Bitless bridles - which one to try?

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Purdey33

New Member
Hi,

I'm going to try my horse in a bitless bridle and wondered which type I should go for? I like the look of the Dr Cooks leather bridle, not sure my budget will stretch to one at the moment (aftermath of xmas) :(

What types are there available and how effective are they? Thanks :)
 
I got the Beta version of teh Dr Cooks and it doesn't look plastic-y at all once it's on the horse. It's a bit more affordable. Not sure if they still offer it but when I bought mine they had a 30-day money back guarantee so you could see if you liked it.
 
ive got a beta dr cook, its nice, but rubbed my horse. i use hackamores, sidepulls and now a happy wheel. happy wheel is nice, you can buckle it differntly to change the amount of pressure it applies and you can use it with your own bridle.
 
Happy Wheel? Not heard of that before. What is it? (I'm from the dark ages of riding, so many new things that I haven't heard of).
 
Another vote for the beta Dr Cook here. I wish you could get regular bridles made of the stuff (OK I'm sure you can...:D ).
 
Not sure what to try still! Ex racehorse, who doesn't seem to respond to the bit??? So we're going bitless (as I know lots of ex racers go better bitless). My sister uses a Hackamore on her horse - he had his mouth ruined when she put him on loan - and he goes very well, though many people frown upon Hackamores for being severe.

I like the Dr Cooks, they look more substancial than, say, a Libbys bitless bridle, but do they have as much control as a Hackamore or a Happy Wheel?
 
with bitless you have to try and see really.
my girl is an x racer. shes very bobby and finds life very exciting. the dr cook rubbed her terribly under the jaw, and she just wouldnt stop, she leant into it and set her neck. she was lots better with a rope nose sidepull, and i would have stuck with that, but as im going to try xc and endurance, wanted something with alot more brakes if she did have a moment.
the hackamore might be too much for him, my girl really doesnt like it when i apply pressure, even a very padded one, so the happywheel has it when i need it (mines works off the nose, until i raise my hands and the curb kicks in) but is still fairly mild.
i tried a scawbrig on her and she was ok, but she still leant into it.
 
I'm using a Libby's scawbrig at the moment and really like it. I've tried a No-bit cross pull before but my horse seems to go better in the scawbrig.

They all work on slightly different pressure, so a lot of it is about finding what suits your horse. For example, mine hates poll pressure and reacts by rearing. So something like a hackamore would be a suicide on my part :eek: Cross pulls don't have poll pressure as such, but I think they do work partly on that area - he tolerates them rather than going really well in them. He really backs off from nose pressure - physically walks backwards if I put a flash noseband on, so for control going to something that works purely of nose pressure really works on him. So I had the option of a sidepull or scawbrig, and a scawbrig was easier to find (though I'd like to try a sidepull to see the difference).
 
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