Have you ever bridled a horse? You have to be careful when sliding the bit into the horse’s mouth; you don’t want the hard metal of the bit bumping against the horse’s teeth. What does it feel like for the horse to wear a bit and have it pulling at the corners of their mouth and pressing on their gums? Two horse loving Connecticut high school students, Kelli Knapp and Leianna Dolce, had been thinking about this. When they were asked to do a science project at school they saw a perfect opportunity to investigate and compare horse bits—using math and science.
A horse wearing an English bridle with a snaffle bit and a cavesson noseband.
Many riders believe that, because of the amount of force applied by the bit, bits can cause damage to a horse’s mouth. In an effort to be more gentle, riders seek to find a bit that will apply the least amount of force but still give them the control they need. Is there a way of knowing how much force different kinds of bits make in our horse’s mouths?
The two friends developed an experiment to determine which kind of bit exerts the least amount of force to a horse’s mouth.
Science Talk – force: a push or pull upon an object. One branch of science called physics, defines force as the influence (this refers to the push or pull, in this case of the bit) that produces a change in a physical quantity.
1. Applying this definition, what is the ‘physical quantity’ in Kelli and Leianna’s science project?
In today’s equine community, the use of bits has become a controversial topic. Some people believe that bits are necessary to control the horse, while others believe that bits are inhumane and should not be used at all. Kelli and Leianna conducted their experiment in an attempt to determine the amount of force caused by seven different kinds of bits, as well as Dr. Cook’s Cross-Under Bitless Bridle, on multiple points in and around a horse’s mouth.
For their experiment they built a realistic model of a horse head, mostly out of wood and clay. They even based their model on accurate measurements of a real horse skull! They named her Midnight.
Four electronic sensing devises were used to measure the amount of pressure being applied on specific areas in Midnight’s mouth. Kelli and Leianna attached the devises with a hot glue gun to the top of the nose, under the bridle’s noseband, the right bar of the mouth, the roof of the mouth, and the tongue.
Horse Talk – bar(s) of the mouth: the gum area between a horse’s front and back teeth.
Science Talk – pressure: You now know that force is a push or pull action between objects (in this case the bit and the horse’s mouth and nose). Pressure is a measure of force acting on a surface area of an object. In this case, the 20 pound weight acting on the bit, which in turn acts on the horse’s mouth. Pressure is force per unit area. In this experiment the units for pressure were measured in pounds per square inch.
2. What if the weight used in the experiment was measured in grams and the area was measured in square centimeters? What would the units for pressure be then?
An English bridle, fitted with the first bit, was put on Midnight. The reins were tied in a knot and attached to a 20 lb. weight by a rope. The rope was lifted over the pulley (see picture below) and slowly released. When the weight was freely hanging, the data displayed on the screen was recorded in a logbook.
The process was repeated with all seven bits and the cross-under bitless bridle.
Close up of the pulley.
Let’s find out what they discovered.
3. Which bit exerted the most pressure on Midnight’s tongue?
4. Which bit exerted the least amount of pressure on her nose?
5. What was the Overall Average Pressure for the bits on Midnight’s tongue? Can you see two ways to calculate the Overall Average Pressure for the bits?
Math Talk – average: Calculating an average is easy to do. Just add up all the numbers, then divide by how many numbers there are.
6. Did any of the bits, including the bitless bridle, put pressure on the roof of Midnight’s mouth?
7. The bitless bridle gave the highest pressure reading on which of the four locations?
8. In the table above, the average pressure on the bar (right) for three of the bits still needs to be calculated. Calculate the average pressure on the right bar for the Sweetwater Port Curb, the Grazing Port Curb, and the Full Cheek Snaffle bits.
9. Looking at the final column on the right, can you see how the Total Pressure (Averages) were calculated?
10. Calculate the Total Pressure (Averages) for the Full Cheek Snaffle and the Single Jointed O-Ring Snaffle.
It’s not easy to compare and read the data in the table. Kelli and Leianna wanted to show their results in a more easily understandable way.
11. What kind of graph did they choose to display their results?
12. What is the name of the X-axis?
13. What is the name of the Y-axis?
So, what does all this data tell us about bits, a bitless bridle, and the pressure they exert on a horse’s mouth and nose? That’s the final phase of any science project, interpreting the results and sharing those results with others.
Kelli and Leianna’s Conclusions:
Snaffle bits
Kelli and Leianna’s hypothesis for this experiment was: If a bitless bridle is used, then it will create the least amount of force overall. The second part of the hypothesis was: of the bits tested, a single-jointed, O-ring bit will create the least amount of force.
Science Talk – hypothosis: a possible explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation.
From the data, the girls concluded that a single jointed snaffle bit is the best bit to use on your horse because it applies the least overall average force. This supports the first part of their hypothesis, but since the bitless bridle causes more overall force on average, the second part of the hypothesis is not supported.
During the experiment, the model horse’s mouth opened while testing the bits, which prevented the sensor on the roof of the mouth from registering any force. Did you wonder about the data results showing that none of the bits exerted pressure on the roof of the Midnight’s mouth? This might explain why.
A flash noseband is sometimes used to strap a horse’s mouth shut, preventing them from opening their mouth to resist the bit.
In real life, some horses do open their mouths to avoid the force of the bit, but not all horses; some choose not to, and others are prevented from doing so by means of extra bridle straps.
Since not all horses open their mouths while a bit is being used, the data shown by this experiment in regard to the force on the roof of the mouth is inaccurate. The girls concluded that the data collected would only apply to the group of horses that open their mouths while being ridden.
Kelli and Leianna decided that for future experiments they’d need to fix the model horse’s ability to open its mouth. Opening the mouth is necessary in order to properly fit the bits to the model, but there should be more resistance from the mandible to help prevent the mouth from opening due to the force of the bit.
Another thing they want to address is the surface area of the sensors. The sensors used in this experiment had a surface area of about 0.3 cm2, which is too small an area to accurately represent the actual area on which a bit would create force in a horse’s mouth. As a result, there are large areas of the face where the pressure was not recorded.
How did Kelli and Leianna do with their science project? They won the state contest, and placed 8th at the National FFA Convention! Congratulations Kelli and Leianna and thanks for sharing your project!
If you had a chance to do a science project about horses what would you like to study? What would be your hypothesis?
To Bit or Not to Bit Answers:
1. Applying this definition, what is the ‘physical quantity’ in Kelli and Leianna’s science project?
Answer: The horse’s mouth and nose.
2. If the weight used in the experiment was measured in grams and the area was measured in square centimetres, what would the units for pressure be then?
Answer: The units for pressure would be grams per square centimetre, or g/cm2
3. Which bit exerted the most pressure on Midnight’s tongue?
Answer: The eggbutt snaffle bit.
4. Which bit exerted the least amount of pressure on her nose?
Answer: The Grazing Port Curb bit.
5. What was the Overall Average Pressure for the bits on Midnight’s tongue? Can you see two ways to calculate the Overall Average Pressure for the bits?
One Answer:
Step 1: 0.00 + 0.00 + 4.00 + 3.00 + 2.67 + 4.33 + 0.00 = 14.00
Step 2: 14.00 ÷ 7 = 2.00. The Overall Average Pressure for all the bits was 2.00 pounds per square inch.
(I don’t know about you but I tried to take a short cut when I first worked this out—I saw that three of the bits exerted no pressure and so did not include them in Step 1. I simply added, 4.00 + 3.00 + 2.67 + 4.33, four numbers altogether, and got 14.00. But then, in Step 2, I forgot to divide by 7, the total number of bits, and divided by 4 instead! I had to redo Step 2 to get the correct answer.)
Second Answer:
Looking at the horizontal row, ‘Overall Average Pressure (Bits), there are four entries for each of the censors and a fifth row for the Total Pressure (Averages). The amount entered in the Total Pressure (Averages) column was arrived at by adding the four average bit pressures:
Overall Average Pressure Roof + Overall Average Pressure Nose + Overall Average Pressure Tongue + Overall Average Pressure Bar (right) = Total Pressure (Averages)
We know four of these values. Let’s plug them into our equation using X to represent the unknown value of the Overall Average Pressure Tongue:
0.00 + 2.95 + X + 6.81 = 11.76
Applying one of the rules for solving equations (we can add or subtract the same value from both sides) we get:
X = 11.76 – 2.95 – 6.81
X = 2 = Overall Average Pressure Tongue
6. Did any of the bits, including the bitless bridle, put pressure on the roof of Midnight’s mouth?
Answer: No.
7. The bitless bridle gave the highest pressure reading on which of the four censors (roof of the mouth, nose, tongue, or right bar)? The bitless bridle gave the highest pressure reading on the nose.
8. In the table above, the average pressure on the bar (right) for three of the bits still needs to be calculated. Calculate the average pressure on the right bar for the Sweetwater Port Curb, the Grazing Port Curb, and the Full Cheek Snaffle bits.
Math Hint—Order of Operations: When you see things inside brackets, do them first.
Sweetwater Port Curb: (33.00 + 25.00 + 29.00) ÷ 3 = 87 ÷ 3 = 29. The average pressure on Midnight’s bar from the Sweetwater Port Curb was 29 lbs/sq in.
Grazing Port Curb: (7.00 + 12.00 + 6.00) ÷ 3 = 8.33. The average pressure on Midnight’s bar from the Grazing Port Curb was 8.33 lbs/sq in.
Full Cheek Snaffle: (6.00 + 7.00 + 5.00) ÷ 3 = 6.00. The average pressure on Midnight’s bar from the Full Cheek Snaffle was 6.00 lbs/sq in.
9. Looking at the final column on the right, can you see how the Total Pressure (Averages) were calculated?
Answer: The average pressures for each of the four censors is added together to give the Total Pressure (Averages).
10. Calculate the Total Pressure (Averages) for the Full Cheek Snaffle and the Single Jointed O-Ring Snaffle.
Full Cheek Snaffle: 0.00 + 2.67 + 3.00 + 6.00 = 11.67. The total average of all the pressure censors for the Full Cheek Snaffle is 11.67 lbs/sq in.
Single Jointed O-Ring Snaffle: 0.00 + 4.00 + 2.67 + 0.00 = 6.67. The total average of all the pressure censors for the Single Jointed O-Ring Snaffle is 6.67 lbs/sq in.
11. What kind of graph did they choose to display their results?
Answer: They chose a vertical bar graph.
12. What is the name of the X-axis?
Answer: Pressure Plate
13. What is the name of the Y-axis?
Answer: Pounds per Square Inch of Pressure
Common Core:
4.MD.B – Represent and interpret data.
6.SP.B.5 – Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context.
6.SP.B.5c – Calculate mean, median, mode, and range.
Photos:
Arabian head by Thowra_uk; CC BY 2.0
A cross-under bitless bridle by Hu; Public domain
IMG_1770 by Thowra_uk; CC BY-SA 2.0
All other photos courtesy of Kelli Knapp and Leianna Dolce
Here’s another study comparing bitless bridles to snaffles: The study compared the performance of four horses, none of which had ever been ridden in a bitless bridle. The horses were ridden through two four-minute exercise tests, first bitted and then bitless.
An independent judge marked the 27 phases of each test on a 10-point scale and comments and scores were recorded on a video soundtrack. How do you think they compared? Find out more at http://bit.ly/1740UUi