Last night I was in a huge antique mall looking for the kind of tools to use in the Gwaltney Frontier Farm. I saw an old snaffle bit labeled as a "training bit." It had two large rings which held the bit. The bit was made from a bicycle chain.
Torture devices like these were created entirely because too few horseman understood that the degree of pressure exerted was much less important than the perfect consistency of the release of the pressure upon compliance, and nearly as important, the speed in which the pressure was released.
That is why it is never a good answer to get a harsher bit for a horse that is not under control. When confronted with such a horse, one must retrain by using a lighter device such as a rope halter or a bosal.
That's right--a bicycle chain.
I was shocked to learn of many "training bits" in my Horse Management class that ranged from bicycle chains to long-shanked curbs with ports so high you'd think the horse would have to keep its mouth open just to be somewhat comfortable. I was more shocked, however, to be the only one that knew what a bosal was in my class. Just goes to show the world we live in now when it comes to the choosing and misusing of tack.
ReplyDeleteFor 20 years my closest equine friend has been a spirited little Arab gelding that I rescued from the meat auction. His previous owner was going to sell him for meat because she could not find anyone else willing to take him on, because he was "such a monster."
ReplyDeleteShe'd been riding him in a heavy QH-sized bit with very high curb and 9" shanks (!) PLUS baling-wire looped around his nose and connected to a tie-down which would wear bloody holes in his face every time she rode him (who was the monster?)
I started riding him in a mild, rubberized egg-butt ring snaffle with no tie down -- his previous owner said I was crazy and that he would kill me. Within a few months he was sweet and happy and would go anywhere on a loose rein at whatever gait I asked of him. Together we won buckles in speed sports and have enjoyed thousands of miles of trail riding. He's been the nicest, most willing and loving horse it has ever been my privilege to know.
Meanwhile his previous owner purchased a 15-year-old QH that had been a 9-year-old girl's gymkhana horse, and within one month she had that poor QH so hopped-up that it ran them both off a cliff. She had the worst hands of any rider I've ever known, and she tried to compensate for her bad hands with ferociously painful control tools.
Its a sad world for horses, with people like that in it. And by the way, Steve, she is one of those "established horse world" riders.
Deb in CA
For too many years, the only answer to loss of control of a horse was yet a harsher bit. I remember when I was a kid - seeing a war bridle used & way too many other nasty ways to control a horse. Not everything was better back then!
ReplyDeleteMaggie
Deb...that is awful...and wonderful that you found him...
ReplyDeleteI follow several horse related groups on facebook, and I am constamtly both apalled and encouraged by what I read...Questions like "What bit do I use?" What shoes do I use?" "My horse is hard mouthed, what bit do I use?" Etc....ad nauseum. My answers to 5hese questions are pretty predictable, and I can usually avoid the knock down drag out fights..although sometimes I am tempted..."Getcha a higher ported bit."
What encourages me is that the number of people who encourage gentle natural horsemanship, barefoot natural horsecare, and the concept that horses are empathic, thinking, feeling beings..( I have noted that very many people get outsmarted by their horses because it simply never occurs to them that the horse can outthink them...human conceit..) is growing quickly...and these of newfound faith have the fire....I love that.
I got to answer the question the other day about what mineral block to give...swatted that one out of the park....deeep left center. I simply made the statement that your horse, on a normal pasture and hay diet needs nothing more, under normal circumstances that 2:1 cattle mineral..
I was intentionally, and deceptively vague, in hopes that there would be questions, and I was not disappointed...I found a couple of converts there. Folks who were tickled to find that they need not blow big bucks on salt that says equine on the sticker..
Take heart...it is getting better...there is hope. It is unlikely that we will make believers out of all of them, but If we help just one more horse lead a lean and healthy life , as close to wild as practical, If we just get a few more kids introduced before they get taught the ridiculous and expensive way....then every victory is worth it. There are many people out there who believe, and are talking about it. -Lloyd