The latest craze sweeping the horse world is riding without a bit in the horse’s mouth.
 I must say I have been caught up in this one as well. It seems to go so well with shoeless hooves and treeless saddles.

 My quest for a happier horse started 6 years ago when the horse I had ‘waited all my life for’ was finally ready to be backed.
 He had turned 4 and my plan was to get him used to the bridle and saddle then climb aboard, have my husband lead me around while on the horse then progress to some short walks to make sure the steering and brakes were functioning correctly, then turn the horse out for another 6 months till summer rolled around again.
 Naturally this didn’t all happen in one day but over a period of several months, going at the horses pace, not mine.
 Only 2 things were different with Connor, when compared to other horses I had started, he didn’t like his ears being touched. No problem, I just dismantled the bridle every time I put it on until he became more familiar with things round his ears.
 I didn't know why he became so evasive when I tried to touch his ears but I knew he hadn’t been hit around the head because I bred him and was the only person to ever handle him.
 Everywhere else he was fine but he had hypersensitive ears.
 The other noticeable difference was he didn’t want to take even the lightest contact with the bit. He didn’t get hysterical or dangerous; he just came behind or slightly above the contact.
 I thought with time we would work through it, I had never had a problem schooling horses to ‘accept’ the bit before.
 Over the next few years I went through a long drawn out process to find a bit he was more accepting of. As well as the previously mentioned issues he also salivated excessively, snorted, coughed and continually tried to rub his face on his leg when he had a bit in his mouth.
These problems were greatly reduced when he was ridden in a Myler Comfort Snaffle. He was now able to swallow so the saliva and coughing problems became almost non-existent. He was far happier in the Myler bit than anything else until I tried a Bitless Bridle I had seen at Equitana.
 This would be the real turning point for Connor as far as his head sensitivity was concerned.
He loves his bitless bridle.
 We can jump, hack, school, trek and gallop in it with complete control.
He is more relaxed and moves forward with better rhythm than before.
 I started schooling him over jumps in his bitless bridle.
 I had never jumped him before and I partly attribute his confidence and expression when jumping to the fact that he has never been jabbed in the mouth when I get left behind as he jumps 3 times higher and further than he needs to.

 


 I ride my other horses in the bitless bridle as well and they all respond really well to it.
 One of my ‘less sensitive’ horses did take 2 rides before he ‘tuned in’ to the bitless bridle and became more responsive.
James appreciates not having a bit in his mouth too.
The first time I rode him I used a bit and he demonstrated a lot of residual biting issues from his years as a racehorse, eventer and dressage horse.
The next time I rode him I used the bitless bridle and he was extremely grateful not to have metal in his mouth!
 I have noticed with my horses that each horse needs the bitless bridle adjusted a little differently.
 Connor the hypersensitive one responds best to the noseband part not too low and not too high on his nose, with the noseband buckled as loosely as I can get it, the last hole.
 James the new horse responded far better to the noseband part being low and snug-not tight, they still have to be able to open their mouth and move their tongue and jaw to swallow.
The others were somewhere in between the 2 extremes.
The type of bitless bridle I use is based on the Dr. Cook style one but with rope crossovers under the jaw instead of leather.
I decided to go with this variation because I knew Connor would prefer the extra ‘release’ the rope would have over leather. It also has the added bonus of being able to be used as a head collar when you clip a lead rope to the 2 rings that go to the reins and the 3rd ring under the jaw.
                                                      Connor - Peggy Cummings Connected Riding Clinic Dec 09

I haven’t seen any bridle like this for sale in NZ and the company selling them at Equitana doesn’t seem to supply them anymore so at this stage the only option for other people is to take head measurements of your horse and print out the photo of James or Connor and find a saddler near you that can make a copy.
Jasmine is a new addition to the herd and had previously been ridden in a hackamore. She tended to walk straight through the Dr. Cook style bridle so I tried her in a rather robust version of a Side pull that a friend of mine had. With a little modification to make the bridle work for her and a cover over the rope noseband area she is responding really well and I certainly don’t have to resort to a bit for control of this very ‘forward’ mare.