Please explain why this tack is necessary

Showjumping of course, some of the contraptions they use....

Plus the ear covers, probably ear plugs too, surprised it doesn't have one of those masks which seem to be the latest "trend" (in edition to the ear net of course

That noseband looks really heavy too, then done up with metal..

There's more contraption than face. The mouthpiece of the bit doesn't look nice at all either - 3 strands of something, never seen that type before so not sure what it is but looks like it could be at risk of pinching. Yet I expect the rider will wear spurs...

The fact it's had to be wrapped in vet wrap so is presumably rubbing his face. How can this be a happy horse having to wear all that? I can get cross nosebands etc, pelhams, a hackamore on its own but this is a hackamore, and some sort of nasty bit plus an additional noseband like a walking tack shop

Looking just under the chain that fastens the hackamore - is that white hairs? So has it rubbed him previously? Looks faintly like white hairs in the shape of a chain but may be the light...
 
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This is an old pic of a show jumper. They'll be an old thread about it somewhere but was at least a couple of years ago.
 
Fern007 said:
Not sure what the chaps name is but his horses are ridden at the highest level in sj without a noseband or martingale. Perhaps its time top riders take a leaf out of his book. I appreciate not all horses can be ridden in basic tack but surely non need that lot on their head. Poor poor horse.
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Luca Moneta Italian show jumper who famously did the puissance with very little tack and gave his little mare carrots after jumping.
There is another guy as well more recently going sans nose band and martingale in a snaffle and doing well. Edited to add his name is Gregory Cottard.
 
It is completely beyond me why that combination of bits/hackamore/draw reins or the fit of that tack (e.g. the tight curb chain and throatlash) is allowed SJ, either in the ring, in the collecting ring or when exercising at a stay-away show. There is no way that can be said to be at all comfortable for the horse, and if it 'needs' that level of control/torture to keep the rider safe and perform it's function then the horse clearly isn't suited to showjumping. WTF is wrong with (some) people :mad:

There have been other threads about social license and the appearance of horse sports to non-horsey people, and pictures like this certainly won't help the future of horse sports or horse riding in general. The FEI needs to learn from what is happening with e.g. trail hunting in the UK (different details but shows the effect of public perception on the future of a sport) and clean up their act regarding rules and welfare BEFORE the press and the public start asking questions about the current practices.
 
Cloball said:
now doesn't that look better, doesn't even had a full browband or throat lash!
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Looks like he has one of those single ear loops like on some western bridles ... I guess it has to stay one somehow and also hold the earbonnething on. Or maybe not? I remember some years ago when the bridleless leather bits were in fashion. Made me do double takes.
 
SilverLinings said:
It is completely beyond me why that combination of bits/hackamore/draw reins or the fit of that tack (e.g. the tight curb chain and throatlash) is allowed SJ, either in the ring, in the collecting ring or when exercising at a stay-away show. There is no way that can be said to be at all comfortable for the horse, and if it 'needs' that level of control/torture to keep the rider safe and perform it's function then the horse clearly isn't suited to showjumping. WTF is wrong with (some) people :mad:

There have been other threads about social license and the appearance of horse sports to non-horsey people, and pictures like this certainly won't help the future of horse sports or horse riding in general. The FEI needs to learn from what is happening with e.g. trail hunting in the UK (different details but shows the effect of public perception on the future of a sport) and clean up their act regarding rules and welfare BEFORE the press and the public start asking questions about the current practices.
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Just the other day Epona reported Ulf Helgstrand (Danish Equestrian Federation president) as saying "We’re not going to change anything just because someone thinks or believes it causes pain to horses”. Hmmm. Lots of will to change there.
 
J&S said:
Peter Robeson, who was known as the Godfather of British Show Jumping used to ride his horses in a snaffle.
I think he said that's what everybody should do!! He would turn in his grave if he could see that poor horse.
Very sad what things have come to.
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I have quite a bit of vintage tack that was used by members of the GB team in the 50s/60s and while it was quite simple, the snaffle bits were huge, sharp, nickel things which weren't all that kind, particularly given the slightly gung ho un-finessed riding of most of the riders. So it wasn't all rainbows and fluffy clouds back then.

But what is so appalling to me is that pro riders across the disciplines think that wrapping so much kit and ironmongery round a horse's face is in any way good for its welfare, let alone enhances its performance, and the rules don't seem to be doing much to stop it from happening.
 
Rowreach said:
I have quite a bit of vintage tack that was used by members of the GB team in the 50s/60s and while it was quite simple, the snaffle bits were huge, sharp, nickel things which weren't all that kind, particularly given the slightly gung ho un-finessed riding of most of the riders. So it wasn't all rainbows and fluffy clouds back then.
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If you look at books and harness/tack catalogues from the 1930s backwards there was a huge range of bits, most of which have now disappeared, and a lot of them were fairly vicious. Most horses had to work for a living, time was money and the horses lived short lives (it was extremely rare for a cab horse to be in work - or still alive - beyond the age of 8) so bits and other gadgets were designed to 'fix' behavioural problems in the fastest way possible, with little to no concern for the horse's welfare.

There were certainly people who spoke out against treating horses like this, but (going by the written evidence we have been left with) it was mainly richer people who did not need their horse to make money for them, and had the time to overcome behavioural issues without recourse to gadgets or severe bits. I expect there were also some tradesmen and cab drivers who were also nice to their horses, but had limited options as they needed to make money in order to eat.

Horses aren't on the whole treated worse now than at previous times in history, but we have no excuse now as we know far more about their behaviour and welfare. Shockingly in the early 1900s there were still fairly heated debates going on about whether or not animals felt anything (including pain), or whether they were just fleshy 'machines' (the debates about this that were held in parliament are available to read on Hansard). Unfortunately some people apparently still want to behave like this theory is true.

Edited for spelling.
 
In regards to excessive tack and the general public, unfortunately I don't think casual viewers even register what the horse is wearing. I know when I was a young, horse mad girl, aside from curiosity about the different types of bits and bridles, I wouldn't have questioned the set up of professional riders.

I would like to think that with the internet and how easy it is to get information these days, more people will be better educated, but I'm not sure if that is happening in reality.
 
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