Let’s talk about horse training for a second. Horse training is such a simple process. You make the horse do what you want him to do, by making him think he wants to do it in the first place. Let’s face it, unless you’re dealing with miniature horses you are at the mercy of an animal that is much bigger and stronger. A person can equalize the relationship with talent and training, or, as the dickheads in the below photos show, with cruel equipment and harsh methods. It never ceases to amazes me how people can take something as simple as a snaffle or bosal and turn it into a torture device, yet it gets done at every show, in every warm up pen.
The Arabian is a gorgeous animal. He is intelligent, dynamic and spirited. An Arabian running across a grassy meadow is proof that the hand of God has touched this world, even if only briefly. To take such an animal and subject it to harsh methods is a crime.
My first example is how a good piece of equipment can be bastardized to become something abusive. A bosal is about as gentle a piece of horse gear as you can find. It’s a simple loop of braided rawhide with a heel button. Fitted correctly and used properly it is the first stage to creating a “bridled” horse. Made out of other material it can become a tortuous device as shown below.
A bent metal bosal? This thin? You can see the mark on the horse’s jaw where this thing has created a pressure point. And the damn thing is riding too low on the nose too. Is this the kind of thing you want on your young horse? Is this acceptable as a training measure? Hell no! This sucks and it should never be allowed on a show grounds
The next most basic piece of equipment is a snaffle. Most snaffles are fairly benign bits. They usually have a regular jointed mouthpiece and work by direct pull. It’s pretty hard to mess up a horse with a regular snaffle, so the trainwhores have figured out how to make this seemingly innocuous bit into a torture device.
What’s wrong with this picture? Where do we start? Some asshole stuff a thin twisted wire snaffle on a horse and cranked it until the horse’s lips are screaming at the seams and he’s foaming. Then they added a running martingale and draw reins. Really? Like one of those wasn’t enough to slow your horse down? You’re in a warm up pen, just how much crank control do you need? I wish this poor horse had flipped over on your dumb ass like you deserved. This is the kind of shit that makes people want to sit in the stands with a deer rifle and pick idiots off.
A step up from the snaffle is a curb bit. Curbs are leverage bits. They produce poll, mouth, tongue, and chin pressure. The standard curb bit has a 1½" cheek and a 4½" lower shank, thus producing a 1:3 ratio of cheek to lower shank, a 1:4 ratio of cheek to full shank, thus producing 3 lbs of pressure on the chin groove and 4 lbs of pressure on the horse's mouth for every 1 lb placed on the reins. In other words, keep your fricking hands light and stay off the bit. The standard rule of thumb that any GOOD trainer uses is that you don’t use leverage devices with a leverage bit. No martingales or draw reins on anything with a shank, it’s simply too much pressure.
The person below missed that lesson and decided to add even more leverage and use a German martingale with the curb bit because ten pounds of pressure across his horse’s tongue just wasn’t enough!
Can you say “Asshat”? I can. Are you really so incompetent that you can’t train without cranking your horse’s head to his chest with 15 pounds of leather? How would you like to try to work with this much crap on your head?
For some reason in history people decided that one bit wasn’t enough and created the Weymouth. I know people use them in upper level dressage and saddleseat, but really the point escapes me. However, when used properly they probably don’t do too much damaged. The problem with them is that you don’t have to pass a test before using such equipment, so these bits end up in the hands of people that aren’t qualified to pick their own noses, such as the dimwit below.
A martingale on the curb and the snaffle rein? What a complete dick you are! And that’s an illegal bit for dressage anyway, so why are you training in it? You horse sure looks unhappy! How would you like to have two bits pressing down on your tongue and the bars of your mouth? I can’t stand to have a fricking hair lay across my tongue; I can’t imagine how this shit feels.
Sadly it’s not only the English riders that do this stupid shit. For a long time western trainers didn’t use shit like draw reins and martingales, especially not with a shanked bit. Looks like times have changed and now every trainwhore in the country is using draw reins to take shortcuts in training.
Doesn’t this look wonderful? Don’t you wish that the judges could see this shit and rate it? Nothing like an 8 inch shank bit with a set of draw reins on it. Maybe we should just throw out all the show rules and let people ride in classes like this so everyone could see up close how sucky these trainers are. Think about it, isn’t this shit in the warm-up pen kind of like models who get their photos airbrushed to cover up crows feet and cellulite? Ten minutes after this photo you expect us to believe that your horse is trained perfectly and will make a balanced consistent ride? Liar!
Once thing that is consistent in all of these photos is the whole tight nostril-tense lip look that every one of these horses display. They are in pain and they are frustrated. These are not happy horses; they are pissed off and fearful. They should be allowed to buck these idiots off and then stomp their heads.
Shame on the trainers that perpetrated these abuses and shame on the show management that allowed this kind of abuse in the warm up pen! Where the hell is the oversight that would have prevented this crap? The AHA needs to step up and put a stop to this kind of thing!
