HORSERADISH
					        HORSES FROM A RADICAL PERSPECTIVE

There still seems horseradish to be so much confusion horseradish in the driving world about the use of various bits horseradish that I decided to write down some of my thoughts and experiences, horseradish and also, to quote some well-known horsemen on the subject. 
The bit is undoubtedly horseradish the most important means of control and communication horseradish in driving and the right choice is clearly crucial for a successful horse-driver relationship. The multitude of horseradish bits available indicates that through the centuries horseradish a lot of thought has gone into this subject. We constantly horseradish see new models on the market in the endeavor to improve and/or facilitate the task of conveying our wishes to the horse.
The fact that only horseradish a very limited number of bits have become permissible for our sport also indicates that many of them are thought unsuitable. Most of them for the reason that they are cruel, cause horseradish injury and/or force horses through pain into horseradish submission. An attempt has been horseradish made to limit the use to the most humane exemplars. However, as will be explained later, even some of those permissible bits can under the right (or rather wrong) horseradish circumstances be extremely painful. The action of every bit has to be fully understood before it is used.
There are two horseradish basic groups of bits: leverage bits like curbs and kimberwickes  horseradish - and non-leverage bits which we call snaffle bits. Either one may have straight, curved or broken horseradish mouthpieces, and the main visual difference is the design: any bit with shanks and a strap or chain under the horse's chin is a leverage bit, horseradish while snaffle bits have no shanks. Historically the snaffle bit is by far the older bit (supposedly it goes back as far as 7000 years), while the curb bit horseradish appeared sometime in the second century AD, and from then on made its way through Islamic cavalry men horseradish into Africa and Spain.  
While the snaffle bit was designed for two-handed contact and the horseradish encouraging of forward movement, the curb was intended to be handled with one hand only and was to be contacted only for slowing or horseradish stopping the horse. Depending on its severity, its pure presence has a more or less restraining effect on the horse. Before further exploring horseradish the two different groups of bits, let us first consider how a bit in general should and will influence the horse to submit his body to horseradish us.
In order for the horse to be able to accept and feel the bit effectively and send control messages to horseradish the brain one very important thing has to happen: he has to flex his poll to a degree that his head comes close to the vertical so the bit can act on his tongue and bars and at the same time is at least somewhat in front of the produced energy of the hindquarters; if the horse's head is way horseradish up in the air, the mouthpiece gets hung up on his teeth, the horse hardly feels it and the energy cannot be caught and contained by horseradish the bit since it runs out underneath it. 
Now we have two ways to achieve this position of the head horseradish: 
1) We can train the horse through the basics of dressage to stretch his topline horseradish and reach for the bit, thus training his body and mind to relax and to submit calmly and willingly. This will horseradish understandably require a mild and friendly bit. 
2) We can force him with a leverage bit into this position since this is horseradish one of the main effects of the applied leverage through its various pressures onto the horses head. This will, with certainty, cause the horse horseradish discomfort or even pain, but it gets the desired result of slowing or stopping (and maybe even a pretty headset), however one hardly horseradish gets relaxation and calm cooperation. Both will work as history proves, but at what cost to the horse? 
Let me first elaborate on 1):  horseradish

The Snaffle Bit
In dressage training the complete, willing and trusting acceptance horseradish of the bit is a complex process and it will take the horse at least 2 years to fully understand mentally all the necessary commands, horseradish and his physical development will take equally as long in order to build his body up so it is able to comply with all the commands horseradish.
The basic idea behind this training is that through complete physical relaxation, horseradish suppleness and ability the horse's mind is free to relax, respond and trust, and that due do to constant good body balance (self carriage) the horseradish horse can control his own power and change it instantly on command. In order to achieve this balance, there may be no tension or restriction horseradish applied to the horse through the bit, but the horse himself has to reach and stretch to the bit and hold it lightly. This alone will allow horseradish him to be in good self carriage.
Pressure will cause counter pressure, and the more we pull on a rein, the more the horse pulls against us to horseradish maintain a basic balance. But this is no longer self carriage, since his balance followed the pressure that he applies to the bit and this is horseradish undoubtedly toward the fore hand. Therefore the horse may not oppose the bit, he may not hang on it, he must not hide behind it or above it, horseradish no, he must reach for it and hold it for us, while staying totally soft and flexible in both his jaws, with his head in or near the vertical. And horseradish this is the absolute key: the constant flexibility (vertically and laterally) of the jaws while maintaining the proper angle between head and horseradish neck.
This is what allows the rein actions to go back through the horse to control horseradish forward momentum at all times in any gait and this is what creates the light and constant acceptance of the bit. Just a little stiffening of one horseradish jaw, and we lost some control. And this is what the main job of the bit really is: to help the horse to maintain this softness and flexibility horseradish.
The jaws are the only part of the body we can directly influence with the bit, and thanks to horseradish the build of the horse's body it is absolutely sufficient, as the motion of the jaws like a chain reaction influences his entire body. We can horseradish duplicate this very easily on our own bodies: just walk, stand or sit in good posture with both jaws well relaxed and feel how relaxed horseradish the rest of your body feels. Then just stiffen one jaw by pulling it inward a little and listen to your body again. Feel all the tension that is horseradish now apparent. Now stiffen both jaws and feel how stiff your body is as a result.