External circumference of the nose
The mean external circumference of the nose was 65.5 6
1.4 cm, which was significantly less than the circumference
of the nose when the horses were chewing (68.6 6 1.7 cm;
t 5 24.14; df 5 4; P 5 0.014).
Noseband adjustments
There were significant differences in the tightness of the
noseband as measured by distance along the strap the
buckle had travelled (the lower the number of holes, the
looser the noose around the nose). Using the taper gauge on
the nose when fastening the noseband resulted in the
loosest fitting (68.3 6 1.6 cm) when compared with using
the taper gauge on the mandible (62.8 6 1.8 cm) or when
not using the taper gauge (60.3 6 1.5 cm; P 5 0.020).
Peripheral temperature recordings
Eye
There was a significant increase in eye temperature over
time (F 5 2.51, P 5 0.012). However, the interaction of treatments
and time was not significant (F 5 0.94, P 5 0.548;
Figure 2 and Table 1).
Skin
There was a significant decrease in skin temperature
over time (F 5 1.89, P 5 0.016; Figure 3 and Table 2) and,
when compared with having the noseband undone, there
was a trend for lower skin temperature when the noseband
was fastened without using a taper gauge (P 5 0.062) and
when the noseband was fastened using the taper gauge at
the mandible (P 5 0.051).