There was a thread already started on this topic an odd three years ago but I have a couple of different questions that weren’t looked at in that thread.
Ok so: I emailed the USEF about this topic and received a response telling me what ‘on the bit’ means, but after responding that email, I never got a response. (this was 2 months ago)
Why is changing USEF rules to include bitless dressage such a huge deal? Why haven’t they changed it?
Can a horse not be on the bit (soft & supple) without a bit?
Is it a safety thing? If so, why? We can go bitless in SJ & XC which should be looked at as MORE dangerous…
Because contact with the bit and the horses acceptance of it is part of the test and score. You can’t push a horse up and into a bitless very well and there’s nothing In the mouth for the horse to accept…,and that is what is scored. Acceptance of the bit and contact.
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I’m not an “anti bit” person, however I see no reason to exclude bitless options.
“On the bit” refers to a state of body dynamic. Other countries often use other phrases, such as the more accurate “on the aids”.
It’s not about The Bit…it’s about connection through the back: the “circle of aids”, producing thoroughness.
Acceptance of the bit is only important insomuch as it shows the uninterrupted flow of energy throughout the horse and rider system.
if a rider can produce a correct dynamic without a bit, why exclude this as an option…unless, of course, it is regarded as cheating because it’s an unfair advantage. And if that’s the case, should we not re examine the whole use of the bit in general and in competition?
again, I ride with bits every day, and have ridden on halters, side pulls and Dr. Cooks (I hate them).
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Blah blah blah. That is your opinion, not fact. There is also a reason not to include bitless.
I ride both bitless and with a bit. I school basic dressage on my mare and ride an older schoolmaster. I ride my horse in a snaffle and a mechanical hackamore, and a couple times in a double bridle, in lessons for a specific reason… I ride the school master in a snaffle in the arena and a bosal for hacking out. I am not trained in use of the bosal, but this is what mare is used to and it works fine for easy hacks.
I have also ridden my mare in a rope halter and in a side pull (stopped that when she started diving for grass in the ditch).
So I have used all the variations of bitless , with the exception of a crossunder or Dr. Cook, which I don’t like the look of or the action.
I do think that you can do a lot of advanced Western work bitless, esepcially in a mechancial hackamore or bosal that is a leverage bit which lets the horse feel the weight of the reins. Neck reing, sliding stops, etc on a draped rein.
However, honestly in a dressage context, I do not think you can teach any sophisticated flexions or gynmastics without a snaffle, or really balance how the horse is going. Once your horse knows them, you can keep doing them bitless for a while until the horse needs a refresher. But there is no meaningful concept of contact in a bitless bridle, and so in this case you are probably going to be riding more like a very well trained western horse on a draped rein, than on a dressage horse.
Yes, you might be able to take a really well trained horse that was working off the seat and leg, and put in a credible dressage test in a bitless bridle. Or for that matter with no tack at all. And all congratulations to you if you can do so.
But I do not think really that you can train a horse up to that level without a bit, and I do not entirely trust the words of trainers who claim to have done so. I would really need to see verification.
So I think that riding dressage (or reining, or jumping) bitless or indeed without tack is a wonderful demonstration of the training level of the horse and rider, but it is a “stunt” in the sense that you don’t get there by using a bitless bridle.
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If the argument allowing bitless is that “it can’t be done”, then that is silly, as it will then be self limiting. I also don’t think it is everyone’s goal to move up the levels, so if someone get’s stuck at a low level because they don’t use a bit, how is that worse than someone who gets stuck at first level because they can’t sit the trot or stop hanging off the mouth?
The argument that the purpose/goal of dressage is in part, to show that the horse has learned to accept the intrusion and instruction of the bit, then that makes more sense…just like a saddle is needed: it is part of the “uniform”. Similar to how the type of bit is limited, it also creates a more level playing field.
I would love to see bitless allowed, as I have two horses in my program that cannot go in bits (physical reasons, not training reasons), and requiring bits in most disciplines limits their show options…but I don’t see this changing in my lifetime. Dressage is too much about tradition.
Many non rated, local shows might accept bitless. USEF and similar don’t but there might be something around OP where it’s OK.
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You don’t join a softball club and then declare that you’d like to use a different ball ! Why would you join an existing organization established under defined rules and then say you don’t want to follow them? If you want to ride bitless you’d be better off joining/establishing an organization that allows it.
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The National Federations like USEF regulate the top levels of National and International competitions, don’t govern or offer rankings below a certain level… Many local organizations serving the more modest levels not headed for the short lists operate on their own terms serving their own exhibitor base.
Equipment and horse acceptance of it is part of what’s judged on the serious, top levels of the sport. There are other levels and other organizations.
Honestly, having ridden both, I don’t see why people get so gung ho about riding bitless for bitless’s sake. (Not including horses that have a genuine need to not use a bit, or ones that really truly do prefer bitless). It’s not necessarily any gentler on the horse, you are just trading pressure in the mouth for pressure on the nose/poll/side of the face/whatever type of bitless. My current horse hates riding bitless, he doesn’t like pressure on his nose at all (nothing wrong, doesn’t flip out, just is uncomfortable. I keep the noseband loose-ish too). I tried to start him bitless, he tolerated a side pull, hated a bosal or rope halter type deal, wanted nothing to do with those cross under ones. Was very very happy in a snaffle with a roller. On the other hand, I had an OTTB that relaxed more with a cross-under bitless.
I feel like you probably can’t get the correct acceptance of contact with a bitless. You could get some approximation, but all of the “I do bitless dressage” riders I see online are horses ducked behind the hand, reins loose, definitely not reaching for the bit at all. That or they just pull against the hand. If you want to ride bitless, there are likely plenty of unrecognized shows that will let you do it. But for recognized, I feel like they don’t allow it for a reason. It’s not a safety thing at all, it’s a training, correctness type thing.
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Exactly. There is no meaningful contact bitless.
You can ride high level Western bitless for instance in a bosal. You can ride an approximation of dressage that is in between California reining and dressage, in a bit less bridle. You could probably ride Iberian working equitation which has a dressage phase. But it’s always going to be a little behind the bit, not on it.
That kind of Western riding is amazing. But it is not quite dressage, and it does not lead to clear contact with the bit. It is significantly a different way of the understanding the bit. Not wrong, but different.
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Yes, a friend does the western dressage quite successfully in a bosal, doing roughly 3rd level work (on a Trakhener - so much for western dressage being for ‘off breeds’ LOL). BUT…she trained it all in a snaffle first, and originally showed in, I believe, a snaffle, then a western curb, before she used the bosal in shows.
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When I was young and fit and strong and could ride. I had a lesson where I had to drop the reins and keep her round with my seat alone. I could do it in trot. Down the centre line track right turn and halt at X. Once we halted I was supposed to keep her round for 4 seconds. I managed 2 second before she snapped out of it and looked round.
I bet the masters of the SRS could do it. They wouldn’t need any bridle, but just like my girl they are taught in snaffles and double bits first.
I think there are a lot of “bogus” reasons why it is not allowed. It is much more accepted in Europe and the likes of Alizee Froment and Magali Delgado are great ambassadors.
I have nothing against bits and use one when competing (obviously), but mostly ride bitless otherwise.
One of my horses has deep scar tissue on his tongue (it is believed he had his head tied to the side with a twisted wire snaffle by previous owners) and no matter how high or low I rig the bridle, it is always very uncomfortable to him. I have competed him bitless in Working Equitation where it is allowed in all 4 phases and even won my division, while all the other horses were bitted. I I did receive an “above the bit” comment on on of the moves 
but of course it reflected him not being on the aids.
To me a logical progression would be from bit to no bit as both horses and riders become more in tune to each others’ aids, not from bit to more severe bit.
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