The Bit Encyclopedia

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Sources on Bits

For thousands of years horses, mules, donkeys, bovines, buffalo, and other animals have been subjugated to immense animal cruelty all for human greed and control. Just like shock collars, bits, spurs, and whips are designed solely to cause pain to the animal to force them to obey.

Resources on Bits

World Bitless Organization: https://worldbitlessassociation.org/

Massive Paper on Studies With Visuals: https://worldbitlessassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Data-and-visual-evidence-for-the-bit-free-debate.pdf

Above Paper on Google Drive:

Papers from Dr Cook: https://bitlessbridle.com/articles/

Bit Use and It’s Relevance to Rider Safety: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159123000278#:~:text=Abstract,modern%20understanding%20of%20animal%20welfare

Bit Injuries High in Show Horses: https://thehorse.com/197631/study-finds-high-rate-of-bit-related-lesions-in-trotting-horses/

Oral Lesions from Bits: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2019.00206

Tongue ties: https://horseracingkills.com/issues/tongue-ties/

What is a Tongue Tie: https://horsesandpeople.com.au/what-is-a-tongue-tie/

Champing at the Bit for Improvements: A Review of Equine Welfare in Equestrian Sports in the United Kingdom. Tim Holmes & Ashleigh F Brown https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9100173/

The 2020 Five Domains Model: Including Human–Animal Interactions in Assessments of Animal Welfare: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/10/1870

Bits Hurt Horses (video): [link]

Bits and Horse Riding (video): [link]

Abuse of Bits (video): [link]

Bit Bridle vs Bitless Bridle (video): [link]

Bit Abuse (video): [link]

Dr. Cook on Bits (video): [link]  and [link]

Abuse of Bits: http://blog.nerdette.org/?p=1590

Dr. Cook on Bits: https://www.bitlessbridle.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=5

Riding Bitless: http://thinklikeahorse.org/index-7.html

Stacey Westfall Ride Horse Without Bridle or Saddle (video): [link]

British Veterinary Association (2021):
https://www.bva.co.uk/media/4273/full-bva-position-on-animal-welfare.pdf

Cook, W.R. (1999): Pathophysiology of bit control in the horse. J Equine Vet Sci. 19: 96-204

Cook, W.R. (2010): Damage by the bit to the equine interdental space and second lower
premolar. Equine vet. Educ. (2010) doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3292.2010.00167.

Cook, W.R. (2019): Clearing the Air on the Bit-free Debate, Horses and People Magazine,
November-December 2019.

Cook, W.R. (2021a): Pain free Horsemanship. https://en.weltexpress.info/2021/09/29/pain-freehorsemannship/
Cook, W.R. (2021b): Sudden death in the racehorse – World Bitless Association

Cook, W.R. (2023): Sustaining the social license of equestrian sport.
https://horsesandpeople.com.au/why-not-bit-free-expert-says-its-time-to-draw-the-equestrianiron-age-to-a-close/

Cook, W.R. and Strasser, H (2003): Metal in the Mouth: the abusive effects of bitted bridles.
Sabine Kells. Qualicum Beach, BC Canada

Cook, W.R. and Mills, D.S. (2009): Preliminary study of jointed snaffle vs. crossunder bitless
bridles: Quantified comparison of behaviour in four horses. Equine Vet. J. 41, 827-830

Cook W.R. and Kibler, M. (2018): Behavioural assessment of pain in 66 horses, with and
without a bit. Equine Vet Educ. 31 551-560 https://doi.org/10.1111/eve.12916

Cook, W.R. and Kibler, M (2022): The effect of bit-induced pain in the horse on the feelings of
riders about riding (2022) – World Bitless Association
Danish Animal Ethics Council, June 2023: Statement on the use of horses for sport.
Glendell, G (2014: An open letter to the British Horse Society.

May Davis (2014): The Occurrence of a Congenital Malformation in the Sixth and Seventh
Cervical Vertebrae Predominantly Observed in Thoroughbred Horses, Journal of Veterinary
Science 34 1313-1317V

May-Davis et al (2023: “Congenital abnormalities of cervical vertebrae C6 and C7.” Journal of
Equine Veterinary Science.

Mellor DJ. (2016): Updating Animal Welfare Thinking: Moving beyond the “Five Freedoms”
towards “A Life Worth Living.” Animals (Basel). 2016 Mar 14;6(3):21. doi:
10.3390/ani6030021.

Mellor, D.J. (2019a) Equine welfare during exercise 1. Do we have a bit of a problem.
https://www.slideshare.net/SAHorse/equine-welfare-during-exercise-do-we-have-a-bit-of-aproblem

Mellor, D.J (2019b) Equine welfare during exercise 2. Do we have a bit of a problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY4yEC7lhco

Mellor, D.J. (2020a) Mouth Pain in Horses: Physiological Foundations, Behavioural Indices,
Welfare Implications, and a Suggested Solution. 2020 Mar 29;10(4):572. doi:
10.3390/ani10040572.

Mellor, D.J (2020b). Bit Blindness. VetScript 33(9), 32-34; VetScript is the Monthly Magazine of
the New Zealand Veterinary Association.

Mellor, D.J. and Beausoleil, N.J. (2017): Equine welfare during exercise: An evaluation of
breathing, breathlessness and bridles. Animals. 7, 41 doi:10.3390/ani7060041

Mellor, D.J., Beausoleil, N.J., Littlewood, K.E., McLean, A.N., McGreevy, P.D., Jones, B. and
Wilkins, C. (2020). The 2020 Five Domains Model: Including Human–Animal Interactions in
Assessments of Animal Welfare. Animals10 (10), 1870; doi:10.3390/ani10101870

Mellor, D.J. and Burns, M (2020): Using the Five Domains Model to develop welfare assessment
guidelines for Thoroughbred horses in New Zealand. New
Zealand Veterinary Journal, May;68(3):150-156. doi: 10.1080/00480169.2020.1715900. Epub
2020 Feb 20.

May-Davis (2023): May-Davis, S.; Dzingle, D.; Saber, E.; Blades Eckelbarger, P.
Characterization of the Caudal Ventral Tubercle in the Sixth Cervical Vertebra in Modern Equus
ferus caballus. Animals 2023, 13, 2384. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ani13142384

Taylor, J: (2022) “I can’t watch anymore: the case for dropping Equestrian from the Olympic
Games.” Epona Media, Copenhagen.

Wilkins, C: (2023): “The mystery of the missing lamellae.” Horses and People, pp 43-49