Tack and equipment in horse sale advertisements

Horse sale advertisements are expected to present horses at their best to entice buyers. In such adverts, the prevalence of harsh bits, restrictive nosebands, spurs and whips merits scrutiny because such devices reflect need for strong physical cues and their prevalence may serve as a proxy inverse metric of the uptake of ethical approaches to riding. To examine the occurrence of various types of tack (equestrian gear) 6580 horse sale advertisements from Australia and North America were inspected for horse demographics, discipline, level, price, any tack and equipment apparent on the horse, rider age and whether the rider was wearing spurs or carrying a whip. Chi-squared analysis and a GLIMMIX procedure determined differences between countries, main factors and their relevant interactions (with significance at a p-value < 0.05). North American advertisements more often featured horses ridden with a shank bit, no noseband, extra equipment such as martingales, and riders wearing spurs. Australian advertisements more often featured horses ridden with double bridles, flash nosebands, a dressage saddle, and riders carrying a whip. Hot-blooded breeds and performance horses at advanced levels were more likely to be wearing harsher bits, restrictive nosebands, head control equipment and ridden with whips and spurs. Examining trends regarding the type and severity of equipment may point to patterns within riding practices. This would allow targeted research and education to promote equitation with optimal equine welfare.马匹售卖广告旨在全方位展现马匹的优良特质，以吸引潜在买家。此类广告中，硬质口衔（shank bit）、限制性鼻革、马刺及马鞭这类装备的使用频率值得审慎审视——这类装备反映出骑手需借助较强的物理刺激方可控马，而其普及程度或可作为衡量道德骑乘理念推广程度的反向替代指标。为调查各类马术装备（tack，equestrian gear）的使用情况，研究人员对来自澳大利亚与北美地区的6580条马匹售卖广告开展了系统分析，记录了马匹的基本特征、赛事项目、竞技等级、售价，以及马匹与骑手身上可见的各类装备用具，同时记录了骑手年龄、骑手是否佩戴马刺或携带马鞭。研究采用卡方检验（chi-squared analysis）与广义线性混合模型（GLIMMIX）程序，分析不同地区、核心影响因素及其交互效应的差异（显著性阈值设定为p值<0.05）。结果显示，北美地区的广告中，更常出现使用长柄口衔、未佩戴鼻革、搭配马鞅等额外装备的马匹，以及佩戴马刺的骑手；澳大利亚地区的广告则更常出现佩戴双缰笼头、闪光鼻革、盛装舞步马鞍的马匹，以及携带马鞭的骑手。热血马品种（hot-blooded breeds）与高级别竞技马（performance horses）更大概率会使用硬质口衔、限制性鼻革、头部控马装备，且骑手会搭配使用马鞭与马刺。对骑乘装备的类型与严苛程度进行趋势分析，能够揭示当前骑乘实践中的潜在模式，从而助力开展针对性研究与宣传教育，以推广兼顾马匹最佳福利的科学骑乘方式。