Horse Welfare Questions Answered
At the close of our Bare Bones of the Matter (BBOM) webinar series, we brought together an all-star panel made up of some of the presenters to discuss this fascinating documentary series. They answered viewers questions as well as asking each other questions. The result was a fascinating conversation about what good welfare actually looks like in everyday practice. Here are the highlights.
Can every horse be expected to have two bits in its mouth?
Sue Dyson put her colleagues on the spot with a genuinely provocative question: given how much oral cavity size varies between horses and head size doesn't necessarily reflect mouth size internally, can every horse really be expected to carry two bits comfortably?
Chris Pearce confirmed that research shows considerable variation in the space between the upper and lower bars of the mouth, with the tongue and soft tissue reducing available room further. For some horses, even a single, well-chosen snaffle needs careful selection, never mind a double bridle. The panel's conclusion: two bits should never be assumed to suit every horse, and the most comfortable option should be chosen for the individual.
Richard Davison, Olympic dressage rider and trainer, agreed without hesitation. Nearly every elite rider starts a horse in a snaffle, he pointed out, and international regulations are really the only reason horses move into a double bridle at all. Look at social media and you'll see Olympic gold medal horses performing piaffe, passage and pirouettes in nothing more than a headcollar or plain snaffle, proof that a double bridle isn't required for advanced work. His answer was blunt: one well-fitted single bit is more comfortable for most horses than two,
the most important thing is to understand and to encourage horses to release from that bit and not become pressure tolerant.
Chris added a sobering clinical note: bitting injuries, including bone damage from ill-fitting bits, turn up across every discipline. He described visiting an event yard with a dental colleague from Finland, who was horrified to find three or four out of fifteen horses had mouth injuries from their bits, a welfare issue he believes deserves far more attention.
Is your horse "obstinate", or in pain?
A viewer asked what to think when a normally cooperative horse suddenly resists being caught, or refuses to come in from the field. The panel's answer was unanimous: don't reach for a behavioural label like "lazy" or "obstinate" before ruling out physical causes. Discomfort is a common possibility, but confusion in training, changes to the rider, or other management factors can contribute too. The panel flagged that pre-existing conditions matter, too: a horse with previously diagnosed osteoarthritis might show a change in behaviour worth discussing with the vet. The message from all wat that any shift in behaviour is information that needs listening to.
Using glue-on shoes for horses
Farrier Mark Johnson was asked directly about his experience of using glue-on shoes, and his answer revealed how far thinking on hoof mechanics has moved. He hasn't nailed a steel shoe on since 2018, not because rigid shoes are never appropriate, but because most horses, in his experience, do better without them.
His reasoning centres on how dynamic the hoof capsule really is. Nailing a rigid piece of steel through the hoof wall fixes a band around a structure that needs to flex as the horse loads and moves. He's noticed dark staining around nail holes when shoes are removed, and wonders whether this reflects resistance between the rigid nail and the naturally shifting hoof. Plenty of horses, he said, visibly tense through the body when nails first go in.
Glue-on shoes allow the hoof capsule to keep flexing naturally, since the attachment stretches and bends with it rather than fighting against it. He was candid that his early experiences with gluing didn't always go smoothly, including at least one shoe thrown across a stable, followed by "a lot of expletives" from a client. Thankfully, adhesive technology has improved enormously since then, and retention, he now believes, can outperform steel.
Feeding alfalfa to ulcer prone horses
Nutritionist Clare MacLeod tackled a persistent myth. The research most often quoted to condemn alfalfa involved young weanlings that are already at high-risk for gastric ulceration were fed the equivalent of around five kilograms a day, this is a lot more than would be normally fed. When the same study was repeated in adult horses, the same increase in risk simply wasn't found, and earlier research has actually reported a buffering effect on stomach acid from alfalfa.
Her advice: alfalfa isn't automatically off the table for ulcer-prone horses, and many nutritionists still recommend it as part of a stomach-supportive diet. However, context matters and considering the individual horse and whether there are active gastric lesions all need considering. Gastric ulceration, she stressed, is multifactorial; diet is just one piece of the management picture.
The importance of riding in the saddle during a fitting
Should a saddle fitter always watch a horse being ridden, given how many checks are done statically with a template and does a static template really reflect a horse once it's moving under a rider?
Catherine Baker explained that templates, taken with the horse standing still, give a useful idea of shape and also provide a valuable record of how a horse's shape changes over time but a template alone isn't the full picture. She always also watches the horse led up in-hand in walk and trot, to see how the back moves dynamically. Also, stressing the importance of seeing the horse ridden in the saddle as it reveals whether the saddle fits the rider as well as the horse.
There are sensible exceptions: a young, unbacked horse (assessed statically and in-hand, with a follow-up once it's ridden), a horse returning to work after injury and only doing groundwork, or a safety concern. She described once declining to watch a horse ridden because the rider was over-horsed with no one else available, returning once a more experienced third party could help.
Is there any truth to "worm after the first frost"?
Is there real reasoning behind giving a winter wormer once there's been a good, hard frost, or is it a myth? Diane Gilby confirmed the advice does have a genuine basis, though it's specifically about botflies. Frost kills the adult botfly, so treatment given then targets larvae already inside the horse without an immediate risk of fresh re-infestation.
Chris Pearce, who regularly sees migrating botfly larvae in the mouth and soft palate during dental exams, asked whether ivermectin is preferred over moxidectin here because of resistance. Diane clarified it isn't resistance, ivermectin is simply more effective than moxidectin against botfly larvae. As with any worming decision, this should form part of a properly considered, individualised parasite-control plan, not a calendar habit.
Across every topic covered here, teeth, feet, feed, tack, parasites and training, the same idea kept resurfacing. Good welfare is never about one specialist fixing one problem in isolation. It's a whole-horse, team effort, built on evidence and tailored to the individual animal.
Want the watch the series in full?
This Q&A only scratches the surface of what's covered across the complete Bare Bones of the Matter series, including in-depth chapters on dentistry, saddle fit, hoof care, nutrition, parasite control and training.
Bare Bones of the Matter is an insightful on-demand documentary series that explores the challenges horses face in today's world.
Using her own horse, Freddie Fox and his skeleton, the original star of Horses Inside Out as a case study, Gillian Higgins shares his story alongside special guests and top equestrian professionals. Many of these experts, including world leaders in their fields, were part of the multidisciplinary team that cared for Freddie during his life.
This conversational 7-part series helps horse owners deepen their understanding of their horses while raising awareness about comfort, movement, welfare, and the best practices for maintaining the highest standards in the equine world.
Comments