18/08/2025
Champing at the Bit.
Champing at the Bit for Improvements: A Review of Equine Welfare in Equestrian Sports in the United Kingdom
Tim Q Holmes
Ashleigh F Brown
"Despite bits having been used for thousands of years as the primary means of control during riding and driving, it is often assumed they are both essential and ethical; however, research indicates that they can cause discomfort, pain, oral lesions, behavioural inhibition and, thus, also create fear and distress [188,191]. Any bit can create poor welfare if used incorrectly such as with excessive pressure, or by inexperienced riders/drivers [187,200].
However, risks are magnified with ‘stronger’ types of bit, which exert greater pressure or more severe action on the animal and, therefore, have more capacity to inflict pain and injury [77].
Mellor and Beausoleil [201] stated that “most horses exhibit clear behavioural evidence of aversion to a bit in their mouths, varying from the bit being a mild irritant to very painful”. In addition, certain types of bits may be associated with a reduction in the swallowing frequency of horses [202], and there is also evidence that bitted bridles can cause breathlessness, resulting in negative welfare impacts on horses [201].
When horses wearing bitted bridles and bitless bridles were compared, those wearing bitted bridles exhibited more chewing, opening of the mouth, pawing the ground and tail swishing, and during long-reining, their heart rate and heart rate variability were higher [203]. The study also found that horses wearing bitless bridles exhibited more head lowering during long-reining compared to those in the bitted bridles, which suggests that horses wearing bitless bridles performed at least as well as, if not better than, those in bitted bridles [203]."
"Additionally, conclusions drawn from scientific evidence should not be ignored and overridden on the basis of the large number of people who participate in the sport or the large sums generated. Comparisons could be made with the climate change debate or even the to***co industry debacle, where the evidence exists but the human elements, including perceptions, attitudes, values, power and connections of individuals, overly influence the debate, leading to little or slow change.
A fundamental problem is that stakeholders, from scientists to managers to policymakers, all have different values, approaches, interests, and goals and therefore come up with many and varied answers to the problems. Scientific evidence demonstrates that equids are suffering for sports and, therefore, there is a need to build on evolving new processes that incorporate animal welfare science together with human behaviour change strategies."
https://worldbitlessassociation.org/resources/champing-at-the-bit-for-improvements-a-review-of-equine-welfare-in-equestrian-sports-in-the-united-kingdom/
