Alright, for those of you who were in my same boat did your horse go immediately great in the bitless or was there a transition? Rode in it today for the first time and was blown away by how much WORSE her head flipping was! ?? It’s like she was piiiiiised off. Not sure if she’s just pissed she has no chew toy anymore and isn’t sure what to do with herself? I rode around on a loose rein just making sure steering and brakes were there. She was very responsive but even on a loose rein she was flipping her head and rooting at the loose reins, but there was no contact to pull away. So I took up a contact and she responded to my leg and seat and collected up nicely. Then a minute in the rooting and snatching began. But like on steroids. I have no idea if I should pull the plug or keep at it. Thoughts?! So bummed this didn’t work!
My horses have always been fine transitioning directly to some bitless solutions but I’d give it a couple of tries before giving up. Which kind of bridle did you use? My Trakehner hated the Dr. Cook’s bridle and threatened to rear. I think the poll pressure was too much for him.
Every horse I’ve tried bitless has HATED the cross under styles- head shaking, pulling, tension, etc. They’ve all gone well in a plain sidepull style.
My next question would be: how responsive is your horse to normal halter pressure? If you put downward pressure on the halter, does your horse drop its head softly or brace/tense up, toss the head up, etc? Same with backward pressure across the nose, or side pressure. If you have any tension there, my experience is that it will translate into tension in the bitless bridle as well.
I ride a mare with a very sensitive mouth. In the past I tried SIX bitless systems on her, and in the end she hated every one. She HATED contact with her nasal bone, high or low. My experimentation covered a few months with each system unless she told me immediately that she HATED IT.
She especially hated the Micklem bit clips and the Micklem bitless options. She was constantly flipping her head with contact OR from the sensations from loose, swinging reins. On the other hand she LOVES the Micklem bridle with a properly selected bit.
She did not like the LG bitless bridle, though she was pretty good on a sort of loose rein. ANY contact, including a gently applied hand aid ended up with her head flinging around as she got more and more irritated with it during the ride.
Cross-unders? Nurtural bitless bridle, nylon–she accepts it on loose rein, and strides forth cheerfully. Very light and well coordinated hand aids are somewhat acceptable. NO CONTACT, in a few minutes she starts tossing her head, but not as violently as the others.
Dr. Cook’s, leather: She just did not like the feel. At all. I tried a Cashel nose cushion and it was barely acceptable. Resistant to hand aids. Contact induced head flinging.
Spirit Bitless Bridle, leather: This cross-under was slightly more acceptable for hand aids and contact. The release of this cross-under is better than the others. I am not saying the lady was ever happy in this bridle. She did allow contact for about 1/3 to 1/2 the way around the ring, then she was THROUGH.
Old fashioned English Jumping Cavesson bridle, the one with the divided cheeks like Kathy Kusner used when she jumped bitless in the 1960-70’s. Limited contact allowed, properly timed and promptly released hand aids allowed. Somewhat happier. She still prefers no contact at all.
Light Rider bitless bridle, beta: Somewhat acceptable. Very limited contact allowed, but she accepts it better. Properly timed and promptly released hand aids allowed, but her response was a bit “squishier”. After a while loose, swinging reins irritated her. She did occasionally “champ” and lick upon release of the hand aids.
I went back to the bit. Occasionally I will use the Light Rider, Nurtural, or Jumping Cavesson and she is a pleasant ride as long as I realize that SHE HATES NOSE CONTACT.
[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8349361]
Not enough emphasis is placed on breath, weight, seat, legs, requiring the reins simply for conversation…not pulling. Always seeking lightness, not so much strong contact.[/QUOTE]
This. When my horse goes in a sidepull, the contact is actually very light. I use my seat to create the connection and collection, and I use a wide handset - my inside to encourage bend, and my outside to encourage him to step over. He becomes light as I half-halt with my seat. As he becomes more collected during the ride, my handset goes back to normal, because he’s working off of my seat and leg only.
Thanks for the input! I bought this leather side pull style: http://www.twohorsetack.com/p-109-sidepull-bitless-bridle-made-from-leather.aspx?gclid=CjwKEAjwhdOwBRDFsYTfhvzX1hYSJAAfCUcLK46peFLE4kQ5cGtCo02lhh_RA_tianUp34Iu-tbaihoC6SXw_wcB
She really is very very soft in the bridle and respond beautifully to just my seat and core. As soon as I roll up nice and tall and breathe she picks up the most beautiful collected trot, even on the buckle. Before I took away her ability to actually get the bit in her teeth I could ride collected walk, trot, canter and baby passage all without touching the reins. No snatching, no rooting just soft and balanced…but holy crap you could hear her chomping across the arena. So I put her in the Mullen and drop combo. However, her obsession with playing with the bit turned the chomping into pissed off head flipping. I can still get all those things on the buckle off just my seat but as soon as she goes to chew the bit and can’t…bam. Head flip/rooting.
I’ll give it some more tries and see how she goes in it! She was definitely ANGRY about it yesterday. She did open and twist her mouth several times which is what leads me to believe she was pissed she lost her pacifier. She is very responsive to a normal halter. I can position her head anywhere with feather light pressure. When I first put her in the bitless yesterday I double checked her in the crossties. She flexed, gave and was very responsive in it. I’ll report back after today’s ride! Thanks for the input again!
Maybe give it a couple more tries before you give up on it. Could you take a lesson with it so that your trainer could give you some feedback? Sometimes what we think we’re doing in terms of pressure isn’t really what we’re doing. Or, do you know how to ground drive? You could ground drive with it to see how she reacts that way.
Or what if you put the bitless on, put her bit on a bit hanger (basic head stall with a bit), but use the sidepull reins instead of the bit? That way she’d have her pacifier but maybe would realize that the aids come from somewhere else?
As an aside, have you ever ridden without reins and just a neck rope? It really is eye-opening to see how much we rely on our hands without realizing it. If you have a round pen or small arena and trust your mare you might give it a try - it is fun and an interesting experience.
I wish I could get my trainer up right now but she’s 2 hours away and we aren’t scheduled for a couple more weeks:-( I’ve never tried the neck rope! I’ll have to give that a go when I have some walls this winter. I’m riding without a fence until December and though I trust her very much I don’t think it would be a good idea without walls 
I do ride her on the buckle off just my seat regularly so I think she would respond well! I’m going to go out and play today with the bitless and bring my regular bridle out as well. If she’s still pissed I’ll try putting the bit in as just a pacifier and using the bitless for everything else. Great idea!
[QUOTE=Dressagelvr;8348405]
Bitless bridles are a total gimick at best and dangerous at worst. If you don’t want to use a bit, just use a hackamore.[/QUOTE]
Huh. Interesting.
I would avoid a Dr Cooks or anything else with leverage of some sort. Most bitless which aren’t just side pull style can be MORE severe than a bit. People are amazed at how well horses go… because they are forcing them to, essentially. (I’m specifically thinking of the Spirit Bridle and its creator, but it does happen with other leverage bitless bridles.)
I used two reins on my gelding who has always had bit issues - one on a noseband ring, one on a bit, and used mostly the noseband rein to get him moving well into contact, then added more and more bit contact. He has the similar small mouth and developed an unhealthy relationship with the bit on the track, so this helped start over in developing his understanding of how to handle the bit. My trainer also starts all horses the same way. Yes he does ground work to educate them to the bit, but he starts with the reins on the cavesson mostly in use when riding.
We just switched my gelding to a drop noseband. He is quiet in his mouth while on contact, but all other times he is very mouthy. He would act like he was gagging before the flash was on to help lift the bit off his bars, so we decided to try the drop and see if it held the bit in a location where he was happier. Funny enough, just trying to adjust the bridle to raise the bit in his mouth didn’t work and also made him act like he was gagging. I suspect because he’s so sensitive that it made the bridle feel tight around his poll and he disliked that. The drop noseband has made him happier about the bit.
I have yet to find a mullen shaped like my horse’s mouth, so he’s in a French link, thin to fit better. It is the bit he has liked best of the various types I have tried.
When I ride bitless I do so in my longeing cavesson. A real one with leather and a brass noseband. Just hook reins to the sides and go! Horses have no problem transitioning to or from a bridle.
Agree with you - She is responsive in a normal halter? Then use that until she has more confidence…she has the ability to go with your seat aids, etc., so go there.
I use a plastic bit (HS Duo) but only use it to barely wrinkle her lips…or
you could put a bridle on, halter on top, and hook reins to the halter.
She sounds like a joy, except for that one thing.
Well color me completely confused and ecstatic all at the same time! Just returned from my ride. I brought out all my bits and gear but got on only in the sidepull to start. She snatched once, I gave her a bump and a swift whip like I normally do, and then she stretched into it and we had the most AMAZING ride! She never snatched, pulled or rooted again. Never fussed once. She was happy, soft, round and forward through the entire ride! We also had some of the most amazing collected canter work of our life. She always lacked “jump” and today she was sitting down so much and jumping I almost toppled off her butt as I wasn’t prepared! Even slipped into an accidental half piroutte trying to avoid a crash with another rider. AMAZING!!! I guess yesterday she had to throw the hissy fit of all hissy fits she lost her pacifier and today she realized how comfortable she now could be. I’m literally walking on clouds after that amazing ride! it was like the pieces of all our brilliant rides that get broken up by the snatching finally came together without any pauses or breaks while she fusses then returns to me. Mind blown!
Great update, congratulations! :yes:
Love that - she was telling you something and you listened…but then she had to trust that you were listening.
