Best Bitless bridle?

Riley Roo

Riley Roo

New Member
Mar 14, 2008
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North Wales
Hi Guys - i put this in tack and saddlery but i figured it was probably relevant here ... I currently ride Riley in a crossunder bitless bridle - like a Dr cooks - and he is going great in it. He is reaching for contact, softening over his back etc. My only problem is that i don't feel that we have enough refinement in the aids now we have removed the bit. E.g. as it is a crossunder half halts are difficult to communicate as it becomes a whole head hug rather than an aid and so Riley thinks i'm asking him to stop - lol (any excuse) :rolleyes: :) Also i don't feel the hug pressure is released quick enough so i can't reward him for stopping, turning etc when i ask him to.

I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion of another type of bitless bridle that may give us a little more refinement? I don't want to go back to a bit simply because he has a very sensitive mouth and goes so much better without a bit - plus there's no bit for him to evade so he can't get away with anything - which he hates :D


So, any suggestions? An explanation of how they work would be helpful too :D
 
I know that the proper full rawhide bosals are used on horses to refine the aids. The proper ones are gorgeous too! I'm going to save up for one when Maya is older.

Bosal and headstall

I want a custom one with a nice head piece, horse hair reins and rawhide bosal.

I know its western and if you have black tack they won't work but I bet you could find a black one that will go on a black bridle to match?
 
shockblue said:
I know its western and if you have black tack they won't work but I bet you could find a black one that will go on a black bridle to match?
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From experience, I can tell you that black truly western tack is very difficult to find :(
I'll soon be equipped with a side-pull for youngster so can't really help I'm afraid.
 
I just use a nunger knots rope halter and been doing so for about three years now, get on fine.
Just started finesse with it and i find i do have the communication i want atm, my body and energy gives an aid, i use butterfly rein to rebalance or shoulder in, which is not the aid to slow down but pick yourself up.
Maybe you are using too much hand if riley thinks it means stop?

How long have you been bitless it'll maybe take a while to get the aids refined so you know how much or little you need.

I stayed with rope halter as it doesn't tighten but works on pressure and release same as bit would do.
 
newforest said:
I stayed with rope halter as it doesn't tighten but works on pressure and release same as bit would do.
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I agree having a bridle that 'tightens' may not be releasing the pressure as quickly as you need it too. Maybe a simple rope halter may work?

And yes black western tack is a toughie! I'm sure you could work round it if you had the money and enthusiasm. I was thinking along the lines of a custom made head piece here in england. Dreams eh?
 
Hi there. I.ve only just started riding Daisy bitless but she is going beautifully in her half bosal rope halter with western reins. I got it from Rob at cypress Lodge (lodgeropes on here) and he will custom make sizes, colours and decorations etc. Daisy always got her tongue over the bit and resisted direction aids but I think she likes the fact that she isn,t being 'nagged' by the feel of anything unless it is for the few secs it takes for an aid. The bosal is less harsh then raw hide but very specific in communication and pressure release is instant.
Hope that makes sense xxx
 
G'day all,
Hi DFGirl......finally got around to paying the subscription fee, its not a problem, 10 quid is the cost of a coffee in Ieper or Rome... so i found out :mad:
DFG.. Thank you for the most @#*## outstanding visit... and yes, the papers are in the mail, we will adopt George.... pending the normal compentancy & sanity checks of course.

Back to topic......
After 15 years in NH and 20 years traditional 'english' before that, factor in 15 years of custom making rope tack specialising in NH requirements, I am am starting to believe that people choose or reccommend bitless bridles that have a design feature that covers an area of training that is flawed with their own horses. The XYZ bridle helps overcome or masks what is essentially a training problem. DF Girls 2 horses are excluded from this statement as I can personally verify they are 100% wonderful:)

Ok, settle down....I said I am only starting to believe this to be true. Give me another 5 years and I might have a better grasp on the situation, but at least give it a thought tomorrow when you are picking up on the rein.......could i do it better, is there an easier way, why do I use this bridle, do we benefit from the bridles action, do I need this pressure?

ps...we loved every minute of our visit to the UK even if we spent half of it on the roundabout trying to get out of Whetherby!!!!!
What type of town has a roundabout that redirects you back onto the roundabout, at every exit ?????????

cheers from a hot... very hot Downunder
Rob
 
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LodgeRopes said:
at least give it a thought tomorrow when you are picking up on the rein.......could i do it better, is there an easier way, why do I use this bridle, do we benefit from the bridles action, do I need this pressure?
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Thats very timely for me because I have been thinking recently - why do I use this bridle (Dr Cooks) and the answer is a fairly crap - someone recommended it to me and I bought it with out understanding exactly how it works, but to be fair I didn't really understand how ANY bridle, bitless or not, worked. I just knew going the other way and upping the bit was not where I wanted to go and a snaffle wasn't working for us. Interestingly i am considering going back as an experiment as we are a different team now but that's another story. I perhaps need to decide where we are going to decide what tack we need.

I am also thinking about my saddle (treeless) I love it but am not sure it suits us very well (I'm killing it with overuse) and what I bought as a cheapie to see if I wanted to ride again, is not suitable now I don't want to get off!

At the end of the day, its attitude, training and skill that matter most but i am starting to appreciate that tack is important too. Ill be watching this post with interest and see what everyone's views are (but have to confess to liking the look of the enduro bridle _ I have a tendency to go for things that are clearly explained - I may not get how the other stuff works to make comparisons but at least I will know how MY piece of equipment works!!!)
 
LodgeRopes said:
I am am starting to believe that people choose or reccommend bitless bridles that have a design feature that covers an area of training that is flawed with their own horses. The XYZ bridle helps overcome or masks what is essentially a training problem.

Ok, settle down....I said I am only starting to believe this to be true. Give me another 5 years and I might have a better grasp on the situation, but at least give it a thought tomorrow when you are picking up on the rein.......could i do it better, is there an easier way, why do I use this bridle, do we benefit from the bridles action, do I need this pressure?
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i know exactly why i use my halter for riding, because it doesn't tighten and offers a pressure and release based on the quickness and response to the hand at the end of the rope.
The same can be said for a bit, it is only as kind as the hand holding the rein. I also have a myler which i will be progressing to when and only when i feel i deserve the privedge of being in such a sensitive area, in the mouth.

Is it not the case of bitted horses having numerous gadgets put on, which masks or covers up the flaw in training? How many bitless horses also have gadgets on?

Is there a better way, do i need this pressure? I now ride bridle less with just the string, so far only in the sandschool and up the gallops, so no i do not need the pressure, i'm using my body which regardless of bit or bitless or bridleless comes first. The only time i ride in the halter is for hacking or jumping, i've not mastered jumping bridle less as yet. The rest is without it.
But above all it's my communication and bond i have which comes first, you can ride your horse with nothing.



annareeves0 said:
I am also thinking about my saddle (treeless) I love it but am not sure it suits us very well (I'm killing it with overuse) and what I bought as a cheapie to see if I wanted to ride again, is not suitable now I don't want to get off!

My treeless i had before the Freeform i loved and it suited where we were in our progress/journey. Now i've moved on to riding more, doing different things our requirements altered.
QUOTE]
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Newforest
You make some good points that unfortunately we dont see often enough when dealing with riders/customers wanting to build communication, develop a relationship and give the horse a better deal and at the same time get a bitless bridle that will stop/control their horse. That is the paradox. Teaching controls the horse, not tack, tack is just one of the tools used to deliver a cue requesting a specific response.
One could expect NH riders to be gadget free, but of course this is not the case. We get emails requesting a riding halter & rope reins and can we fit some stops to the rein for a martingale. When asked what function the Martingale performs, you get answers like I have always rode with that tack or a riding instructer told me to get a martingale or a friend said I should use one....?
Gadgets.. the horse world is full of gadgets and gimmicks.

Fully agree with the comments about riding in halters, and it is easy to understand how they work..it is straight forward.....your hands can apply pressure slowly & release the pressure quickly without any complex design to exert poll pressure or constriction.

I have enjoyed reading the posts on this thread...a most interesting & informative exchange of experiences.

cheers all.
 
I saw the following bridle on the Yahoo Bitless email thingy and went to have a look at the website (very interesting reading - subscribe to the newsletters; I literally spent hours reading them this week :)). I think that the Light Rider could be the next bridle for me and Frayne (her cheapy cross-under is slowly becoming very scruffy after 2 years of use) - particularly as I can get it in purple!

http://www.naturalhorseworld.com/BitlessBridles.htm

What do you all think?

Ali xx
 
G'day Ali,
had to comment on your post.
NaturalHorseWorld in Tasmania,Oz, Light Rider bridle...
Regretfully this is one of the bridles we have not played with, so cant give any comment on the bridle but Cynthia at naturalhorseworld is a genuine Natural Horsewoman who has built a great reputation and any gear she sells is 'genuine'. When you are sending off money to the other side of the world it is good to have a personal reccommendation from someone you know.
(I hope i can assume you know me by now)

From the website info I see the "constriction" is limited, that in itself overcomes one of 'LodgeRopes' major problems with similar designs, not mentioning any names.. I have got to get one from Cynthia to play with so i can form an opinion on these bridles.

Cant reccommend Cynthia highly enough.

cheers
Rob
 
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