Aachennosgrimmans påverkan på hopphästens beteende

Abstract: Bridles has been used to control horses all around the world for approximately 6000 years, and its use is based on application of pressure on sensitive parts of the horse’s head. The originally purpose of the noseband is to relieve strain from the bit and transfer it to the face of the horse, but nowadays nosebands are more commonly used to conceal defective suppleness and conflict behaviours in horses during riding. The reasons seem to be ignorance among riders in relation to what damage a tight noseband can cause a horse’s mental and physical health, but also the interest of succeeding during competition. The aim of this study was to investigate how horses would react to a correct, versus a tight, flash noseband while jumping a course. The research issues were “is it possible to distinguish oral and bodily expressed conflict behaviours when the horse wears a correct, versus a tight, flash noseband during a jumping course?” and “how does the frequency of oral and bodily expressed behaviours look like when the horse wears a correct, versus a tight, flash noseband during a jumping course?”. The effect of the flash noseband on the behaviour of eight Swedish warmblood horses were observed and analysed. The horses’ flash nosebands were adjusted with an ISES taper gauge before and after the first and the second jumping course. One person adjusted the flash nosebands and one person oversaw the recording. The person who adjusted the flash nosebands decided in what order each horse would get their treatment (correct or tight). The results demonstrated that especially the oral behaviours decreased when the flash nosebands were tightened. The majority of the horses did not show any changes in neither oral or bodily expressed conflict behaviours when the flash nosebands were tightened. However, what could be observed was that the horses showed less oral expressed conflict behaviours when the flash nosebands were adjusted from correct to tight. The conclusion of this study was that each horse revealed both oral and bodily expressed conflict behaviours regardless if the flash nosebands were correct or tight. A tight flash noseband prevents for example the horse from gaping its mouth and moving its lips. Other aspects that could have affected the conflict behaviours is the horse’s individual preferences and the rider’s ability to engage the horse to work correctly and carry itself.