|
The horse tested is a very forward going
eventer, 3/4 TB and 1/4 Belgian jumper bloodline, both
riders, Alexander and myself are advanced riders, both do
(Alexander) and did (me) eventing competitive, both ride
dressage up to PSG and Inter I; the gelding is ridden
normally with a French link bit, super sensitive in the
mouth, not a horse for a beginner or an advanced rider who
rides with more hand than the other known aids.
We started out with his bridle, then switched over to a
halter with reins attached in the side rings, simulating a
simple sidepull without extra nose pressure.
Then the so called "Spirit Bridle" invented by
Rev. A. Buck in 1988, redesigned to provide more safety
without the rein connectors and better effects on flection a
few month later.
Horse had a break of 1/2 hours between the methods applied.
1. riding in his bridle: super soft mouth, rider can
give all aids from seat (back, weight and leg), horse
responds very quickly, very much "durchlaessig"
meaning through/responsive and correct. I used a bit more
hand not supported by my seat (considered pulling no matter
how tender done) - head flies up, back arched. Leg on again,
he goes over his back. No need to work myself to death with
leg or seat with this horse.
2. Halter (called head collar in UK). He wasn't ridden in that one ever, owner has him
since the age of 2. We pretended we have a bridle and
applied half halts and 'ganze Parade' as we would with a
bit. Same results, same responsiveness; foaming, too, since
he went through the poll (nose being a bit in front of the
vertical). Jumping no problems either, up to 1.20 meters I
dared.
3. The bitless bridle.
The horse shook his head "against a fly on his head or
ears" (words used as a metaphor) constantly! He has
been working with this bridle for 4 days now.
We used as less pressure/pull on the rein as with the other
two tack methods used, for a beginner rider it would be
considered NO rein pressure at all that fine the horse is
ridden. We can only assume the reason why is the even so
slight pressure on the poll. He simply didn't like it.
My thoughts:
If I have any horse which is proven sensitive in mouth or
head due to a bitted bridle or which is a HS horse
displaying symptoms due to bitted bridle, it is worth giving
it a try. For the test horse it was not the way to ride him
in. I would never try it on my horse, who is hyper sensitive
in the poll and lower jaw due to his accident induced
changes. For me the technique used is the same as working
with Chambon or Gogue, our vet agreed. Chambon on
lunge line or Gogue under rider (try it without the bit,
works fine, has effect because of mainly POLL pressure, in
the Gogue method you have to add the triangle effect
enforced by hand/bit/poll, too. If you use the Chambon harsh
and don't give the horse time to learn in a very soft
manner, lots of harm can be done in the poll, same for Gogue.
The author concludes that the headshaking syndrome is
simply a subset of the much larger syndrome, aversion to the
bit. (Part III; Table I)."
It is simply not true, that the ONLY reason for HS is due to
wrong bitting and will disappear when a bitless bridle would be used, why doesn't it disappear in
horses when ridden with a halter. Our vet stated, that if
wrong bitting is the cause, yes, the hs might disappear if
not a chronicle condition has developed like a nerve damage
and such. If the bitting is only part of a problem, one will
have to search further for a cause. If a hypersensivity of
the tongue is the reason, not even any bitless tack will
cure. Another aspect he mentioned, is: unless you dissect
the horse's head (the one you want to cure) you won't find
the exact spot of the nerves pain area, could very well be,
that exactly over the cheek where the bridle's cheek piece
runs, the herd of pain and inflammation is located, or below
the jaw bone, where the parts of cheek pieces/rein
combination crosses. What then?
Conclusion:
It has its good points as the bitless
riding method has in general, but it also has its bad point
which apply the same way to all bridles. A very sensitive
issue is the poll pressure applied as a HS horse is in
general more sensitive though the pain perception varies in
the individual. Any bitless bridle method might have a good
effect on HS horses with diagnosed problems in the lower
jaw, the vet believes, depending on it's pressure points and
severity of rider aids. Some horses he has examined had so
much other problems growing out of the base problem that
even a bitless way of riding didn't do any good
"over-night"
Nevertheless, he also stated, when this bridle has helped
only 1 % of all HS horses it is worth while to try it if
the diagnosis exclude all other types of HS and the cause is
verified; even a soft sidepull out of cotton or round
sewn leather could produce good results in a HS horse, it
always depends where the nerve is damaged or hypersensitive,
which is considered damage compare to normal reaction.
Before it is being misunderstood:
The possible
causes of HS described by Dr. W.R. Cook were not the subject of
our little examination. We only checked the effects of the
tack on a horse compared to other tack.
I do believe, and the vet agrees, that the cause in a horse
displaying HS when worked ( and here no matter if with or
without
tack) might be found in the respiratory or surrounding
organs, including ligaments, joints, aso.
All the other aspects about bridles and bitting in general,
why and
what it could cause in any horse, is to agree upon. For
someone wanting to know more about these matters, I
recommend
the following books and articles which were written leaning
on and including Dr. Cooks expertise regarding bitless
riding.
Bonner, John.: Changing Tack; horses may
prefer bridles with a bit missing. New Scientist. 4
July 1998, p16.
Dishington, Heather.: Spirit bridle: revolution or gimmick? The
Australian Arabian Horse News. September 1998, p 55
Schuelein, Steve.: New bitless bridle touted to California
trainers. Thoroughbred Times November 28, 1998, p71
Sykes, Melissa F.: Bitless Control The Backstretch. January/February
1999, p 21
McFarland, Cynthia: "Spirit without the bit's
bite" Thoroughbred Times 6 March 1999 p33-34
|
