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All the experiments were carried out together with specialists and experts of Forensic Medical Examination Office in St. Petersburg, veterinarians and journalists. The experiments were formally recorded and videotaped.
The anatomical model of the tongue was made from ballistin.
The material closest fits to the structure and density of living tissues in everything except flexibility since in forensic medical examination the ballistin is used to register the hit or pressure.
This is a personal report on the considerations of bit pressure and pain to the horse based on the experiments carried out by the Forensic Medical Examination Office in St. Petersburg, while you may disagree on the amount of pain that might be felt by the horse, we should all be aware of the astounding amount of pressure measured in this experiment from the pressure of the bit.
This kind of pressure results in injuries not just to the muscle and tissue of tongue and lips but can be seen in bone of the jaw itself.
Next to injured jaw bone is the jaw bone with diastema of the horse who never knew the bits.
The next photo shows why the bit is placed right here.
Here in margo interalveolaris, in diastema the most sensitive part of trigeminal nerve is located (I pick it up by scissors in photo). There is no submucosal layer on the margo interalveolaris and the bit affects the nerve directly. The nerve is supersensitive.
The bit beats and presses right on this place.
In the course of recorded experiments it was found out that the jerk effort by the bit causes the press force of 300 kg per square centimeter. “An ordinary” typical effort by so-called “good hands”, is about 120-130 kg per square centimeter. That is 120-130 kg straight to the nerve.
According to descriptive adjectives the pain like that in the area of the nerve is called “especially acute, burning, paralyzing”.
(Perhaps the “jerking” pressure is in fact much stronger. But neither dynamometers nor special equipment of the Forensic Medical Examination laboratory, are able to measure the stronger efforts. The instruments returned an off-scale reading just because of the typical equestrian sport “sawing” and force tensions.)
All the experiments were carried out together with specialists and experts of Forensic Medical Examination Office in St. Petersburg, veterinarians and journalists. The experiments were formally recorded and videotaped. Thus, whether one agrees with outcomes of experiments or not, it is really “the matter of sight but not of belief”.
In the course of experiments emerged the traumatic degree of pressure on the tongue of the horse.
The anatomical model of the tongue made from ballistin was practically crushed by easy “good” effort of the hands of a thirteen-year-old boy.
(The material closest fits to the structure and density of living tissues in everything except flexibility since in forensic medical examination the ballistin is used to register the hit or pressure). The main pressure of the bit acts upon places where the lingual nerve (lingualis) plexus is located. The bit causes a pressure on the tongue of 100 kg per square centimeter (it is ordinary rein tension, which acts as a lever for the bit of course) and the jerk intensifies the pressure till it reaches 250-300 kg per square centimeter. Or rather on the lingual nerve which is supersensitive as well. (White branch on the model is a lingual nerve (lingualis), and yellow branch is a motor sublingual nerve (hypogrlossus).)
I believe there is no need to describe the painful sensation due to a pressure of 200-300 kg on the sensory nerves. The real tongue would take such pressure but, owing to super flexibility of living organic tissue, all of the more muscular tissue would reshape immediately. It would sustain an injury, but the pressure wouldn’t make such a mark on it as on artificial ballistin. Let’s continue.
Another branch of trigeminal nerves sustains a hit. This branch is located in the chin groove under which a curb chain runs. This place is almost out of muscular tissue, there are only skin, the branch of nerves and periosteum there.
What can the curb chain do, the very standard curb chain on a standard curb bit? The curb chain applies pressure to the bone and nerve of more then 300 kg per square centimeter. Except force measurement instruments which gave all these figures the degree of curb chain effect force were registered in another way. Another model of a horse head was made from material withstanding the pressure of about 100 kg till it breaks with its thickness of 3 cm.
TWO EXPERTS of various ages and constitution using two different models BROKE OFF the lower jaw just at once after first tension of reins, which confirms the instruments readings.
Clearly that horse bone is able to withstand much stronger pressure on this place, but we talk not on functional damages but on pain degree that horse feels which caused by using of standard sports equipment.
Now, let us consider THE HARD PALATE (palatum durum). Both the curb port and the central part of the snaffle cause equal effect on “gently rolled tissue”, on mucous of palatum durum. The only difference is that pressure of curb port is almost constant and the hits by the central part of the snaffle are more abrupt but occasional. The thickness of masticatory mucous is from 2mm (of grooves) to 6mm (of ridge).
Between this thin layer of mucous membrane and palatine bones the thick rete of palatine nerve (n. palatines major) is located. This thin layer of mucous membrane is unable to protect the palatine nerves against the hits and pressure of 180-200 kg per square centimeter caused by the bit. The hematomas under the mucous membrane, which can be perfectly seen on the dissection photographs, give an idea of the amount of pressure force (degree of pain).
These photos fix real thickness of hard palate mucous membrane.
We might continue talking about the impact upon the teeth and lips, or how they shove the horse’s tongue into its throat, about the injuries of epiglottis and so on, but many thorough researches are dedicated to it.
But we talk about the PAIN DEGREE only, or rather about how severe that pain should be to make the horse “forget” about the pain in poll and in the area of the parotid gland.
Performed experiments obtained figures which are easily converted to physiologic sensations. These provide unequivocal evidence that pain in the mouth is more intense, sharper, more “hypnotic”, than even such severe pain as pain in the decomposing gland and crumbling vertebrae. Therefore the horse “obeys”.
I have to confess when I saw the first findings of examinations I couldn’t believe my eyes. I didn’t believe the experts. I didn’t believe the instruments. We changed dynamometers and electronic sensors twice. But everything repeated again and again. I didn’t realize that even ordinary “gentle” action of bit in the mouth is so painful.
I knew that the pain exists, that it is strong (I also used to work with the bit in the past), but I was not ready for figures of 100, 200 and 300 kg per square centimeter. It seemed to me that with the effect like that, the horse’s head would fall apart during the first training. But we deal with very strong, very buoyant flesh, with very powerful physiology and very substantial osseous system. So, 300 kg per square centimeter is not the limit yet. The head does not fall apart. This just paralyzes the pain.
By the way, the experiments were conducted on real cadaver horse heads. With the pressure of 300 kg the horse flesh really does not “fall apart”. Severe inner “paralyzing” injures are inflicted but there are no external damages. (The real horse mandible can be fractured after the effect of 450-600 kg, the “old School” curb-bits by S. de la Broue, D. Izvitti design ensure that effect).
Ordinary sports curb-bit, or the one that is used in classic, just crack the periosteum. They can exceed the pressure of 300 kg but just a little. The dilettante who wants to believe in the myths of equestrian sport, cannot see the severe injuries, they are not clear.
Veterinarians stay silent in a cowardly manner. They make a living serving the sport. 99% of their “client base”, profit, connection, and career ladder is in sport.
For many years sportsmen have been generating lots and lots of lies about horses. They consider the drilled, forced, openly “painful” movements which have nothing in common with nature biomechanics of a horse, “beautiful”, and they award the medals to each other when the horse shows these movements. The more there is a “pain component” and marionette in movements of a horse the higher the mark. It is a concern for either so-called “sport” or so-called “classics”.
However, it is a sentimental talk again. We have scientifically proven facts which dot the i’s at last.
Alas, there is such a science as psychology and it discovered everything long ago. It is known that it does not matter whether a person possesses the knowledge of what he does or not, he senses some feelings…about what he does. This is called sense perception, emotional knowledge.
The information, value and accuracy of this sense perception, containing dozens, even hundreds of sensations, nuances and instincts, can rival the scientific knowledge… But it differs from scientific knowledge quite cardinally… It is impossible to express. It is difficult to formulate and to note. But that doesn’t mean it does not exist. In short, a person who ruins a horse realizes what he does. Not on a scientific knowledge level, but on an emotional knowledge level.
The possibility to force, tear and pull about the flesh in its both deep and subcutaneous stratums, to triumph over the breather, by the name of HORSE, methodically via pain are probably the very feelings they look for in dressage.
Alexander Nevzorov.
Lydia Nevzorova.
Nevzorov Haute Ecole
For more info on bitless riding please contact me:-
email - sjandtj@btinternet.com
phone - 01974 831 009.
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