The ported mouthpiece offers the horse tongue relief and allows him to be more relaxed. The horses tongue fills the entire cavity of the mouth and is extremely sensitive.

Three nerves are associated with the tongue and muscles of the face.

These are the Facial nerve (VII), Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX), and the Hypoglossal nerve (XII).

The Facial nerve is responsible for the motor function of the facial muscles, but also sensory input from the tongue for taste. The Hypoglossal nerve is responsible for motor of the muscles of the tongue. The Glossopharyngeal nerve (IX) is responsible for swallowing and some motor tongue movement. Issues with these nerves can show up as facial asymmetry, drooling out one side of mouth, difficulty drinking/eating, or partial paralysis of the tongue.

Research and development has brought us many variations of the 'ported' mouthpiece; and thankfully it is now available for most horse/rider combinations at various levels throughout training.