do bitless bridles have good brakes?

[Nezzy]

Sorry this is a bit long, but wondering about trying a bitless bridle if they have good brakes.

My husband got a new mare in september. She was a trail horse then sold to an equestrian center and was used for lessons and as a therapy horse for 4 yrs. The Eq. Center had no turnout except some time to run loose in the arena.

When we got her, she was awesome, and we put her out in a pasture board situation. She is very happy outside, and she has shelter so no problems. The past 10 or so rides, she has been a real handful. The Eq Center had her on a double jointed loose-ring snaffle. We put her on a Myler comfort snaffle to start. She was doing great, but then started ignoring the ‘whoa’. We are very light in the hands but we know when to take the reins up a bit more if needed. She started to get rammy. We then got a double jointed pelham bit and used it as a leverage bit. She hated it to the point of throwing her head back. We used it 2 x, then took it off her b/c we do not want her to learn to to throw her head back. We are very gentle with our hands, and she was still fighting it every time we asked her to slow down.

She was ridden in the double jointed loose ring snaffle today and was horrible. The trails are still snowy and she wanted to blast off. My husband is a decent rider and he was circling her when she would get pushy. He tried putting her in the back, and then later letting her go in the front, she was just a speed demon. I wonder if the bitless bridles have a good braking system on them. We don’t mind trotting or cantering, but we want brakes on this horse. when the snow melts we will do some training in the arena. now the arena is snowed in and too deep to use.

[_BrionesRider]

Have her teeth been done?

[Nezzy]

yep, her teeth have been done and actually rechecked. she gets almost zero grain, only enough to make her think she got something, and she gets 24/7 hay. i hate to put a stronger bit on her, but i am wondering about a bitless bridle.

[Guilherme]

You have a horse with deficient training. Any device that uses the hand (bit, hackemore, sidepull, etc.) works because the hand can communicate with the horse accessing training already given. If the training is deficient all the bit in the world won’t help. I have, personally, observed Walking Horses “walk through” a walking horse bit with 9" of shank and a thin, twisted wire mouthpiece. I have, personally, observed horses flip over backwards due to massive pressure from very powerful bits. I no longer rely on a bit for “brakes.”

Nor will I rely on any device for “brakes.”

The training of the horse to stop on command or to rate on command may well use bits or bitless devices. Done correctly the amount of hand needed is minimal. Time, intelligently used, will work better than a bit to stop a horse.

G.

[sunridge1]

It could be pain issue elsewhere and she’s blowing through the bit.

[JackSprats_Mom]

Have to agree with Guilherme.

I would take her into an arena for a while until she learns the whoa mean WHOA.

That said yes bitless bridles do have a stop on them but a horse can/will blow through anything if they learn how.

[Cherry]

I totally agree with Guilherme!

If you are graining this horse I would stop immediately. The only thing I would give this horse would be hay, grain balancer pellet and a magnesium supplement. “Don’t fight the oats!”

Then you want to get a dressage whip and the haltered horse and teach it the meaning of the word “whoa!” from the ground. The refresher course won’t hurt but I really believe you are fighting too much energy. Stronger bits and equipment will not help.

[chicamux]

I just really dislike typical single and double jointed snaffle bits anymore. The big round circular joints IMO are uncomfortable to the horse, single joints especially. A pelham with a single joint is just a bad combination.

But I am very impressed with many of the Myler snaffles and kimberwicks. The swivel joints and curved pieces over the bars are much more comfortable in their mouths and far less bulky. I’ve had several horses who were fussy with snaffles move smoothly into the Myler bits. The kimberwicke gives you a moderate leverage bit that works really well for a lot of horses. Several mouth pies are available in the kimberwicke. The ported mouthpiece works well for a horse with a low palate or that hates having a bit sit ON the tongue.

There are a couple of tack stores that will rent myler bits so you can try them out and find the right one

I also have ridden several horses in short shanked “english” hackamore. Very happy horses and good controll. I prefer them over the S hackamores.

Chicamuxen

[JBD]

I agree she needs something more than a bit/bridle change. Try lunging her with a lot of transitions, no wild running and a good, solid whoa. She’s not listening to you.

[Cindyg]

Yeah, I guess it turns out your question isn’t really about bitless. But what I was going to say is – I think if you can’t stop your horse in a bit, you’re not going to be able to stop him bitless. And vice versa.

[czgm7r]

In a word - Yes. You do have breaks in a bit less bridle. My first horse was one that came off the track and had no mouth. He got better with training and time but he always lacked brakes. As he aged he lost some teeth and I got a Dr. Cooks bit less bridle. I only wish i had it when he was young. He was so light in it and stopped when asked - worked just like a regular bridle. He has since passed but I’d never regretted using the bit less.

[cnvh]

I ride my 11yo OTTB in a bitless bridle (from Moss Rock Endurance, basically just a glorified halter), and his brakes are just fine with it-- we’ve galloped on trails, jumped courses in the arena, you name it, he’s fine. I DO switch back to my regular bridle (eggbutt French link, regular noseband) if for some reason I suspect he may be frisky (like this time of year, or if we’re at a show), but honestly it’s probably more for my own peace of mind more than for actual brakes.

Ditto what others have said about the training gap though… If I ask for a stop, I expect to get a stop, whether he’s in a bridle or a bitless or on a leadrope with me on the ground-- and if I don’t get a stop, Horse will be Coming to Jesus.

[Nezzy]

As i stated in the first post, we DO plan to work with her when the snow melts. the arena is currently a snow-filled nightmare. When we bought her, she had brakes. She has always been very forward, but she did stop. We do not know what has caused her to start ignoring our cues. We are NOT heavy-handed at all. ( my husband or myself). We did use the Myler bit in the beginning, and it was fine for a while, but then she got strong. As stated above, she gets almost zero feed. she doesn’t need it. she holds her weight on hay only. Thank you to those who answered my question about bitless bridles. That is what i wanted to know. We have a sidepull somewhere, and it seems to help stop a horse by lowering the nose. I guess i wanted to know if a bitless bridle worked in a similar way. we do not want to go to a stronger bit, but we do want to be able to get her attention and ask her to stop.

[Emilia]

Would it be possible, she just started to throw herself forward and travel heavily on forehand (which would make “whoa” a problematic action)?

Anything bugging her on the hind end?

I would not even ride her now, get her to be with you on ground, do some in-hand work with flexing of the jaw and little practicing of a give, in-hand walk/stop/back/walk, etc. Later, I would add little longeing with voice commands and emphasis on transitions (short sessions). Get her rise her withers and rock her weight back (without brace).

Then, when weather improves, go to the arena and do the same from the saddle.

This sounds more like she just needs a little reminder. Unless she has some health issue, you should be able to reinstate the “whoa” and ride her in a mild bit or bitless.

I used to ride our horse in a halter on trails all the time and, anytime, he would become “strong” and ran through it, it would be caused by him traveling too much on forehand and, also, not staying with me mentally. I “fixed” it by putting in schooling rides in the arena, where I could concentrate on him better and he had no element of “exiting journey ahead” present. He learnt quickly, the faster we would adjust position and transitions, plus get it together mentally, the faster we were going back on trails!

I also experimented with riding on a loose rein in all gaits and that helped a lot, too. You would need a lot of relatively safe space for it though. This is more applicable for the mental part.

[UsualDreamFarm]

Nezzy- Be careful with bitless. A lot of these are gimmicks and a lot of folks want to sell you on these. Some of them work some of the time for some horses. If you want to ride bitless, go ahead, but be sure you do your training and are safe about it. In my experience, bitless bridles have about the same stopping power as a rope halter or light bosal, so be sure your horse will stop for you in either of these first and that you are 100% comfortable with this. Good luck and keep safe!

[BEARCAT]

Bridles don’t have brakes, horses do, and those are installed and serviced by a good mechanic (trainer.)

[UsualDreamFarm]

[QUOTE=BEARCAT;7469710]
Bridles don’t have brakes, horses do, and those are installed and serviced by a good mechanic (trainer.)[/QUOTE]

agreed

[SharonA]

She totally will blow through a bitless. And, she will be throwing her head around and going ballistic over the pressure on her head as her rider increases the tension.

For my horse, circles make her furious. A clear but kind one-rein stop, as taught to me by a good trainer, was a better cue for her. However, the best thing has been lots of dressage-ish training. I can cue her to do several other things with her body that make jigging too much work or not as interesting as what else I’m asking her to do.

[Bogie]

Different designs of bitless bridles use different types of pressure on the horse’s head. How/if your horse responds to it depends on the horse and what he likes.

I rode my last horse in a sidepull and he was fine in it. He hated the cross-under design bridles (like the Dr. Cook’s) because they work with poll pressure. Hackamores can be quite severe depending on the length of the shanks.

My current horse just blows through the sidepull bridle; he prefers a mouthpiece with a roller.

Some of what you are experiencing may be spring fever. If you haven’t been working the horse a lot, she may be fresh.

However, it could also be this is a training problem, rather than a bitting problem. She may be testing her boundaries and seeing how much she can get away with. i agree with going back to some arena work and reinforcing your transitions. If your horse just gets hot and excited, even a harsher bit won’t help.

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

I’m wondering if saddle fit isn’t more of a problem than bitting. Horses can put up with a ill-fitting saddle for quite some time before they start to get sore. And then it still takes a while for the horse to get to the point where they can’t help but tell you about it louder and louder and LOUDER. When they start to fuss, the rider typically takes a little more hold on the reins… and now the back is more tense… and getting more sore… and the horse fusses more… and the rider holds more… and… Try a different saddle, or perhaps bareback if you can. Even if the borrowed saddle isn’t perfect, it’ll likely be not-perfect in a different place. If you get a better ride, you have a big clue it’s not the bit.