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So we love our horses right? We feed them the best, we rug them, tend to their injuries, care for them in old age. They are our willing partners, our friends. They look to us and we to them for companionship and a meaningful relationship. They try hard for us, are willing to please. They are quick learners, obliging, patient and forgiving. At the heart of our relationship with our horses is love. Right?

You’ve seen them, maybe you own one. They are uncontrollable, not all the time but often enough to cause you concern ... They’re skittish, can’t stand still, hard to lead, barging and shouldering, leaping in the air, rearing, kicking out. They act like you don’t even exist. And if you ever got up enough nerve to ride it turns out almost suicidal. Fighting the bridle, leaping, plunging, trying to run off, and rearing when you hold them back.

In online discussions about bits, many posters will say that in the wrong hands a snaffle can be as deadly as any curb, gag or combo bit. At first glance this seems logical, after all the majority of bits are made of metal and sit on the soft and sensitive tissues inside the horse's mouth. Any application of strong or rapid pressure on those soft tissues will cause equal harm? The problem with this claim is that it doesn't stand up on closer scrutiny.

Horses with arthritis can benefit greatly from eating Hawthorn, both the tops of the plant and the berries. Its proper botanical name is Crataegus monogyna & Crataegus oxyacantha and it is considered an extremely valuable medicinal herb.