Part 4: Selecting and Introducing Bitless Bridles

The final article in the series on the Bitless Bridles attempts to describe some of the factors involved in choosing a bitless bridle and how to introduce bitless bridles.

Selecting a Bridle

The different types of bitless bridles available today is constantly increasing and with the variety of different actions they can have on the horse as described in Part 3, choosing which bitless bridle would be the most appropriate can be confusing.

To help in the decision making process I have developed a questionnaire to look at the different factors involved. These can be categorised into Activities, Horse Characteristics, Current Bridle and Behaviour, Training and Experience and Rider Characteristics.

Activities – What activities you and your horse participate in can influence which bitless bridle is most appropriate. Most bitless bridles are suitable for hacking and general riding. However if dressage is your main activity, unless your horse is well schooled with a good degree of self carriage a rope hackamore or other light bridle is not the most helpful whereas an LG bridle or sidepull may be more suitable. Those who participate in cross country and jumping may find the crossunder bridles the best choice.

Horse Characteristics – The factors which can influence bitless bridle choice in this category are the horse’s sensitivity, confidence and how forward going they are. These are all rated 1-5 to with 1 the weakest and 5 the strongest rating for that characteristic.

Horses who are very forward going often respond well to crossunder bridles or hackamores. A horse that is not forward going may find a hackamore too strong and need something milder.

A confident horse will probably accept any bridle equally well whereas a horse that lacks confidence would more likely prefer the support of the LG, crossunders or a well fitting sidepull.

Sensitivity is an interesting characteristic. More and more often it is common for very sensitive horses to dislike the feeling of anything tightening around the head. For these types of horses, sidepulls or mild rope bridles are usually more easily accepted than crossunders or Indian bosals.

Current Bridle and Behaviour – One of the considerations taken into account is which bridle or bit the horse is currently using, if they show signs of bit discomfort and what those signs are. Possible signs could include headshaking, putting the tongue over the bit, teeth grinding and sticking the tongue out. Other behaviours which have been documented as reduced or eliminated with use of bitless bridles are also noted. These include bucking, rearing, napping and biting. This information helps to give an overall to give an overall picture of the horse’s reactions and responses.

Training and experience – What level of training the horse is working at and if the horse has been previously ridden in a bitless bridle are also considered. Horses which have had some experience of Natural Horsemanship techniques often understand the concept of pressure and release which is a main feature of most bitless bridles. It is common for followers of Natural Horsemanship to use rope hackamores as this is an extension of the rope halters used in training. Young horses with little training or experience usually prefer a more stable and supportive bridle than horses where the training is well established.

Rider Characteristics – Experience and confidence are the main factors which can affect bitless bridle choice. An inexperienced or unconfident rider will probably not be comfortable with a rope hackamore or mild bridle and may prefer the stability and control of a more supportive bridle.

Some riders perceive that using a bitless bridle will result in a loss of control and this can be a daunting experience. One way to overcome this is to ride with a bitless bridle underneath a bitted bridle and gradually use the bitless bridle more and more until they feel confident enough to remove the bitted bridle completely.

All of the factors have been considered individually here in order to explain them, but it is the combination of these factors which gives the overall picture and formulates which are the most appropriate bitless bridle styles. It should be remembered however that there are no hard and fast rules and every horse is an individual. The examples given here are only indications of typical horse’s reactions and provide a starting point for people wishing to explore bitless bridles further. Paying attention to your horse’s reactions will help you decide if a bridle is suitable or otherwise.

Introducing a Bitless Bridle

It is advisable to introduce the bridle through groundwork, preferably in an enclosed space, at first to familiarise the horse to the action of the bridle. Some horses accept them straight away with no trouble while with others it takes a little longer for them to be comfortable.

Fit the bridle according to the fitting instructions making sure everything is comfortable for the horse.

Start by standing next to the horse’s left shoulder, pick up the left rein and ask the horse to flex their head to the left. As soon as the horse shows the slightest movement, release and praise. Gradually increase this until they bring their head round to you, remember to praise and keep the aids as light as possible. Repeat on the right hand side.

By doing this exercise not only have you familiarised the horse to the lateral action of the bridle but have also started to teach the one rein emergency stop which is a very useful tool for all bridles but an essential one for rope hackamores.

Next progress to long reining in the bitless bridle, use lots of turns, circles and transitions. You could also incorporate polework, a slalom of poles or small jumps to test the turns, transitions and to make it a more interesting experience. Continue with this stage until the horse is happy and confident with the bridle before progressing to ridden work.

When riding in a bitless bridle for the first time, again use turns, circles and transitions in an enclosed space until you and the horse are confident before progressing to hacking, jumping or faster work

© W Wainwright

This article was first published in Natural Horsemanship magazine, Apr /May 2008 issue

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