A horse has two "bars" in its mouth – areas of gum between the front and rear teeth. The bit sits in this gum region, the bars, a sensitive area for a horse.
Reins attach to rings - the portion of the bit that is outside the mouth - and usage of the reins by the rider applies pressure and pain to the horse’s mouth, tongue, and lips.
Once we accept that the bit operates on the principle of pain, it becomes easier to control and train ourselves as a rider.
Surely, a creature as large as a horse, or even a 1,000 pound pony, needs to be controlled. However, it is the rider who needs to be trained to have soft hands in order not to create a horse that becomes bit crazy – either so enraged at prior harsh treatment that it is unruly and difficult to control, or the opposite, a horse who has been so desensitized that it no longer responds to the bit, or worse yet, takes the bit between its back teeth so that the rider no longer derives control from it. In all these situations, the horse has developed what is known as a “hard mouth.”
Properly speaking, good riders do not try to dominate and control the horse with pain as much as they work to earn their trust.
See my other articles below for more information on bits.
