While I know this is a very old
Thread, I would love to hear more about dressage at this level in a hackamore bridle and questions on steering/control. Did you ever have issues being accepted into a show because of the bridle? New member. Mods, If this is not the right place to post this, apologies.
Yup. My big draft X mare is like that! I used a flower hackamore (LG) which is more of a side pull with some leverage for my old hunt horse and he was perfect in it. He was very attuned to my seat and he had a small mouth and a large tongue so most bits were uncomfortable for him. I had no trouble turning him. She is a work in progress.
You cannot show in any dressage show in the US in a bitless bridle set up of any kind. Some small schooling shows might be forgiving but I’ve never seen one allowed.
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I didn’t show dressage in the hackamore because they weren’t legal. I used this one.
In action 2011:
I used this hackamore extensively in his early training, and went back to it when he cracked a tooth at 8 years old. I did XC and Stadium with the hackamore for a while as well. I was training and showing Dressage as well, and did my basic training with a French link loose ring snaffle.
When the cracked tooth forced the exclusive use of the hackamore I continued with his jump and dressage training and learned how to ride on contact. By dropping the contact and having no response, and holding too tight and getting annoyed head tossing, and having the immediate responsiveness when I got it right. This provided a more precise feedback on my ability to maintain the contact consistently than a bit did, and I regularly returned to it as a check on me. I tended to use it more in the winter to avoid using the cold bit. It didn’t make any difference to my ride as my horse was just as responsive once he understood the aids just as he’d had to learn what the bit meant. At that point the hackamore felt identical to the bit in terms of how I used my hands and fingers.
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