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The White Horse of Uffington chalk carving dates from the
Bronze Age. So does your horse's bit!
Allen Pogue uses positive reinforcement, not a bit, to train his horses.
The bit is a very ancient metal device invented during the Bronze Age (around 3000 BC) with the sole purpose of inflicting pain, in a crude attempt to control horses.
In those early days, men had no concept of horse training based on psychology using positive reinforcement and operant conditioning. Horses were plentiful and if a horse could not be forced into submission it wasn't a big deal. Such a horse would be eaten.
Today we don't eat our problem horses. In fact, we now know that most problems with horses derive as a direct result of how people handle, train and care for them.
Despite the huge advances humankind has made in knowledge, technology and ethics, most riders still use the 5000 year old Bronze Age instrument of pain in their horses' mouths!
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It suffices to note that the antiquity of a method is no assurance of its true fitness of purpose. ~ Robert Cook
Alan Outram, an archaeologist at Britain's University of Exeter who led a study group excavating what they have determined to be a horse farm of the Bronze Age Botai culture of Kazakhstan wrote, "We found evidence that these particular horses had been ridden or at least harnessed." Outram explains that the evidence of wear found in the mouths of the horse skulls they discovered "doesn't occur through natural diet or any other natural process. You also get changes to the jaw itself, because as that harness is hitting against the gum in the jaw it irritates the jaw and can cause extra bone growth in that area, and what we had on these Botai horses was both some very clear examples of the bit wear on the teeth [and] also changes to the jaw."
More information: http://www.rferl.org/content/Horses_First_Domesticated_Kazakhstan/1505978.html
With hindsight, it seems that man has done much to make life a misery for the horse.
~ Robert Cook
How can it be that modern people still use the same archaic devices that left such tell-tale signs of pain and damage in the skulls of long dead horses?
According to Dr. Robert Cook FRCVS, PhD Professor of Surgery Emeritus Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, "The bit method’s primary fault is that, except in the hands of a master horseman with an unshakably independent seat, the bit causes pain. ‘Good hands’ depends on having little or no pressure on the bit. As the horse’s mouth is one of the most sensitive parts of its anatomy, even the slightest pressure (the weight of the bit and the attached reins) can cause intense pain. Think of the pain of badly fitting dentures or the irritation from a particle of food that lodges in your mouth."
More information: http://www.bitlessbridle.com/FOTB-1.pdf
Dr. Cook makes a good point about the gentle hands of a master horseman. Have you ever watched a champion reining horse? You may have noticed the rider hardly touches the loose reins. Skillful riders don't use the bit as a steering wheel or brakes. With humane training and their own accomplished riding skills they communicate with the horse much more effectively. Sitting deep in the saddle, breaking their rhythm, exhaling, and visualizing the horse stopping - these are the ways a master horseman communicates 'stop' to the horse. Horses don't need bits and neither do you.
Resolve to make 2010 the Year of Equestrian Enlightenment!
Now as we enter the year 2010
Let's consider some things again.
Remember the childhood dream?
You and your horse were a team.
Your horse's well-being you must defend,
For on his comfort your safety depends.
Why use a 5000 year old invention
For human to horse communication?
Pull the shoes and ditch the bit,
Have a professional check the saddle fit.
Enroll in a natural horsemanship course,
Dignify yourself by respecting your horse.
~ Eve Alexander
Right Top: Beau is uncomfortable and distracted with the French link snaffle bit, even using Rein-Aid elastic extensions and no nose band.
Right Bottom: He looks handsome, comfortable and relaxed in his Dr. Cook's Bitless Bridle.
The Effects of the Bit - Part 1
Craig Johnson and his American Paint Horse Smokin Chic Olena at the World Equestrian Games prove you don't need a bit to ride a horse.
This video stars a very masterful young rider performing a reining pattern bitless, with just a halter and lead rope!
Photo credits: White Horse of Uffington, public domain / Allen Pogue www.imagineahorse.com / Bronze Age bit www.salimbeti.com/
- Empowering vs overpowering in clicker training
- What is operant conditioning?
- "The Soul of a Horse" book review
- "Using Treats as a Training Tool" DVD review
- Focus as a form of communication with horses
- The Bitless Bridle - a clicker trainer's dream
- Clicker training to solve problems with horses
- Clicker training is safe training
- Inspiration from natural horsewoman, Silke Valentin
- Interview: Marta Williams about using intuitive communication to enhance training
- Interview: Sue De Laurentis - rehabilitating an abused Tennessee Walking Horse
- Interview: horse whisperer Frank Bell of Gentle Solutions Revolution
The copyright of this article is owned by Eve Alexander. Permission to republish in print or online must be granted by Eve Alexander in writing.
Comments
Interesting article, I'm all for an equestrian learning to ride using an independent seat, but this article seems a sale ad for Dr. Cooks. You also forgot to mention how a bitless bridle works: by putting painful pressure on the horse's face!! I think you should have included a picture of the ancient bits from the bronze age so that we can compare them to the snaffles of today, or perhaps talk about the rubber snaffles that are popular?
I've done the bitless bridle for the past 5 years but my Standardbred is not going to collect at all without a mild bit. So I've started using that. On the trail (which is where I ride most often) I do like the bitless bridle. It is very difficult to train yourself NOT to pull on your horse's head and mouth. I am working on that....
Fascinating article. I am a bit surprised to hear people were being so cruel so long ago.
Everyone is always talking about "the good old days" and how things were better then.
I have yet to see proof of that. I see us becoming more and more humane as time progress's.
Nice to see that slowly but surely it may get better for horses as well.
Bailey, thanks for reading and taking time to comment. Your suggestion was an excellent one and I have added a picture of a Bronze Age bit next to a modern bit to show how little has changed in 5000 years.
As a writer I can only write about what I know. I compared my two bitless bridles, Dr. Cook's and Parelli's hackamore, in an earlier article. I've never used a mechanical hackamore, bosal or other bitless bridle so cannot comment upon them.
Certainly a clumsy rider could put excess pressure on the boney parts of a horse's face with a bitless bridle, but that pales in comparison to putting a metal (or heavy rubber) piece on the ultra-sensitive bars of a horse's mouth.
Dr Cook's bridle is PAINLESS! I should know I have tried every bit, and many other bit free concepts..hacamore, side pull etc...there is and this bridle is the best. It is not painfull pressure. ALL of my horsed do wonderful with it. Just want to clear that up for readers on the not yet educated subject of bitless bridles. I love all my bitless bridles!
In every breed, every style of riding, every type of bit, bridle, headstall, saddle, etc. There is the potential for abuse and to deny it is to stick your head in the sand. Abuse comes not from the aides we use to communicate, but from the hands and minds that weild them. There were good and bad horsetrainers and methods in the past just as there are today. In fact the methods everyone touts as revolutionary can be tracked back to ancient times just as abusive methods can be. The solution to cure bit abuse is in educating the hands that hold the reins not in selling htem another quick fix or gimmick.
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