Running at the Mouth

This past Tuesday was the occasion of Perfect Bull's first official work since his last race. The bay colt worked a bullet five furlongs (fastest work of the day at the distance) on the main track at Tampa Bay Downs. The colt had a minor change of equipment for the effort, wearing a drop noseband. This particular piece of the bridle is designed to encircle the nose around the chin groove and just below the placement of the bit (as opposed to below the cheekbone and above the bit). The idea is to not only keep the bit in place and prevent lateral movement of the jaw, its specific application is to keep the horse's mouth closed. While the colt put forth one of his best works, reports are that he didn't seem to care for the oral restriction. No surprise that a horse named Bull prefers running at the mouth.