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Flash nosebands; are they really necessary?

11K views 53 replies 20 participants last post by  Yogiwick 
#1 ·
I was gate-keeper at our local saddle club's recent dressage schooling show. I did the a.m. shift, so got to watch the more low level competitors. some of them had flashes on that looked way too tight.

so the question for today's discussion is, "Are flashes reallly necessary?"

I had one on my old dressage bridle, but took it off, and had a leather worker remove the connecting piece. I WANT my horse to feel he has freedom to move the bit around a bit in his mouth. so, what is the real wisdom with flashes, and do you use or eschew them?
 
#2 ·
They have a purpose, but lots of them are there as a fashion statement.

I've used a flash on a nervous mouthed mare who liked the additional support.

I've used a drop noseband on my WB who figured out he could put his tongue over the bit instead of accepting contact(very green). Rather than have a bad habit form I prevented it and taught him he can take contact with his mouth closed. Only used it for a month.

I've also used a flash on my appendix as he would gape to avoid contact when he was having fits(lots of opinion in that one). That one I realized was because he needed his teeth done much sooner than I thought.

I know several TBs who go better in flashes because of their nervous mouths.

I rather use them as a specific tool to fix a problem.
 
#3 ·
I use flashes, do the horses always need them? No but they can help with bit placement or some horses feel more secure with them or it helps with mouth issues that are not rider caused but the horse may be quirky *shrugs* a friend of mine has a horse that sticks his tongue out so she rotates between the double and snaffle bridle because nothing else has worked. He's a PSG horse. And she's definitely not a busy or rough handed rider, the horse's teeth are up to date, he's had muscle work, saddle fits well, etc. It might be from earlier training, it's hard to say but the flash seems to help with him.

I've also met horses who go better with the flash off, so they don't go in a flash. Dante can be ridden either or, it doesn't make much difference.

There are also these nosebands which YES are ridiculously expensive but some horses love them and it makes a HUGE difference.

https://thedressageconnection.com/product/tota-comfort-noseband-4cm/

I think of equipment as it depends on the horse. Like when people think a thicker bit is actually softer. A lot of the times it's not, depending on the size of the horses mouth. A bit too thick can create pressure points and hurt a horses mouth more than one thinner. I wish I could find the bit video I loved which showed the anatomy of the horses mouth and gums and explained how a bit works in their mouth. Same with some horses HATE loose ring snaffles but are fine with an egg butt. Every horse is a little different.

That said all equipment can be abused and used inappropriately.
 
#4 ·
Not necessary at all, they can be useful, we were going to try Gibbs in one before he retired to see if it would stop him gaping and pulling faces.....never did though.

So many people pull them up way to tight, and that is when it is good when there is a steward at the show who can make a call on if it is OK
 
#5 ·
I stopped using a flash when I got an Arabian gelding who could suck his chin in just right, give his head a little shake, and then have a loop of leather hanging from his nose to pitch a fit about!! It really did not matter how tight i made it.

It is just a fashion thing, i think....something else to sell us, like boots and leg wraps.
 
#7 ·
Totally agree. I rode my horses in them for years because of fashion :icon_rolleyes:

Then had a gelding who flatly refused to use one and who was an angel with a plain noseband. I removed the flash and cut the loop off and never used one again.

Dante: I looked at that noseband you linked too and all I can say is $350 bucks for a noseband??? Um, heck no! No way would I pay that for a piece of leather.
 
#6 ·
IMO, while some horses do better with a flash noseband, I do think there is a certain amount of "fashion statement" being made by some. Even when I showed jumpers, some riders were using flash nosebands, but that seemed to more of a training shortcut or misunderstanding on how to figure out which bit the horse found most comfortable. Since I train my horses to respond to seat, legs, weight, and core, and only use the reins to refine the line of communication, I've never needed a flash noseband, but that doesn't mean I won't if it gets a better, softer response from a certain horse.


Like everything else to do with horses, the only correct answer is "it depends" on the individual horse, the rider's hands, and the ability to refine the lines of communication between horse and rider.


Since I also ride Western, I liken the flash noseband to the tie down used by many ropers----train the horse correctly with the right bit in his mouth that he finds comfortable and the extras normally aren't necessary. Hubby's one of the few ropers I've seen that uses a snaffle with no tie down for roping, but he put in the miles and wet saddle blankets before ever swinging a rope off his gelding.
 
#8 ·
I don't think the flash is akin to the tie down used by barrel racers. that only comes into contact when the horse lifts the head to a certain level. the barrel racers on this forum said that they use them to give the horse something to push agains when balancing around the tight turns. that was a whole 'nother can of worms discussion. but, my point is that it's not the same as a flash, which is in constant contact, no matter what the horse does. (not necessarily tight contact, but there is some contact, otherwise it won't hold the bit in place, as they say it does. holding the bit in position was why I was told to use one. but, it often pulled the nose band down, put pressure on the nostrils and pinched the lips. I am guessing we didn't have the right size or the right fitting, but in any case, I found the hrose happier without it

if you supress their ability to move their mouth and tongue, it seems it could only serve to make them feel more constricted, and you know how well horses love feeling constricted. and, if they are gaping their mouths, then aren't they telling you something? about the bit, or the contact, or their teeth? or their attitude about their job? if you tie them down, you are just putting a band aid on it, no?

were flashes used all along, like 50, 100 years ago?
 
#10 ·
The connection to the tie-down on a barrel racer is most of them don't need it either, the tie-down is fashion the same as the flash is fashion. Do some horse need them? Yes, some do and it does make it easier especially in the beginning of a horse's career. Later, not so much.

Were they used 50-100 years ago? No, and really many things were not used 50-100 years ago either. Not really relevant IMO.

I like my sunroof and power windows and don't want to go back to when one had to crank the car to start it. No reason my horse's tack and my gear can't be progressive. That's why I love Biothane, lol
 
#9 ·
oh, and this is just a late night joke, but looking at this very fancy noseband set up on the double bridle made me chuckle , as it brought to mind the little boy in the new version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", whose father was a dentist and made him wear the most hideous contraption on his head;

 
#14 ·
People use them to prevent habits like jaw crossing, gaping, tongue over the bit starting and then leave them on
A lot of the time you see them on competition horses it is to totally restrict the movement of the tongue during the competition - if the horse manages to get its tongue in a place where it might bite it then you're going to be eliminated under the 'blood' rule
 
#18 ·
Back when I first started showing, the 60's, I rarely saw a flash or figure 8 nose band on anything but a REALLY hardmouthed, high headed jumper. I need to qualify that statement a bit, as a kid I was not paying a lot of attention to and rarely saw a dressage horse so I'm leaving them out of the mix and referring only to the hunters & jumpers of that time. I have not ever used one, never had a need. Not going to comment on Fashion Statement because honestly, I don't care. When I'm at a show, I'm watching or participating and not scrutinizing tack.
 
#20 ·
People start with a flash because it is the fashion, there is no reasoning behind it in today's world (I know I ask all students in clinics why they are using them). A drop has a reasoning, and that is to prevent crossing of the jaw with a green(er) horse/combined with a fulmer (or full check).

Why are flashes/nosebands so tight? Because the horses will open their mouths when they are ridden closed (in the thoratlatch) and low, and following the 'winners' guidance to use l/r actions to 'stretch their horses'. And interesting since the riders now that they have them looser, there are gp horses which are biting their tongues/bleeding from the mouth, and rearing/etc as a result (because they are still compresses, but now have the freedom to express their displeasure of having bits used as method of longitudinal flexion w/o cessation).
 
#21 ·
They have a purpose. I use a flash on my one mare, properly adjusted (actually maybe a little loose). One has a plain cavesson. One has a drop (solely because that's how she's been ridden her whole life and she's 25 so whatever, haven't put much thought into that one. Pretty common in the Icelandic bridles). The fourth I swap around and was shocked at the huge difference a LOOSE noseband made to no noseband, have not put him in anything other than that yet (I use leverage bits on him too).

I must say that pretty much every dressage rider I know has one though, often super tight. :/

All tools have a purpose, my mare I put one on because she is sensitive and nervous and worries about the bit, she likes her flash! Start simple and then do what the horse tells you they need. I would never do something solely for the sake of doing something and never crank nosebands, ever.
 
#28 ·
I think that's more of a picture of a horse wrinkling his nose to express his displeasure than one trying to draw in large amounts of air, just looking at the background of chairs. My 3/4 Arabian was noted for wrinkling his nose when I'd ask more than he wanted to give or I showed up with a tube of wormer.
 
#32 ·
There are a lot of girls who will use figure 8s or flashes because it's what they see everyone else use. I know people who go to buy "jumper bridles" and the thing that makes it a jumper bridle is the figure 8, despite their horse going absolutely fine in a French cavasson.

They've got their purposes, but many don't use them for it.
 
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