Equinox Equine Services

08/08/2025

Mosquito-borne illnesses are always a big deal here in the balmy southeastern US. Due to our nearly year-round "mosquito season" here in SC, I vaccinate my horses for these twice a year for a little extra protection, as do many of my clients.

01/08/2025

I began eschewing nosebands for daily training with my own horses many years ago. Admittedly, my primary reason was simple laziness--one less bit of tack to clean! But I noticed quickly that my three wildly different horses all responded very positively. And I've begun to notice many of my clients also leaving nosebands off except when required for showing certain disciplines and reporting happier horses. I like to think these are all signs that we are moving in a positive direction that will replace quick fixes with greater attention to the horse's welfare and more diligence in seeking sensible and kind solutions to performance issues.

New research shows cranking the noseband hurts your horse's gait.

There are always many opinions about nosebands. Too loose, and a trainer might call it sloppy. Too tight, and it becomes a welfare concern. There are studded and crank and chain and traditional, and all kinds of gadgets and gizmos designed to keep our horse’s mouth shut, but what is best for the horse? Is cranking that extra hole doing more harm than good?

A 2025 study published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science examined the impact of noseband tightness on pressure and performance. The results are eye-opening if you believe that a tighter noseband means better performance in the ring.

Most riders are familiar with the standard: leave two fingers’ space beneath the noseband. It’s even outlined in guidelines from the FEI. And according to the study, 85% of riders say they know this recommendation. But when researchers actually measured the fit using a standardized taper gauge, only 15% had their nosebands adjusted to the proper tension.

The vast majority were too tight. Sometimes dramatically too tight.

The Hidden Pressure on a Horse’s Face
In the study, eight horses were fitted with a simple cavesson noseband and tested at three settings: a standard two-finger fit, a snug one-finger fit, and a cranked-tight zero-finger fit. Under each setting, researchers measured facial pressure and evaluated gait.

- The one-finger setting increased pressure on the nasal bone by 54% over the two-finger baseline.
- The zero-finger setting? A staggering 338% increase in pressure.

Imagine trying to do your day job with a belt cinched tight around your nose and jaw. Now add that your success relies on body movement, and you have no way to say, “This hurts.” That’s similar to what the horse might feel like being asked to perform in a fully tightened noseband that more than triples the force exerted on its face.

Unfortunately, changes to tack and equipment don’t typically come solely from the perspective of the horse’s comfort. So let’s look at performance as well.

In addition to pressure data, the researchers measured each horse’s trot stride. As the noseband got tighter, the stride got shorter—by a lot. On average:

- Horses at the one-finger tightness lost 6.2% of their stride length.
- With a fully tightened noseband, stride loss jumped to 11.1%.

In real-world terms, that’s about 24 centimeters, roughly the length of a hoof, disappearing from every stride. While that may not sound dramatic at first, consider how it compounds across a full course. Shorter strides can mean rushed distances, flat movement, and a horse that never quite gets to “flow.” In the hunter ring, 24 centimeters could be the difference between pinning in a highly competitive under saddle class.

And this wasn’t just about stiffness or resistance. The study found a statistically significant negative correlation between noseband pressure and stride length. In short, the tighter the fit, the shorter the step.

Sure, a longer stride is helpful in the show ring. But this research highlights deeper concerns about what that level of pressure does to the horse’s face and nerves. The noseband sits directly over sensitive structures, including branches of the trigeminal nerve, which help regulate posture and proprioception. Excessive pressure here doesn’t just hurt. It may also interfere with the horse’s balance and coordination.

Previous studies have shown that pressures as low as 32 kPa can damage tissue. In this study, the tightest noseband setting reached an average of 115.8 kPa. That’s far above what’s been associated with pain or injury in other species. That number isn’t just theoretical. It’s happening under tack, often unnoticed, every day. And unlike overt lameness, this kind of pressure flies under the radar, making it easy to miss, but just as impactful.

🔗 Read the full article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/07/30/new-research-shows-cranking-your-noseband-hurts-your-horses-gait/

🔗 Read the full study here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080625003120?via%3Dihub

28/07/2025

It's heartening to see data of this sort being gathered. So many of us enjoy pursuing competition and training goals with our horses, and keeping their comfort and safety at the forefront of our riding helps ensure that they enjoy working with us, too!

Research conducted by Kienapfel and colleagues (2025) set out to investigate the relationship between head–neck position (HNP) and behavioural indicators of welfare in elite dressage horses.

Their goal was to provide an objective, evidence-based threshold at which flexion during riding becomes problematic for equine welfare, and to clarify the respective roles of vertical and poll angles in this context.

Concurrently, the occurrence of conflict behaviours—such as tail swishing, abnormal oral behaviours, headshaking, and gait irregularities—were quantified by trained observers.

The study used linear mixed-effects models to show that greater head–neck flexion—especially more negative vertical and poll angles—is clearly linked to increased conflict behaviour in dressage horses, with other factors like age, breed, or bit type not significant, though stallions did show more conflict than mares or geldings.

The authors identified that a -7.5° vertical angle (nasal plane behind the vertical) was an evidence-based limit: positions less flexed than -4° can be considered safe, -4° to -7.5° require caution, and beyond -7.5° pose a welfare risk.

Notably, more than 90% of horses examined were ridden behind the vertical, with half of these exceeding the -7.5° threshold, despite regulations.

📖: Kienapfel K, Hartmann E, Preiss B, Bachmann I. Head–Neck Positions in Ridden Horses: Defining Degrees of Flexion and Their Impact on Equine Behavior and Welfare. Int J Equine Sci 2025;4(2):107–124

15/07/2025

It's National I Love Horses Day in the US!

Yeah, that's pretty much every day for most of us. But my horses have told me that this is an "extra cookies for horses" day regardless.

14/07/2025

"We need to recognise and allow a horse to communicate with us more and listen for a start."

This is very true, especially as we gain deeper and more nuanced understanding of how our and our horses' bodies work, separately and together.

30/06/2025

"Can you tell when horses have had regular bodywork?"

This innocuous-seeming question, asked by an attendee at the demonstration I did for the South Carolina Dressage and Combined Training Association (SCDCTA) junior clinic this past weekend, has kept circling around in my head. The obvious answer, and the one I gave in the moment, is that, yes, absolutely, I can tell. The feel of the muscles, the tolerance for touch, the response of the horses all signal their familiarity with this type of support.

But there is more. Much deeper. There is a trust in horses that get regular bodywork. That is what the tolerance for odd types of touch in odd places means. Trust. And there is a sense that these horses feel seen and heard (apologies for the blatant anthropomorphism). They make greater effort to communicate and expect a response. And they are eager to receive your communication in return.

The quality of the muscle, lateral and longitudinal balance, softness and flexibility during ridden work and under the bodyworker's hands all signal a horse familiar with massage. But the mental and spiritual responsiveness is arguably even more important.

Shown here: My two demo subjects, "Mabel" and "Sugar," who DO get regular bodywok. Photos courtesy of the clinic management team

30/06/2025

I myself am blessed with horses that are relatively blase about fireworks, but for many friends and clients, this isn't the case. These are some great tips to help mitigate the effects of Independence Day celebrations on your horses.

To keep horses safe from fireworks, provide a familiar and secure environment, minimize noise and light exposure, and potentially use calming techniques like playing music. It's crucial to maintain their normal routine and ensure fencing is secure to prevent escapes.

Here, we have provided some tried and true strategies to help keep you and your horses out of harm's way during the 4th of July holiday weekend.

29/06/2025

Thanks to "Mabel," shown here, and "Sugar," along with their girls, Addison and Bella, for providing demo models for yesterday's massage presentation and discussion! I got to share massage tips and information with some truly amazing young riders--and some pretty great adults, too--at the South Carolina Dressage and Combined Training Association (SCDCTA) annual junior dressage clinic, hosted by the South Carolina Equine Park, Your Camden Showgrounds and sponsored by Bohren and Yanni Law Firm.

Thanks also to Julianna Lucarelli for allowing her daughters and their lovely horses to act as demos and to the rest of the crack SCDCTA team for organizing the whole thing!

24/06/2025

Those of us in South Carolina are more familiar than we'd like with heat and humidity! These are good general guidelines to help keep our equine partners--and ourselves--safe in the hot and muggy.

Thanks for this, Karla Pohl: