Pardon My Horse Vent

"You need to have contact with the horse's mouth."  

As I was giving my riding lesson this morning I was watching videos of horses going through their gaits.  It was an English rider instructing on how a horse's gaits work, and how to ride them in the "proper position".  "Maintain contact with the bit," was something that came out of the girl's mouth several times in all of her videos.  She also mentioned how her horse was foaming at the bit because he enjoyed it so much.  What about the rest of the body?  What about your leg contact? Back position? Shoulders?  Her horse was very stiff moving and I saw no fluidity in its movements (at any gait).  Unfortunately, this girl isn't the only person I have seen talking and riding like this.  Although I feel bits are completely unnecessary, and actually a great tool to interfere with a horse, I am not against people using them...as long as they use them properly (and if they use them properly they probably don't even need one!).

"It is important to remember that the bit is only a tool. A bit will not train your horse. Proper training takes time, patience, and repetition. And you need to have the correct tools to communicate what you are asking the horse to do – hands, legs, seat, voice and proper equipment.”

Too many people are stuck in the mind set that a bit will control a horse.  A bit will stop a horse from taking off.  A bit will keep the proper head position.  A bit will keep the horse from bucking.  None of that is true.  If a horse does not want to stop, he won't stop.  If a horse needs to keep his head in a certain position, it's probably not natural for the horse and will cause discomfort.  If a horse wants to buck with you on him, you probably shouldn't be riding him in the first place.  Bit or no bit, a horse that's typically 800 to 1300 pounds could put us in our grave at any minute if he so desired.  

Bit or no bit.

Here is a quote from Pat Parelli (back before he was a sell-out).  He says it perfectly.

“Bits are a mystery to most people. The most common misconception seems to be; the bigger the misbehavior, the bigger the bit you need to correct it. I, on the other hand, teach people why they really don’t even need a bit to control their horses. In most cases it’s a revelation for the person and a relief for the horse. Horses run off or bolt out of fear. Its starts in the mind, goes through the body and down the legs to the feet. Once the horse is this frightened the rider is essentially riding scared feet. Most of the time it doesn’t matter what bit is being used in the horse’s mouth he can’t be stopped. I’ve seen horses with huge shank bits, martingales and nosebands stick their chins on their chests and go! When prey animals get that emotional, and they need to save their lives, they will run through anything, painful or not.”

I think that says enough...

As a side note, a horse does not salivate when a bit is in its mouth because they like it.  They salivate and foam because it is a natural digestive response!  The horse is trying to digest the bit!  

"Riding bareback ruins a horse's spine!"

Does it now?  I can understand a rider who is unbalanced and flopping all over the horse's back on a consistent basis, but in general, is bareback riding really that bad for a horse?  I think it's safe to say saddles that don't fit the horse right cause more problems than someone riding bareback.  One would think that a horse would be able to move more freely and be able to communicate better with the rider bareback (because you can feel back, rump, and shoulder muscles relax and become tense).  It seems like common sense to me.  I won't go into detail about this, but it's interesting the things people come up with even though it's against common sense and basic horse knowledge.

I wish more people would experience what a horse is like naturally.  I think many people would be surprised how the body flexes, stretches, and syncs with the horse's rhythms all on its own, and how the horse responds positively to it.  The relationship that forms between horse and rider when the horse is able to be a horse is something you cannot create through artificial methods, bits and spurs, and unreasonable minds.