Acceptance of the bit depending on taste????

Read here about the sense of taste and what it has to do with the bit YOU have chosen for your horse.

First of all, we need to know a bit more about the sense of taste to understand the full picture.

• The horses tongue is huge, it weights about a kilogram and is about 40cm long
• it has taste buds on the tongue just like on our human tongue
• horses can taste sweet, salty, sour and bitter
• the tongue also contains receptors for temperature and texture 
• the tongue transmits pleasant sensation signals to the brain when tasting SWEET or SALTY flavours
• 80% of the taste perception comes from the sense of smell

The flavours sweet and salty are critical for nutrition:
Such as humans brains , the horses brain runs on Glucose (sugar) and will steal it from other parts in the body if there is a lack.
Sodium balances the function of the brain and motor cells and salty flavours motivates the horse to take it in.
THATS WHY EVERY HORSE NEEDS A SALT BLOCK near his water.

Horses are more tolerant to bitter tastes than humans are. That allows some of them to eat oral medication without resistance.
Cold temperatures reduce bitterness, so if your horse has issues to take bitter meds in you can use the trick of refrigerate it first and then it will be more tolerant of eating it.

Horses are just good in avoiding toxic plants or bad water, if they are not hungry/thirsty and have plenty of hay/straw/grass and fresh water available.
If there is a lack of food/water and they are very hungry/thirsty, they might eat toxic plants and drink bad water. 
So again, its OUR RESPONSIBILITY to remove toxic plants, have plenty of hay available clean and check the water source regularly and make sure the basic needs of our horses are met. 

When you travel with your horse, encourage him to drink by spiking the water with peppermint or apple essence. If you are just on a short trip, take water from home, as your horse is used to the taste. Each horse has taste preferences just like humans have. 

So, what about the bit then? Can a horse refuse to take the bit into his mouth because it does not like the taste? YES. 
We expect horses to take bits into their mouths and keep it there for as long as we ride. We expect them to stay soft in the mouth so we can stay soft with our fingers/hands. 
So, its our job to support them and make it a good experience to have a bit in their mouth. 

• We need to consider the temperature, ice cold metal is not a pleasure on the tongue. So help your horse and warm the bit in your pocket or hands before you offer it to your horse.
• ​Rubber bits or bits wrapped in leather contain flavours your horse may not like. Several metal bits hold flavours of their own ( e.g. copper parts). If your preference are those, experiment with different types to figure out which is the one your horse likes.

The wrong bit can cause all sorts of problems. It is not just the saddle that has to fit your horse, the bridle and bit does, too. It is worth it to experiment with the types of bits you are using if your horse shown discomfort or resistance. Examples are: grinding the teeth, opening the mouth while working...
These issues can also be caused by physical problems in the body or a hard hand of the rider. 
As Always, a holistic approach can help.
Check with your trainer and bodyworker and try different bits if necessary. If you don't have a trainer nearby ask your friend to make a video while riding. That will give you a good indication what is happening with your hands and the horses head and mouth while riding.
So it is worth to consider the sense of taste in our management with and riding of the horses.
And, learning never stops and we all want to improve. We can improve our approach by gaining more knowledge and learn to see things from a different perspective. 
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
For the horses!
Happy riding,
​Britta