different causation

[46zilzal]

Who would think that differing a bit would alter stride that much?

http://www.bitlessbridle.com/article2.html

[RXB]

Dr. Cook has been pushing his bitless bridle for a few years. Hasn't had many takers. Not being a vet, I can't say whether this is due to a lack of real benefits from his invention, or just the unwillingness/inability of the racing industry to recognize a good thing. (Hmmm... now that I think about the racing industry's past record, probably the latter.)

[Tuffmug]

Very interesting reading Thank you for sharing.

[DJofSD]

A good horse-person will try various bits to find the right bit. I suspect, though, that some trainers equate a better bit with more "control" in an attempt to overcome training problems. Trying to get a horse to do something by using a more severe bit is counter productive and likely will lead to the breakdown of the horse. Poor training methods and trying to control a horse through it's mouth with severe bits do cause jumpers and horses on the flat to break down with tendon and ligament injuries. And these horses at not being trained "at speed", they're being trained in the walk, trot and canter, not a gallop.

On the other hand, a good trainer can overcome resistance by changing bits and taking care of any problems that might be present including other problems in the mouth. Sometimes I wonder if some horses show improvement after a claim because of something as simple as a different bit. And yes, resulting in increased stride length. Case in point: if you're famaliar with dressage training and the concept of tracking and over tracking, often a change in the bridle and/or the bit will allow a horse to increase its flexion and stride out more -- a greater stride length covering more ground with the same amount of effort. And as was mentioned in the article sometimes the problem is the horse leaning on the bit. Getting a horse off of the forehand and into self carriage is the basic part of training. I can't help but think it applies to training horses on the race track both the shifting of the weight towards the rear and using the correct bit.

DJofSD

[Macdiarmadillo]

It's going to take somebody like a Frankel or Lukas to start using it, then everyone else will rush to try it, thinking it's the magic answer. That's kind of what happened with the Seattle Slew bridle. That's still used, though it's not for every horse, either. If it benefits the horses, I'm for it.

It's not going to suit the jocks that depend on muscle and not finesse.