Facts, til dem der gider læse... {{forumTopicSubject}}

Det er vidst tid til at sætte lidt facts herind igen Nogle har vidst fået tilsendt artiklen, - men da den fylder 19 sider, vil jeg tro mange ikke har kunnet overskue at få den læst. Her er derfor et udsnit.. Jeg har selv netop lige læst det hele, og jeg er næsten stum for ord... Ikke alle tingene vidste jeg i forvejen - selvom jeg ellers har læst/studeret en del om bid.

Det er på engelsk, sorry, men brug evt ordbog eller spring videre hvis der er nogle ord der er for svære at forstå - eller endnu bedre - spørg mig!!

Og det er også lidt forvirrende med de henvisninger til billeder, måske, for her kan der jo ikke lige sættes billeder ind. Men det må I også lige se bort fra

Håber I vil give jer lidt tid til at læse det, og bruge det til noget!!

Af Alexander Nevzorov.

Anatomic, physiological, postmortem, biomechanical examinations of consequences of the classical and sport dressage methods can be already summarized and produced as scientifically proven facts.
The works of professors of veterinary medicine and deliverances of doctors of veterinary medicine were summarized. They are: R. Cook, Professor of Veterinary Medicine, Honored Surgeon (USA); H. Strasser, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Germany); S. Skinner, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (USA); E. De Buckeler, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (England); I. Colloredo-Mannfeld, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Austria); Professor Zelenevskij, Director of anatomy department of Veterinary Medicine Academy, and many others.

The Research department of Nevzorov Haute Ecole, together with experts of the Forensic Medical Examination Office in St. Petersburg: Professor V.D. Isakov, Doctor of Medicine, Deputy Chief of Forensic medical examination office for the expert department; Professor B.E. Sysoev, Doctor, Medical examiner of higher category, Candidate of medical science., and the Ballistic Examination Bureau: S.M. Logatkin, Candidate of medical science, Colonel of Medical Service, Deputy Chief of body armor facilities testing laboratory, have conducted studies of the effect of the bit on the horse’s head nerves.
All of the results obtained during examinations and experiments are verified and certified by numerous autopsies (by postmortem studies and dissections).

On the grounds of the expert findings in these studies, autopsies, and dissections, it may be safely said that the principle effect on a horse in so-called “equestrian sport”, regarding the principle of constant pain shock, methodical torture leads to irreversible pathological changes in the horse’s vital organs. What comes next is invalidity and a slow premature death.

No living creature in the world is inflicted with such strong and prolonged painful torture except the horse in so-called “equestrian sport”.

Dressage, in its generally accepted methods, is grounded on use of painful tools only and uses the pain as the main and only lever, like all the rest of the disciplines of equestrian sport. Naturally, so long as this method of action is accepted as constant and the interaction “rider-horse” is impracticable without it, there are heavy abnormal changes that occur in the horse’s organism. These changes can be easily identified both by autopsies (dissections) after death and by clinical diagnostic technique while horse is alive.

But we will consider the autopsy results as the absolutely indisputable and unambiguous, which strike out various treatments, arguments and discussions entirely. It is the dissection that opens all the “secrets” of equestrian sport. That’s why I’m saying: “Let us ask the carcasses of horses killed by dressage. They have nothing to hide but have something to say.”

Extents, severity and nature of internal injury of a horse according to autopsy or dissection findings make it possible to “decipher the pain code” of such a discipline of equestrian sport as dressage. Rummaging the cold muscles, bared nerves, enormous stratified hematomas and dissecting joints and membranes, the picture of “the most elegant sport” is becoming clearer in all its terrible distinctness on the table in the dissecting room.

The cold piece that was a horse just this morning, is phenomenally conspicuous and absolutely honest.

So, what exactly happens on the dressage “battle” or training field? In accordance with all requirements and qualifying standards of any dressage, the horse is forced into false collection (violently flexed poll and engaged hindquarters) by means of special devices, lever force and others.

What happens in a horse’s organism due to false collection? The first consequence of false collection is the full or part crushing of parotid salivary gland (glandula parotis). It is the gland that primarily takes upon itself “the vertical flexion blow”, because of its location. And it suffers most of all and turns into medley, into solid stratified hematoma

The depth of hematoma of different horses vibrated from 3 to 13 (!) centimeters. But each of these horses had glands turned into medley.

The photograph shows clearly the upper subcutis layers are practically unaffected. Their color is natural; they haven’t got any impact marks or external actions.

Affected area is deeper, somewhere at a depth of one centimeter.

Following photos confirm – yes, this is a deep inner lesion which has a traumatic nature.

I give you a comparative photo of the other horse’s autopsy findings. This horse sustained life-time severe subcutaneous injuries. (When he was in agony in a terminal state, he strongly knocked himself against the walls of the stall.)

Look at this – severe but subcutaneous hematoma.

The depth of hematoma is about 3 millimeters, to be more exact from 1 to 3.

But in our case everything is different.

It is obvious that the trauma has “depth origin” and it was caused not due to external causes such as blows or wounds. It is the gland that is located in this place, which actually has to be “grayish-yellowish-pink” color by nature. Its “dressage” color can be seen perfectly well on the photo of dissection too. Prolonged constant squeezing of parotid gland (a forced collection) is accounted for this inner lesion. The gland is squeezed between caudal part of vertical ramus of mandible and atlas. The gland structure is much weaker than any muscular tissue structure. It is easily affected. Five minutes of the collection is enough for some horses.

Poor density of gland (in comparison with muscular tissue density) cannot secure some arteries. Following arteries and veins are pressed and injured with varying degrees due to collection: condylar artery (condylaris), external carotid artery (carotis externa), great auricular artery (ayricularis magna), superficial temporal vein (temporalis superficialis), external maxillary vein (maxillaris externa) and some other arteries and veins.

This is how it looks during trainings and events.

And this is how it looks during autopsy.

Quantities of affected and irritated nerves during the pressing of parotid gland by collection are large. And practically all these nerves are “sensory”.

There are the facial nerves (n. facialis), internal auricular nerves, caudal auricular nerves in the “lesion zone” caused by collection, and the basic branch of caudal auricular nerves. Frontal and lacrimal nerves are subject to an extra amount of pressure.

The effect on all these nerves causes severe stupefying pain shock. You can see a typical hematoma of the parotid gland, caused by dressage, in the photos. Different color of the stratums denotes that hematoma has many stratums and is “accumulative”. By the way, this is a typical picture.

That is to say that they force the horse with profound and very painful trauma of parotid gland (and the sublingual gland as well) into collection again, and go on building up the new stratums of hemorrhages because of compressed vessels and arteries.

In addition, besides an unbearable pain that the horse experiences (the list of affected nerves), the colic was guaranteed for him from the moment his mistress had taken a fancy to take up dressage.

I will briefly explain what the colic is.
The death of every sport horse caused by so-called colic is only a matter of time.
Of course, the crush of parotid gland and the forced collection guarantees it, led to abnormal changes of the whole digestive system. The chemical saliva composition is changing as the parotid glands - the largest of the salivary glands – is crushed and necrotized due to collection; the bit in mouth injure the sublingual gland (glandula sublingualis polystomatica); the mandibular gland (glandula mandibularis) which, relatively speaking, does not suffer as severely, secretes seromucous secretion and its excess upsets the balance of chemical saliva composition. Saliva tests of the sport horse reveals cardinal differences from normal saliva!

And the rest is a technical matter. Heavy pain stresses and the effect of the bit, which is unavoidable in the life of every sport horse, leads to ulcers. Changing of chemical saliva composition and its quantity causes gastritis, colitis and others. Gastritis, colitis, and ulcers provoke colic, which causes the death. The mechanism is so simple that it is unworthy of special discussion. Unfortunately, the outcome is predetermined.

When the “sportsmen” try to whitewash themselves or rehabilitate the sport, they yell the names of the long-lived horses, which were used in so-called equestrian sport during a specified time of their life. The list is traditional, there are just some names. They shuffle their names in different order: Kvadrat, Druzhok, Sophist, Budynok…

Druzhok, Sophist, Budynok, Kvadrat…

Usually when I hear these names I ask them politely, “More!”

Another five names of the horses, who were in sport but somehow contrived to reach the age 20 (with its natural biological 40-year life span), arise with an effort.

I ask for “More!”

Once they picked up even 15 names of horses!

Well, let us suppose (my princely gesture) that there are 100 of them!
God forbid, but the list of those, who survived in Auschwitz, is dozens or even hundreds times longer! The quantity of survivors of the biggest “death factory”, primarily oriented towards the mass murder of the people by Nazis, outnumbers by a hundred times the quantity of horses reached the age 20 in so-called equestrian sport!
But this is sentimental talk; we digressed from the research issue. Let’s return to our subject.

So, we’ve got the proven fact of presence of the intense and constant intravital pain of parotid gland of the dressage horse. There are no doubts due to the lesions character, that during its development any breather was openly and continuously tortured. But there is one factor more.

Due to forced collection the injury of atlantooccipital membrane (membrane atlantooccipital dorsalis et ventralis) is unavoidable.

The membrane tissue is delicate and thin. Its tears and ruptures do not really cause distress to a horse. Just minutes of forced holding of the head in a “vertical flexion” position is enough to tear or injure the membrane tissue. But! As soon as the membranes are torn (and this is inevitable collection sequel) the defense of spinal marrow disappears.

The membranes shield the great foramens between the occipital bone and atlas during flexion and extension of articulation. The most unpleasant thing is that the destruction of atlantooccipital membranes, and the membranes over atlas and axis junction, free the so-called tooth of axis (lig. dentis dorsalis et ventralis), which starts “attacking” the spinal marrow from below. The painful sensations in this area are extremely severe.

By the way, most sound anatomists and pathologists, considering the pain factor, place “membrane factor” before tragedy of parotid gland. It’s only partly true, as the destruction of membranes leads to spinal injury, crush of intervertebral cartilages and consequently heavy compression of ventral parts of vertebrae, and partly crumble the periosteum and even cancellous tissue (substantia spongiosa) according to autopsy findings of the cervical spine by Horst Weiler. Taking into account the super sensitivity of the periosteum, it is very likely that its pain with its inevitable constant injury exceeds the pain of parotid gland crushing.

The impact of tooth of axis “attack” upon spinal marrow is not explored yet. It might be assumed to have both consequences and sensations for a horse, but there is no verified data and I don’t want to sound proof less. Nevertheless there is probably nothing pleasant or good in any painful force, and moreover in direct impact upon the spinal marrow.
However, the physiological outcomes of crushing the parotid gland, compression of vertebrae and tearing of membranes ensures invalidity and bitter death to a horse.
But as I’ve told you, we won’t examine that now. We are solely examining the pain factor as the main “tool” of equestrian sport and its impact on a horse.

The cited findings above make it possible to affirm definitely that the pain factor is very strong, and may be exorbitant. There is no doubt that the pain factor is the very tool by means of which they control a horse. It is clear that all so-called “sports” horses are similarly injured. Only one thing is incomprehensible: How and why does the horse stand for such severe pain? Why, while enduring steady excruciating pain in the poll and behind the jowls, does the horse continue moving, jumping or performing passage? Is there more severe pain which “sentences” horse to obedience?

But again we need to receive an unambiguous reply. The reply excludes any use of “believe – don’t believe”. We need the facts of physical proof, not just belief.

There is such pain.

About the torture effect of the bit on a horse’s mouth, it was already described in great detail.
This torture is scientifically proven by veterinary medicine fact. But let’s ask the dead horse again. And give a fair hearing to it, this time concerning dressage.

So… this is diastema (margo interalveolaris) the place which the bit effects. The photograph shows clearly common hematomas – the results of using the bits. The photos fix the typical injury of the lower jaw bone periosteum where the diastema is (i.e. “bars of the mouth”). This injury is practically a standard of every sport horse.

Next to injured jaw bone is the jaw bone with diastema of the horse who never knew the bits.

The next photo shows why the bit is placed right here.

Here in margo interalveolaris, in diastema the most sensitive part of trigeminal nerve is located (I pick it up by scissors on photo). There is no submucosal layer on the margo interalveolaris and the bit affects the nerve directly. The nerve is supersensitive.

The bit beats and presses right on this place.

What is the force of beating and pressing?

In the course of recorded experiments it was found out that the jerk effort by the bit causes the press force of 300 kg per square centimeter. “An ordinary” typical effort by so-called “good hands”, is about 120-130 kg per square centimeter. That is 120-130 kg straight to the nerve.

According to descriptive adjectives the pain like that in the area of the nerve is called “especially acute, burning, paralyzing”.

(Perhaps the “jerking” pressure is in fact much stronger. But neither dynamometers nor special equipment of the Forensic Medical Examination laboratory, are able to measure the stronger efforts. The instruments returned an off-scale reading just because of the typical equestrian sport “sawing” and force tensions.)

All the experiments were carried out together with specialists and experts of Forensic Medical Examination Office in St. Petersburg, veterinarians and journalists. The experiments were formally recorded and videotaped. Thus, whether one agrees with outcomes of experiments or not, it is really “the matter of sight but not of belief”.

In the course of experiments emerged the traumatic degree of pressure on the tongue of the horse.
The anatomical model of the tongue made from ballistin was practically crushed by easy “good” effort of the hands of a thirteen-year-old boy.

(The material closest fits to the structure and density of living tissues in everything except flexibility since in forensic medical examination the ballistin is used to register the hit or pressure). The main pressure of the bit acts upon places where the lingual nerve (lingualis) plexus is located. The bit causes a pressure on the tongue of 100 kg per square centimeter (it is ordinary rein tension, which acts as a lever for the bit of course) and the jerk intensifies the pressure till it reaches 250-300 kg per square centimeter. Or rather on the lingual nerve which is supersensitive as well. (White branch on the model is a lingual nerve (lingualis), and yellow branch is a motor sublingual nerve (hypogrlossus).)

I believe there is no need to describe the painful sensation due to a pressure of 200-300 kg on the sensory nerves. The real tongue would take such pressure but, owing to super flexibility of living organic tissue, all of the more muscular tissue would reshape immediately. It would sustain an injury, but the pressure wouldn’t make such a mark on it as on artificial ballistin. Let’s continue.

Another branch of trigeminal nerves sustains a hit. This branch is located in the chin groove under which a curb chain runs. This place is almost out of muscular tissue, there are only skin, the branch of nerves and periosteum there.

What can the curb chain do, the very standard curb chain on a standard curb bit? The curb chain applies pressure to the bone and nerve of more then 300 kg per square centimeter. Except force measurement instruments which gave all these figures the degree of curb chain effect force were registered in another way. Another model of a horse head was made from material withstanding the pressure of about 100 kg till it breaks with its thickness of 3 cm.

TWO EXPERTS of various ages and constitution using two different models BROKE OFF the lower jaw just at once after first tension of reins, which confirms the instruments readings.
Clearly that horse bone is able to withstand much stronger pressure on this place, but we talk not on functional damages but on pain degree that horse feels which caused by using of standard sports equipment.

Now, let us consider THE HARD PALATE (palatum durum). Both the curb port and the central part of the snaffle cause equal effect on “gently rolled tissue”, on mucous of palatum durum. The only difference is that pressure of curb port is almost constant and the hits by the central part of the snaffle are more abrupt but occasional. The thickness of masticatory mucous is from 2mm (of grooves) to 6mm (of ridge).

Between this thin layer of mucous membrane and palatine bones the thick rete of palatine nerve (n. palatines major) is located. This thin layer of mucous membrane is unable to protect the palatine nerves against the hits and pressure of 180-200 kg per square centimeter caused by the bit. The hematomas under the mucous membrane, which can be perfectly seen on the dissection photographs, give an idea of the amount of pressure force (degree of pain).

These photos fix real thickness of hard palate mucous membrane.

We might continue talking about the impact upon the teeth and lips, or how they shove the horse’s tongue into its throat, about the injuries of epiglottis and so on, but many thorough researches are dedicated to it.
But we talk about the PAIN DEGREE only, or rather about how severe that pain should be to make the horse “forget” about the pain in poll and in the area of the parotid gland.

Performed experiments obtained figures which are easily converted to physiologic sensations. These provide unequivocal evidence that pain in the mouth is more intense, sharper, more “hypnotic”, than even such severe pain as pain in the decomposing gland and crumbling vertebrae. Therefore the horse “obeys”.
The medals of Van Grunswen or Poturaeva speak volumes about that as well, though.

I have to confess when I saw the first findings of examinations I couldn’t believe my eyes. I didn’t believe the experts. I didn’t believe the instruments. We changed dynamometers and electronic sensors twice. But everything repeated again and again. I didn’t realize that even ordinary “gentle” action of bit in the mouth is so painful.

I knew that the pain exists, that it is strong (I also used to work with the bit in the past), but I was not ready for figures of 100, 200 and 300 kg per square centimeter. It seemed to me that with the effect like that, the horse’s head would fall apart during the first training. But we deal with very strong, very buoyant flesh, with very powerful physiology and very substantial osseous system. So, 300 kg per square centimeter is not the limit yet. The head does not fall apart. This just paralyzes the pain.

By the way, the experiments were conducted on real cadaver horse heads. With the pressure of 300 kg the horse flesh really does not “fall apart”. Severe inner “paralyzing” injures are inflicted but there are no external damages. (The real horse mandible can be fractured after the effect of 450-600 kg, the “old School” curb-bits by S. de la Brove, D. Izvitti design ensure that effect).

Ordinary sports curb-bit, or the one that is used in classic, just crack the periosteum. They can exceed the pressure of 300 kg but just a little. The dilettante who wants to believe in the myths of equestrian sport, cannot see the severe injuries, they are not clear.

Veterinarians stay silent in a cowardly manner. They make a living serving the sport. 99% of their “client base”, profit, connection, and career ladder is in sport.

Yes, everything connected with show jumping and dressage is steady painful torture for any horse. Everyone who deals with a horse liberated from painful action knows that the horse with the ability to “vote”, with belief that the torture is over forever, has nothing in common with the downhearted sports horse moving under the hypnosis of constant pain.

For many years sportsmen have been generating lots and lots of lies about horses. They consider the drilled, forced, openly “painful” movements which have nothing in common with nature biomechanics of a horse, “beautiful”, and they award the medals to each other when the horse shows these movements. The more there is a “pain component” and marionette in movements of a horse the higher the mark. It is a concern for either so-called “sport” or so-called “classics”.

However, it is a sentimental talk again. We have scientifically proven facts which dot the i’s at last.

So, we can sum up and get back to the starting point of the research. People who take up so-called “dressage” are looking for some “special” feelings in it.

They get them.

Every movement by the bit in the mouth, by the spurs and the whip, has a purpose and results in causing more or less pain to a horse. This is the main irrevocable “component” of their pastime.

Do they know about the pain they cause a horse? Do they know that they kill the horse?

Of course, you could say that about 100% of dressage riders both in sport and “classics” are barbarians. Illiterate barbarians who have no idea about parotid gland structure, facial nerve branch, about super vulnerability of the mandibular gland… They know nothing about the horse, about his anatomy, how he moves, and what he feels.

Yes, it is so.

They are barbarians, it must be confessed at last. Nuno Oliveira, Alois Podhajsky and Guerinier were barbarians, too. All those people really have not (had not) any notion on strength and structure of a “toy” they break (broke) for “sensations”, self-affirmation and some “aesthetic ideals”.

Arthur Kottas, the star of the School of Vienna, toured Moscow not long ago and without scruple demonstrated in public complete incompetence about anatomy and physiology of a horse. Needless to say about dressage riders in so called sport. That is to say that if they are illiterate, if they don’t feel the horse, don’t understand and don’t know his anatomy and physiology, do they just realize nothing, are they “honestly mistaken”?

What drives them then, they who are worshiping fanatically with awe the pastime which is based on causing severe traumas and violent pain to the breather? Their fanaticism is so strong that any possibility of relationship with a horse, which excludes pain and death of a horse, they take loathingly?!!

Alas, there is such a science as psychology and it discovered everything long ago. It is known that it does not matter whether a person possesses the knowledge of what he does or not, he senses some feelings… about what he does. This is called sense perception, emotional knowledge.

The information, value and accuracy of this sense perception, containing dozens, even hundreds of sensations, nuances and instincts, can rival the scientific knowledge… But it differs from scientific knowledge quite cardinally… It is impossible to express. It is difficult to formulate and to note. But that doesn’t mean it does not exist. In short, a person who ruins a horse realizes what he does. Not on a scientific knowledge level, but on an emotional knowledge level.

The possibility to force, tear and pull about the flesh in its both deep and subcutaneous stratums, to triumph over the breather, by the name of HORSE, methodically via pain are probably the very feelings they look for in dressage.

Has anybody the heart to call the dressage a normal pastime of sane people? But then it is quite clear through the analogy with BDSM. And it is fully justified.

Everything stated above does not apply to the persons whose pictures were used to illustrate these studies. I accept that these persons could not realize the fateful consequences of their pastime to a horse. I testify that all sportsmen on the photos acted according to all standards of behavior established in equestrian sport, and in full conformity with all guidelines of the FEI.


Alexander Nevzorov.