the bitless bridle

oscars_grl · #1 9th Jan 2007, 04:21 PM

Has anyone had any experience with the bitless bridle (http://bitlessbridle.com)

ive read comments on the website and have seen nothing but positive replys. but i wanted to see if anyone else liked the product.

thanks

KarinUS · #2 9th Jan 2007, 04:55 PM

You will probably find lots of threads on this one if you do a search of the forums.
We haev one and like it, especially for one horse. They usually offer a money back guarantee so you cna always try one and send it back if you don't like it.

mayoguinness · #3 9th Jan 2007, 07:25 PM

I ride in a rope hackamore and its fantastic! I would go for bitless 110%

Chex · #4 10th Jan 2007, 06:46 PM

I like the idea of them, but it didn't work for me. I have little control with a bit in, so should have guessed it would only get worse in a bitless, but the website sucked me in!

mayoguinness · #5 11th Jan 2007, 08:22 AM

Well It does help If you do Natural Horsemanship and the horse learns to understand what your asking on the ground and trust you completely so when your on its back they feel comfortable and trust that what you are saying is right so you dont need to "controle" them as they want to do it for you

No_Angel · #6 11th Jan 2007, 08:30 AM

Since starting my degree and learning about how horses learn, im not sure the 'the horse wants to do it for you' comments was with me anymore.
All my horses are bitless, and im sure they probably dont want to do whatever im asking, they would probably much rather eat, as horses dont think rationally they wont think 'oh shes nice, shes not got a bit in my mouth and shes treating me nicely, so ill do this for her'

they more often than not probably do it because im asking them in a sympathetic way they understand and they do it because im asking them to and theyve been trained to do what I ask

I do have a dr cooks, it started rubbing my tb ex racer and she starting getting very strong in it, and my other lot didnt really take to it, so i stopped using it, im not going to try and reintroduce it to my welsh cob, shes only been backed a few months and now rides off a sidepull (actuallyteh dr cook headstall with x straps, but steering is becoming difficult when were out so im trying the dr cook to see if it helps with the steering.

mayoguinness · #7 11th Jan 2007, 09:55 AM

Well I get what your saying No Angel but when I'm in the field with mayo he'll often just wanna run round and play and do circle game at liberty and have fun without me asking and I'm trying to get him to that level when I'm riding him so he just wants to ride to have fun. It doesn't come as easily yto him because hes been ridden very harshly in the past but he's starting to want be ridden more and seeing that its fun! I think you can get to a point with a horse where they want to spend time with you becuase your freinds and you enjoy each others company, not becuase they think they have to do it for you! Just in my opinion............................................

BeachRiding · #8 12th Jan 2007, 03:43 AM

I think their horrible for alot of horses! My two horses, both whom are excellent to ride, even canter/jump in a halter, pulled like mad in the bitless.

mayoguinness · #9 12th Jan 2007, 09:20 AM

Really? Do they do that in a rope hackamore?

Nookster · #10 12th Jan 2007, 09:39 AM

I have the Dr Cook bitless since june 2006 and loved it.

I class my boy as strong to ride and still felt i had control in the bitless but used my other aids more and in turn forgot about using any bridle aids.

In turn a bad point picked up in a lesson i had this week was that he now was very sensitive to contact with his mouth since riding bitless.

But i have to use my snaffle for dressage and showing, so in turn the bitless is not that suitable for me but i will continue to use it but also use my snaffle at times to, to allow us to be able to show and dressage without any reaction to having it back

katieB · #11 12th Jan 2007, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayoguinness

Well It does help If you do Natural Horsemanship and the horse learns to understand what your asking on the ground and trust you completely so when your on its back they feel comfortable and trust that what you are saying is right so you dont need to "controle" them as they want to do it for you

I am interested in why you say it helps if you do Natural Horsemanship before using a bitless bridle? Not slating your ideas, just interested in your thoughts

I would have thought as long as you can communicate without the use of harsh aids then this is the important thing. I have not done any NH training with my mare yet found riding bitless easy to take to as she is responsive to weight aids, as far as i know this has purely been taught the 'normal' or BHS way.

"GEMMA_FROST" · #12 13th Jan 2007, 01:53 AM

I bought one for my TB ex-racer as he has ALWAYS kept his mouth open with a bit in his mouth when trotting, cantering or galloping (we searched for a cause for the three years i was riding him, found nothing). I think it was a habit he picked up whilst racing because I've noticed since i've been working with racehorses that alot of them will open their mouth whilst working.

Anyway I bought the bitless bridle to relieve his mouth occasionally. He was never a strong or pulling horse and wasn't when bitless either. I haven't used it on any of my other three horses and don't plan to, not because I don't like it just because I don't feel a need to.

mayoguinness · #13 14th Jan 2007, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katieB

I am interested in why you say it helps if you do Natural Horsemanship before using a bitless bridle? Not slating your ideas, just interested in your thoughts

I would have thought as long as you can communicate without the use of harsh aids then this is the important thing. I have not done any NH training with my mare yet found riding bitless easy to take to as she is responsive to weight aids, as far as i know this has purely been taught the 'normal' or BHS way.

I say that because people sometimes have difficulties going from relying on a bit to not having any bit and then the horse not understanding whats going on and playing up (I've herd of it happing a few times now). Where as if the horse understands all the signals your going to use for riding on the ground, then when you get on the horse the signals still aply in the same way so the horse knows what its doing and you have some controle when your onboard. Of corse in a lot of cases the horse is just happy not to have the bit in its mouth anymore and still understands what the rider is saying and is sensitive enough to already understand weight aids, but different horses are different