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Originally Posted by EponaStable
My theory is that horses don't like having bits in their mouths.
Any more, if you like, than humans would.
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I'm just not going to indulge use of words "like" "don't like"
Truth is you haven't got a clue whether a horse "likes" or "doesn't like" something.
But it's true to say that there's a heck of a lot of horses that willingly and enthusiastically receive a bit that is offered up and they show willingness and enthusiasm with regard to the work they're asked to do. They show no signs of evasion at all.
Then there's others who are unwilling and do evade and IME they're without exception owned or been owned by someone who falls in the category I defined earlier.
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I marvel at our native peoples who used to ride completely bitless, with no bridles either.
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Really??? Why?
I'm not going with any mythology that native Americans are wonderful horsemen. The evidence just doesn't substantiate that at all.
There's also a heck of a lot that ride in bits akin to barbed wire and are cack handed to boot!
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I concede that with training, most horses generally come to accept bits. And with proper riding (considerate and respectful hands) they generally come to tolerate them.
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Your use of the words "come to tolerate" makes me think you must seriously be doing something wrong. I bridle and bit youngsters in the stable and they are absolutely enthusastic about standing playing and mouthing the bit. For sure they most willingly accept the bit when it's offered.
No sense of needing to use any anthropomorphic words such as "like, don't like, tolerate etc.
They take the bit when it's offered and they mouth it and play with it and they sometimes are even reluctant to give it up when you undo the whole of the bridle.