What does a bit do to a horse and rider?
In 1998, Dr Bob Cook started asking himself how the use of a bit affected the horse and rider. Here is where the research has led.
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Training
Uneven movement detected in high-level dressage horses deemed sound
What the researchers observed was consistent and repetitive vertical movement asymmetry of the forehand during walking.
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Training horses daily is not necessary to get good results, study shows
“When horses are over-trained they start to show a range of mental issues including switching off, response lowering, aggression etc.”
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Crossing the line to a better horse-rider partnership
The “aids” are just the vocabulary of a language. They are part of the language, but not the whole language.
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Free online course: How prepared are you for an equine emergency?
Course aims to raise awareness of keeping people safer when working under supervision at an incident involving a horse.
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Frequency of use of horse training “equipment” spurs Canadian research
Research spurred by increasing interest in use of equine training equipment.
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Can you love your horse and still be a winner?
I remember a trainer telling me, “You cannot love the horses and win.”
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Why is hoof research lagging behind other areas of equine study?
Experts writing in the Equine Veterinary Journal are urging veterinarians, farriers and engineers to work together more to further the scientific foundations of farriery.
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Saddle reflocking: Be aware of what lies beneath
The thought of “liberating the shoulders’ is over exploited. Properly placed, the saddle does cover, without nuisance, the caudal part of the trapezius.
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Vets praise new system for assessing horse lameness
“By giving vets a clear understanding of pain associated behaviour markers they will be better able to recognise pain-related behaviour in ridden horses, which may reflect lameness.”
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Horse training: We should know better, do better
Equine athletic training and riding techniques need to evolve from making the horse do it to understanding how the horse does it.
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Scientists explore pre-race anticipation in horses
Researchers in Hungary assess levels of the stress hormone cortisol and heart-rate variability.
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Upcoming equitation conference a worthy nod to Federico Caprilli
Caprilli was an Italian cavalry officer whose pioneering techniques transformed the way horses were trained and ridden.
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Victory for horses as NZ rules against tight nosebands in dressage
“No noseband may ever be so tightly fixed that it will harm the horse. It must be possible to place one finger comfortably between the noseband and the nasal planum (front of the nose).”
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Ability of hand-held device to test fitness of horses being evaluated
Blood ammonia testing device used in human medicine now being tried in horses.
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The protein problem: Why horses need more than you think
Four directions amino acids can take – and the importance of feeding several protein sources.
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Escaping the museum of classical equitation – for the sake of the horse
We have the knowledge for a sophisticated dialogue but the practical application of new knowledge demands a fundamental shift.
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70 reasons for not using a bit: Your horse may thank you
A pain in the mouth can change the whole of a horse’s ‘body language.’ The behavioral changes are expressed in one or more parts of the body; head, neck, back, limbs and tail.
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Treeless v. treed: A saddle fitter’s perspective
The reason treed saddles have been around for so long is because they serve a distinct purpose – to protect, support, and provide comfort to both horse and rider.
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How a high cantle and thigh blocks put your horse in an awkward position
Horses are comfortable at a highly sophisticated level of perception. They are annoyed and often pushed to resistance and revolt when their senses are overloaded by the shifts of our body weight and other gestures.
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