{"id":26902,"date":"2016-05-11T15:53:34","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T05:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=26902"},"modified":"2017-02-09T16:33:22","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T05:33:22","slug":"crank-bridles-or-crank-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2016\/05\/crank-bridles-or-crank-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Crank bridles or Crank \u2018experts\u2019???"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Right now the wide world of the web is aflame with a scientific report that PROVES that double bridles and nosebands have horrendous consequences for the poor horses subjected to them. The ABC news headline gives a fair taste: Olympic equestrian events under fire as research links riding equipment to stress response in horses. <\/em>And the news items observes that scientists are \u2018claiming nosebands and double bridles could cause unnecessary pain and suffering to horses during equestrian events\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis study is the first to show that a very common practice, and a very common piece of gear, is eliciting a stress response in horses,\u201d said veterinarian and senior author of the study, Professor Paul McGreevy, \u201cIt is worth noting that this response emerged in horses without riders and without rein tension, so it\u2019s possibly just the tip of the iceberg.\u201d<\/p>\n

Except the research proves just the opposite, according to Kate Fenner, the lead author of the study, the one who actually carried out the experiments on the twelve horses tested.<\/p>\n

When I talk with Kate, a totally different picture emerges from the one that has been doing the rounds of the web, and frantically promoted by the RSPCA and Professor McGreevy.<\/p>\n

Instead of ALL nosebands combined with double bridles having bad consequences for the horses, the only problem comes when they are used illegally. According to Kate, \u201cA properly fitted noseband with the conventional two fingers of space, has no bad effect at all and that is what comes out of our research, in fact we\u2019ve proved that there is no problem when they are used properly. I can\u2019t comment on what the RSPCA are saying, but you are quite right, the extreme effect is only in condition 4, where the noseband is tightened so there is no space under the noseband. The problem as I see it is that the rules are not specific enough \u2013 if they were, and they ensured that all the nosebands were properly fitted, with the two fingers of space, then we wouldn\u2019t be having this conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interesting isn\u2019t it, how research can prove one thing \u2013 and then be used to prove the opposite?<\/p>\n

While we are on the subject, I do believe there is a problem with drop and flash nosebands used with snaffle bridles in Young Dressage Horse classes. The stewards seem to routinely ignore purple tongues and hideously tight nosebands. Now if, as their advocates claim, the drop noseband is a useful training tool, then it should have no place in the competition arena \u2013 the solution is simple, only allow cavesson nosebands fitted with a two finger space, and enforce the rule.<\/p>\n

I suspect that the FEI is about to make the double bridle optional for Grand Prix dressage. Sad in that another tradition of our sport goes, but when we have World and Olympic champions who consistently misuse double bridles, it is perhaps no great loss \u2013 although they will be just as ugly in snaffles.<\/p>\n

And in the meantime, next time you find a shock horror report, take the time to go to the original document, try to talk to its author, and you might find that the web furore is just the usual publicity seekers trying to get their moment of notoriety in the media and that the truth is quite different\u2026<\/p>\n

Chris Hector<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right now the wide world of the web is aflame with a scientific report that PROVES that double bridles and nosebands have horrendous consequences for the poor horses subjected to them. The ABC news headline gives a fair taste: Olympic equestrian events under fire as research links riding equipment to stress response in horses. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":26901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[1496,1495],"class_list":["post-26902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-horse-cruelty","tag-nosebands"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26902"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32186,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26902\/revisions\/32186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}