R3voband Bridle Pads- A Review
R2voband Pads
I was very kindly given items of the R3voband collection, the headpiece, the noseband piece and the chin piece. These are 3-D printed items that are placed under your bridle to improve the pressure distribution. R3voband have a parent company, R3volutioD that specialize in 3-D printing equine veterinary surgical implants and equipment.
The headpiece
When placing it on your bridle I would advise to drop your buckles a hole, or at least pay very close attention to the heights as your are increasing the padding between your bridle and your horse. My horse Edanna didn't object to me placing it on her head. As you can see from the photo I have standard head piece with my noseband strap over it. This is also to helps reduce the pressure around the poll.
Studies have shown that peak pressures occur around the base of the ear and at the poll. By placing this element under your bridle you are furthering the padding around it. Research conducted for the ISES (International society of equitation science) has found that peak pressures occur around the poll even when there is no rein tension applied. They also found that there is peak pressures for bitted and bitless bridles. What was advised was to ensure you have a well padded headpiece for your bridle to reduce the peak pressures.
The 3-d structure of the R3voband allows the even distribution of pressure and reduce overall pressure, compared to not having it. Normally when I finish riding my horse and take off her bridle she scratches me around her ears, but it happens far less when I have the R3voband on. This can be seen as her being more comfortable.
The Noseband
If you have read any of my research posts you may have gathered that I am slightly obsessed with nosebands and noseband pressure, so I was excited to try this one. The R3voband noseband piece has clips that keep in it place, comes in a range of sizes to fit many bridles and in two colours - black and brown.
Peak pressures under the noseband appear on the bridge of the nose at the frontal bone. Studies have found that padding at this area can reduce this pressure compared to not having it. Tight nosebands have been seen to increase stress in horses, cause tissue damage and increase the eye temperatures. With the pressure distribution abilities of the R3voband and ensuring your noseband has a 2 finger spacing under it (as in under the R3voband attached to your noseband), it can be seen to reduce the over all pressure under the noseband and the pressure more efficiently than just loosening the noseband a buckle hole.
Below you can see a little test I did with some pressure sensitive film - more red = more pressure. I asked my horse to back up from the ground, with the pressure film (under the noseband at the bridge of the nose) at different tightness's, with and without the R3voband. You can see the difference between C (R3voband plus 2 finger spacing) and D ( no R3voband and more than 2 finger spacing) that the R3voband reduced the pressure compared to just loosening the noseband. This is just a test and a good indication of the ability of the R3voband.
Where can you get these?
If you live in Ireland you can find them from DSE Equestrian Outfitters in Wicklow, find them here. You can also get them direct from R3voband, based in Germany - here
You can also watch here
Below is a video where I talk about the R3voband, the functions and about some bridle pressure research.
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