Interested in Roman Riding?

[Vindex]

It's good to see horses that don't require the mouth bit. I can't imagine that being a good thing for the horse's teeth. (as an aside, that's a fairly modern thing, isn't it? the across the tongue bit?)

The bit isn't that modern. A 2009 study proved the domestication of the horse becasue of wear on the teeth from a bit (5000BC). See here for a brief idea of the research:

http://archaeology.about.com/od/domesti ... horses.htm

It is one of my cunning theories. Modern horses need and certainly benefit from dentistry; from skeletal evidence the horse in the ancient world did not have this service. So what look to be very severe bits are actually not that bad as the horse's teeth create some serious problems for the rider to over come. As a horse's teeth wear they produce some serious sharp edges which cut into the tongue and the side of the mouth as much as any "severe" bit (cf Hyland).

If, however, you can take the bit out of the mouth and still control the horse from poll pressure (ie a cantilever effect from the nose to the top of the head) then it should be a lot more comnfortable for everyone, particularly the horse. This is where the bridle such as Titus Bassus' horse is wearing become really interesting from my point of view.