Dr Robert Cook FRVCS PhD, Professor of Surgery Emeritus at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, commenced years of research over 25 years ago, and wrote many scientific papers regarding the use of bits in horses. He inspected the skulls of deceased domestic ridden horses and found that approximately 75% had bone spurs on the mandible from bit damage, among many other findings. His work has now been repeated by other scientists around the world, and a quick search online will yield many current papers on bit pain.

 

When bone is traumatized by a metal bit it's response is to re-model, overgrowing and producing bone spurs. When the bit is then placed in the mouth it contacts these spurs producing high levels of pain. The thickness of the gum over the bone of the mandible is around 2mm with a sensitive and wet mucous membrane over that. It’s no wonder that the bit damages this bone so easily. In a survey of 440 horses (switched from bits to bitless overnight) Dr Cook found the bit to be responsible for at least 50 problems in horses. 58% of horses had negative behavioural responses, 26% interference with locomotion and 16% interference with respiration. The four most frequently cited effects of the bit are to instill fear, make the horse fight back, trigger a flight response and cause facial neuralgia (head shaking).

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All bitless bridles work via pressure/release. With a cross-under bitless bridle, when pressure is placed on 1 rein the horse feels pressure on the opposite side of the head, the nose and the poll, giving it the name ‘head-hug’. This is pain free and impossible for the horse to ignore as it involves the whole head, unlike the bit where all the pressure is applied in the oral cavity. The same amount of pressure is applied to the reins but now it's distributed all around the head, so that in each area the actual pressure is quite small. The cross-under bitless bridle gives excellent responses for both steering and braking. ​The side-pull bitless bridle works very similarly except the pressure is felt in less places by the horse. With a straight side-pull all the pressure is on the nose. With a side-pull that has a sliding chin strap, the horse feels pressure on the nose and behind the chin.

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All bitless bridles, regardless of their design, are a step up for the horse. The outside of a horses head will never be as sensitive as the inside of the mouth. Some riders think they have less control with the bitless and use stronger than normal aids, which is unnecessary. As always we aim to use the smallest possible aid to gain the largest possible response. As the bitless bridle works via pressure/release it’s important to release the aid once the horse has responded. ​With a bitted bridle the horse can clamp the bit with their teeth or raise/overbend the head (to try and escape the pain of the bit) resulting in a loss of control by the rider. This doesn't happen with the bitless bridle. riding in a bitless bridle the rein aids are the same as with a bitted bridle. Once the horse is transitioned to the bitless, it’s easy to forget that we’re bitless as we just ride normally. The pressure is being applied by a soft wide strap, not a piece of hard metal, which makes these the most humane bridles ever created.

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Another lovely thing we find after using a bitless bridle for a while is a total lack of fear at bridling time. Many horses lift their heads, clamp the teeth, back away etc. when they see the bit, but once they realise there's no bit going in their mouths they are happy to be bridled and will often lower and turn their heads in towards us. Our relationship with our horse will slowly evolve into one of trust and respect as they come to realise there is no longer bit pain associated with riding. We then have happy horses.

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