A holistic approach is needed when it comes to bitting, experts have agreed
DON’T just look at the bit when it comes to resolving problems with the contact, riders have been told.
Experts urged those in the equestrian world to look at the whole picture — horse and rider — when it comes to bitting.
The calls were made at the Worshipful Company of Loriners’ conference on 6 November.
Leading equine vet Dr Jane Nixon stressed the value of understanding the knock-on efects of conformation and horse management.
“It is so important to consider the whole horse, ” she said.
Dr Nixon gave examples of how troubles in other areas of a horse’s body could play a role in an unsteady head carriage — and how problems around a horse’s head could result in lameness.
For example, head discomfort can lead to one-sidedness, uneven back muscle development and hindlimb lameness.
She stressed the importance of hindlimb balance, as imbalances here can lead to issues such as pelvic asymmetry, back pain and an unsteady head carriage.
Dr Caroline Benoist, manager of research and education at Neue Schule’s academy, agreed with Dr Nixon on the importance of understanding horse anatomy, particularly when it comes to bit and bridle fitting.
She explained the jaw joint (temporomandibular “TMJ” joint) — which is above and behind the eye, beneath where the horse’s headband sits — has many major nerves running through it.
She added that inappropriate pressure, such as poorly fitted bridles or those that restrict the jaw’s movement, could have efects on the whole horse.
“I cannot underscore enough the impact of proper bridle fit and using appropriate amounts of rein tension and looking at the horse’s body as a whole, ” said Dr Benoist. “The jaw cannot move forwards if the noseband is too tight. Tissues expand — if you are starting of with a tight noseband, it is only going to get tighter.
“If that jaw cannot slide forwards, the horse has much less chance of realising where his limbs are.
“It is not our intention to make you panic [about nosebands], it is to create awareness, and to tighten them sensibly.”
She added that each horse is an individual and that care needs to be taken to ensure the correct fit, as “pony, cob, full” size options do not take into account the diferences in equines’ face shapes.
Top British eventer Nicola Wilson explained how a focus on training was vital to finding the key to her European team gold and individual bronze medal- winning mare Bulana.
“Bulana is the most magical horse, she’s beautiful and incredibly talented, ” said Nicola.
I got her later on in her career, and when I started to ride her she had so much enthusiasm and wanted to do the job at the fastest speed possible — out hacking she would put her nose on her chest and trot of with me.
“I never felt she was an out- and-out puller; I felt it was more in her mind than her mouth.”
Nicola credited her trainers, Ian Woodhead and Chris Bartle, her support team and the work she did with the mare at home with finding the solution.
This included a lot of riding up and down hills, with surprise transitions, to build the mare’s strength and to get her to listen to Nicola’s leg and body aids.
Through a process of trial and error, Nicola used a Barry gag and Kineton noseband and progressed to riding the mare in a Neue Schule Nelson waterford gag with a flash noseband.
“Start from the basics. It’s about forming that partnership and trust from day one; every horse is diferent, ” added Nicola.
“As she has become stronger physically, she has become stronger mentally. It is a balance between getting the training right, the bitting right and the management right.”
Horses can help autistic children in the long term
Research reveals long-lasting improvements in behaviour
CHILDREN with autism spectrum disorder experience immediate and long-term benefits from therapeutic horse riding, according to research.
A study by the University of Colorado, funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in partnership with Mars Petcare and WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, is the first to show that children participating in 10 weeks of therapeutic riding showed significant improvements in irritability, hyperactivity and social skills. A separate group, participating in an activity with no direct interaction with horses, showed declines in irritability and hyperactivity behaviour, but after five weeks these behaviours levelled of or bounced back to pre-treatment levels.
A six-month follow-up on 44% of the 116 children showed that those who took part in the riding had a lasting reduction in irritability, and improvement in social communication.
Lead author Robin Gabriels, a professor in the psychiatry department at the University of Colorado: “Children with autism have a variety of impairments. They have particular diiculty with emotion regulation and social skills, so they have a hard time assessing people’s intentions and may take things personally. Children also have language diiculty when communicating so they are likely to act out more because they can’t explain what is going on.
“There might be several elements in riding that can target this social emotional experience, which can encourage engagement and help them regulate emotions better. There’s also sensory experience in the act of riding; the size can capture a child’s attention and the task of making adjustments to maintain balance creates a demand for focus.”
Naomi Masters took her son Rupert for therapeutic riding after he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
“I didn’t fully appreciated how much it would help with some of the diiculties Rupert faces. "
“Rupert is very tactile and calm with the horses. He doesn’t tend to go into a meltdown or have an adverse reaction around them — if he’s told, ‘No, you can’t do that, ’ and it’s explained why, he will accept and understand it might upset the horse; he takes it on board and can process it better. ”
Autistic riders make up the biggest single user group at Riding for the Disabled with more than 5, 000 people taking part.
Riding can be really valuable and have a positive impact for people with autism.
“One of our challenges is trying to understand where the benefit can lie and how we interact or how we enable the interaction between the client and the horse. ”