Many people are finally learning that there is a new ethology towards horse training.  Trouble is, many people are not truly understanding it, and taking it to extremes that aren´t necessarily good.

We love bitless - when the correct bitless bridle is fitted correctly for a specific horses needs.
We love shoeless - when the horse is receiving the correct diet and living situation and a professional trim, again tailored to his or her needs.
We love treeless - when it works for the individual horse, dependent on his/her body shape and the type of riding being carried out.

That is to say, not all horses in all disciplines can be ridden treeless.  Any old (!) headgear without a bit will not necessarily be comfortable and correct.  Simply removing shoes does not a barefoot horse make.

But I would like to concentrate on the bareback riders.  The people that believe they are doing the totally ethical correct, natural thing, by riding without the constrictions of a girth (and for some reason, all I see doing this also ride without a helmet!).  Now personally you wouldn´t catch me riding TWB bareback for love nor money - she has withers like a knife blade.  Heart has a beautiful, wide, flat, balanced, rectangular back - very comfortable to ride bare at all paces, but I still wouldn´t ride him without a saddle for more than a gentle hour or so.  Despite the fact that I don´t bounce around on him in trot, I carry my own weight and I do have a balanced seat, I would not risk damaging his back unnecessarily. 

If you think you are being kinder to your horse by riding bareback, make sure you have a truly balanced seat and can carry your own weight.  Have someone spot you from the ground to assure you don´t lean on turns - if you lean you are not balanced!  Drive your horse forward to do a collected walk, so their lumber region is not strung out low with the additional dead weight of you on it.  If you bounce in trot, your posture is at fault, and you are going to eventually bruise their back.  Think about cantering, what is your body doing?  Do you have the leg strength to lift yourself slightly off the spine?  Or, can you sit a canter without bouncing back on each stride?  The majority of good saddles are designed with complete clearance to the spine - Why do you think that is?

Oh dear, seems I´m in trouble again.  A lady on Facebook posted a short video of her horse being ridden bitless for the first time.  Her comment of apparent surprise that the horse turned/changed direction, lead me to post the words "It isn´t rocket science".  I clearly should have elaborated as the lady subsequently sent me a snooty private message and blocked me before I could respond.  (Just love a fair discussion!).

Bitless riding is not rocket science.  People that wrap it up in some mystery are only fooling themselves.  For the uninitiated it is also not difficult, dangerous, complicated, convoluted, arduous, perplexing or any other adjective you may associate with the transition.  The lady seemed nervous, maybe perplexed.  I was just trying to reassure her that it "wasn´t rocket science".  The lady appeared to need reassurance - I foolishly thought the words "it isnt´rocket science" would suffice!

Starting a horse from the get-go, transitioning an already bitted horse, re-schooling a horse with mental or physical issues, bitless, is all basically the same. Generally (see*) it is not about having to have brute strength for fear the horse will not stop.  It is not about having conductor hands, opening wide to pull a horse into a turn.  It is about doing the groundwork, the rider having a balanced seat and knowing that that is where the breaks and the direction come from.  It is just about riding correctly, as you would bitted.  It is about the smallest, correct, movement having the desired communication and therefore result.

Anyone with a well schooled horse can convert to bitless riding on their own.  Obviously sessions in an enclosed arena to begin with for two reasons. One to try which type of bitless bridle best suits your horse - just as you would with a bit.  Two to assure the riders confidence levels are adequate - because that is usually the bigger issue!

*If you have a horse with apparent "issues", then seeking the help of a professional is always advisable.  But, as is often the case, those issues may be caused by the bit, so once it is removed your previous head tosser, or bucker, or runaway is now the harmonious angel you longed for. (Proviso - assuming any physical back/head/limb problems have been assessed and resolved by the relevant professional [EMT, Quiro, Osteo, Dentist], and saddle fit has been taken into consideration)

As for the lady, I am insulted by her rebuke. People who know me, know how much assurance I give the nervous rider, how much patience I have with the sad or broken or misunderstood horse, how much time I give to each individual, as an individual and, how I always go above and beyond.

DEVELOPMENT OF FACIAL EXPRESSION PAIN SCALE.
Development of the Horse Grimace Scale (HGS) as a Pain Assessment Tool in Horses Undergoing Routine Castration

Emanuela Dalla Costa1*, Michela Minero1, Dirk Lebelt2, Diana Stucke2, Elisabetta Canali1, Matthew C. Leach3

1 Universita` degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanita` Pubblica, Milan, Italy, 2 Pferdeklinik Havelland / Havelland Equine Hospital, Beetzsee- Brielow, Germany, 3 Newcastle University, School of Agriculture, Food & Rural Development, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Abstract

Background: The assessment of pain is critical for the welfare of horses, in particular when pain is induced by common management procedures such as castration. Existing pain assessment methods have several limitations, which reduce the applicability in everyday life. Assessment of facial expression changes, as a novel means of pain scoring, may offer numerous advantages and overcome some of these limitations. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a standardised pain scale based on facial expressions in horses (Horse Grimace Scale [HGS]).

Methodology/Principal Findings: Forty stallions were assigned to one of two treatments and all animals underwent routine surgical castration under general anaesthesia. Group A (n = 19) received a single injection of Flunixin immediately before anaesthesia. Group B (n = 21) received Flunixin immediately before anaesthesia and then again, as an oral administration, six hours after the surgery. In addition, six horses were used as anaesthesia controls (C). These animals underwent non-invasive, indolent procedures, received the same treatment as group A, but did not undergo surgical procedures that could be accompanied with surgical pain. Changes in behaviour, composite pain scale (CPS) scores and horse grimace scale (HGS) scores were assessed before and 8-hours post-procedure. Only horses undergoing castration (Groups A and B) showed significantly greater HGS and CPS scores at 8-hours post compared to pre operatively. Further, maintenance behaviours such as explorative behaviour and alertness were also reduced. No difference was observed between the two analgesic treatment groups.

Conclusions: The Horse Grimace Scale potentially offers an effective and reliable method of assessing pain following routine castration in horses. However, auxiliary studies are required to evaluate different painful conditions and analgesic schedules.

Citation: Dalla Costa E, Minero M, Lebelt D, Stucke D, Canali E, et al. (2014) Development of the Horse Grimace Scale (HGS) as a Pain Assessment Tool in Horses Undergoing Routine Castration. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92281. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092281

Editor: Edna Hillman, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Received July 6, 2013; Accepted February 21, 2014; Published March 19, 2014

Copyright: ß 2014 Dalla Costa et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: The authors would like to thank the EU VII Framework program (FP7-KBBE-2010-4) for financing the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) project. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: emanuela.dallacosta@unimi.it

If you´d like to read the whole article follow this link http://www.horsesandpeople.com.au/sites/default/files/articles/Horse%20Grimace%20Scale.pdf

... or is he IN pain?
Does your horse rear, buck, spook, bolt? Maybe he´s "kicky" whilst riding, girthy, or nervous when ridden?  Or does your horse simply look unhappy, wont pick up a right lead, maybe his coat is dull, he just had a yard change or his mate has gone?  Does your horse compete regularly, therefore travel quite a bit?  Yes to just one of these means the possibility of stomach ulcers in your horse.

Various studies have reported the incidence of ulcers to range from 40-60% in sport horses such as dressage, show jumping (McClure et al. 1999, Mitchell 2001), endurance (Nieto et al. 2004), and western performance (Bertone, 2000), while the incidence in race horses is reported to be as high as 80-90% (Murray, 1996-2000 and Vatistas, 1999).

“Almost 60% of performance horses have ulcers. Up to 57% of foals have stomach ulcers, particularly during the first several months of life. Most of these horses and foals show no signs of illness. “Gastric Ulcers in Horses,” by Robert N. Oglesby, DVM.) (USDF Connections, Oct. 2003.)."

Minimising stress is the obvious starting place to avoid ulcers.  This would include being sure of a paddock mate (horses are meant to be outside!), keeping the stomach full of hay (the equine stomach constantly produces acid.  If not digesting food that acid is looking for an outlet elsewhere!) and, preparing a horse thoroughly for competing.  This includes relaxed, calm, trailer-mounting and travel, accustom them to noisy crowds and strange horses slowly but surely.  Be sure their tack (saddle, bridle and bit, if you use one, all fit correctly)  Be sure they have the head for the work you are asking of them!

Ulcers are not easy to detect.  Hind gut ulcers harder still as they can not be scoped as can the fore gut.  There are chemicals available to resolve ulcers and also many natural remedies which assist enormously well.  On the Whole Horse Protocol Nutrition course you can learn about these.

In summary; Next time you think your horse has training issues, consider his intestinal health first.  Get off and take a thorough look.  Consider if he suffers any of the following; Poor appetite, Dullness, Attitude changes, Decreased performance, Reluctance to train, Poor body condition, Poor hair coat, Weight loss,  Excessive time spent lying down, Low-grade colic and Loose feces.  Then call your vet