EquiConnection Outreach

05/08/2026

Very interesting history of these well-known horses!

03/03/2026

Bit mechanics are fascinating and worth knowing!

🐎 Did you know this?
Do you know the difference between "lozenge" bits.
All lozenge bits are designed to give tongue pressure to help the poll flex. They just all do it in a different way.

1 - is a Neue Schule Team up snaffle. A fairly plain lozenge snaffle. This is NS's answer to the French Link snaffle. Its designed to distribute pressure more than a French Link with a rounded centre link and curved cannons.
As you can see from the photos, this has the most tongue pressure from all the bits presented here.

2- NS tranz angle lozenge snaffle. This lozenge is designed at an angle so that when a contact is taken up the lozenge rotates to a larger pressure bearing surface. This reduces some tongue pressure so that the lozenge presses more gently into the centre of the tongue for communication.

3 - NS verbindend with the angled lozenge and curved cannons. This was originally designed to enhance lift but it has been later found that it also gives tongue relief. The bit itself stays more curved in the mouth, reducing pressure on the sensitive parts of the tongue.

4 - NS turtle top Flex Z with a flatter link which locks upwards. This link is designed to be more aligned with the horses mouth shape - flatter wider tongue surface area, flatter to align with the palate. You can see that the cannons upwards movement towards the teeth is reduced. The cannons angle flatter to give arched shape and less likely to be dragged up into the mouth.

5- NS Turtle Tactio flex T - this is designed to focus pressure into the centre of the tongue diverting pressure away from the bars.

If you have any requests for bits for me to cover please leave a comment!

02/09/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1B97bDKAyX/?mibextid=wwXIfr

SECRETARIAT
“He’s 1100 pounds of baby fat, he eats too much and too often. The only reason he doesn’t eat more is because he’s too busy sleeping. He only does what he wants to do, exactly when he wants to do it. He lays against the back of the starting gate like he’s in a hammock in the Caribbean. When he finally does get out of the gate, it takes him forever to find his stride”
~Lucien Laurin, Secretariat's trainer

Did You Know that Secretariat not only had a larger heart than the average horse (three times the average size!), but his stride angle was a lot wider than other race horses. The stride angle is the maximum opening between the front and rear legs, usually occurring at push off from the rear foot.

Secretariat's stride angle was 110°! Researchers found that for every degree a horse increases the stride angle, he increases the stride length by 2%. This means that if the stride angle is increased just 10°, the horse will cover 20% more ground with each stride!


*Secretariat's Legacg*

01/26/2025

Spot-on!

12/07/2024

The jump, alone, is a major feat, but side saddle?! …and in 1915?! 🤯 …no doubt a one-of-a-kind woman!

Esther Stace completing her record-breaking side-saddle jump on Emu Plains at 6 feet 6 inches at the Sydney Show in 1915.

12/02/2024

There is so much I can say, but, to sum it up, YES! The seemingly passive quiet time holds so much value. In fact, it is ESSENTIAL in horse•man•ship.

HANGING OUT WITH 3 STALLIONS

Probably the biggest change I’ve ever seen in horses from a small action is being present enough to engage with their muzzle every time I am around them.

This photo, taken last March is of my wife Robyn and 3 of our horses who were all stallions at the time.

Rey, on the left, is 8 years old and when we first got him he was very obedient, and VERY internal. Once he came out of that shut down state he was very interactive with his muzzle (I have quite a few videos on YouTube of him like this), and when I say very, I mean very !

The middle horse, Bodhi, was 2 at the time and from the time he started interacting with humans, was very mouthy, and I spent a lot of time interacting with his muzzle whenever he offered it.

Rupert, on the right, was probably middle of the road when it comes to mouth ones, and was 3 when this photo was taken.

This was one of the first nice spring evenings we had this year, and we went up to hang out with the horses. Robyn sat I this stump and these 3 stallions came up and hung out with her.

There was no fighting each other.

There was no biting Robyn.

Robyn wasn’t having to fend them off.

There was just peace.

Something most people would love to have with their horses, but you have to pay for it with presence. Not in the moment of the photo, but the months and months of meeting the need to engage until it’s no longer there.

I’ve often said we need less correction and more connection. I can only imagine how horses would be if this was the norm instead of the dominance paradigm that is so often spread, which actually creates the problems that many people want to fix (I used to be one, so speaking from experience here).

12/01/2024

So sweet!

Tommy Woodcock and stallion Reckless. He looked at Reckless and Reckless looked at him and without a word his big stallion dropped down and put his head on Tommy's chest. He reached up and tickled him under the neck and the horse closed his eyes and that was it. I took two pictures, that was it. This photograph shows the true affinity between man and horse like no other.

11/28/2024

Good tip!

11/26/2024

Amazing to see how these wild families fend off predators!