years old and had gone through a very thorough training program before it was ever put in their mouth. In the right hands the Spade is like a fine musical instrument in the hands of a maestro. It all takes time to achieve more than the simplest of tasks and you can’t do it without the progression to other bits. Carl Wood