This article first appeared in the July 2021 digital edition of Equestrian Life. To see what’s in the current issue, click here.
The ins & outs of bitless bridles
By Dr Kerry Mack
A regular theme of this column is what we can learn from science that helps us be the best horsemen and women we can be. A recent focus of equestrian science has been to investigate horse welfare – and bits are often under fire.
It is important that we really know what is the experience of our horses, rather than what we have done for centuries and just guessed, and justified what is convenient for us (such as accommodating horses in stables) or what makes us feel good that we are caring for our horses. Rugs are a good example of this; we tend to over-rug our horses. Horses are able to regulate their temperature over a much wider range than we can.
There has been quite a bit of attention to noseband pressure. It has been found that it is not uncommon that the cavesson noseband can be tightened up so much that blood flow is blocked and there is damage to the underlying bone. Loosening the nosebands has been shown to be associated with increased freedom of front leg movement…
Read the full article in the July 2021 issue of Equestrian Life magazine here.
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