In Korea, horse gear, which refers to equipment that people use to control horses when riding, first appeared around the end of the Gojoseon period (2333-108 BCE). One of the most important pieces of horse tack from the Samhan period is the bit, a small device that was placed in the horse’s mouth. The earliest examples of horse bits are simple bronze or iron objects, shaped like the wing of a propeller. As their use spread, however, iron horse bits became S-shaped and their ends were decorated with fern motifs. This transition, along with the appearance of various other ornamental features, shows the emergence of ritual horse tack, as distinguished from purely utilitarian equipment.