Post by Admin on Mar 22, 2016 13:43:11 GMT -7
Remember, only use flat, nylon halters to LEAD to and from enclosures, and to tie.
A nylon halter. The weight is distributed over a larger area of the face, unlike the rope halter. The knots on a rope halter concentrate pressure in small areas on the face, and has been designed in such a way that these knots are placed on sensitive facial nerves.
A diagram showing where the halter should go. The red is where is should not go, and the green is where it should go.
The forwardly extended nasal appendix is the the processus nasalis, and on it is the os.nasale joint, AKA the flat joint. If pressure is applied (even finger pressure) is breaks the flat joint. Pain is felt from the n.infraorbitalis, a nerve with a very thick branch going underneath the nose bone. The separated bone (from the flat joint breaking) presses into the n.infraorbitalis, deforming and tearing it, and the pain goes straight to the horse's brain. The impulses are immensely powerful.
It is not visible on an X-ray, but you can get a fresh, wild horse skull (they have never worn halters) and press your thumb down on it to break it for yourself, to see just how fragile it actually is. A wild horse may have a broken flat joint, because he may have rubbed his nose on a tree, or on another horse, thus breaking the flat joint. However, most wild horses do not have broken flat joints.
This is why it is incredibly important to place the noseband above the processus nasalis, to avoid breaking the flat joint and causing pain to the horse. If your horse's flat joint is already broken, just remember next time to keep the noseband higher up, so it doesn't cause pain.
A nylon halter. The weight is distributed over a larger area of the face, unlike the rope halter. The knots on a rope halter concentrate pressure in small areas on the face, and has been designed in such a way that these knots are placed on sensitive facial nerves.
A diagram showing where the halter should go. The red is where is should not go, and the green is where it should go.
The forwardly extended nasal appendix is the the processus nasalis, and on it is the os.nasale joint, AKA the flat joint. If pressure is applied (even finger pressure) is breaks the flat joint. Pain is felt from the n.infraorbitalis, a nerve with a very thick branch going underneath the nose bone. The separated bone (from the flat joint breaking) presses into the n.infraorbitalis, deforming and tearing it, and the pain goes straight to the horse's brain. The impulses are immensely powerful.
It is not visible on an X-ray, but you can get a fresh, wild horse skull (they have never worn halters) and press your thumb down on it to break it for yourself, to see just how fragile it actually is. A wild horse may have a broken flat joint, because he may have rubbed his nose on a tree, or on another horse, thus breaking the flat joint. However, most wild horses do not have broken flat joints.
This is why it is incredibly important to place the noseband above the processus nasalis, to avoid breaking the flat joint and causing pain to the horse. If your horse's flat joint is already broken, just remember next time to keep the noseband higher up, so it doesn't cause pain.