Dr Cook bitless bridle

[Troggy]

what are people's opinions/experiences of these?

 

[dwi]

If you do a search on this people have posted lots about this in the past

I have one and love it for hacking because she can't evade it like she could the bit. Judging by comments on here though they don't work for everyone.

I would say get one on the free trial and make your own mind up. In the same way that all horses go in different bits, bitless goes well for some people but not everyone

 

[Troggy]

Thank you, have had a look and it's certainly divided. What concerned me was the link with Dr Strasser! (They co wrote a book!).
It's not something I am looking into at the moment, but it came up in a search when looking up about headshaking.
Thanks

 

[gladelpone]

I have had one for about 2 months and love it! My mares stride is much longer, she doesnt drag her hind legs and coughing whilst being ridden has also stopped! Havent taken her xcountry yet, could be quite exciting!

 

[kcgibson]

i really liked the idea of bitless bridles so i tried my horse in one. he went really well at first but once he realised it wasnt that strong, he started to take the piss a bit!! its great for hacking (its fine when im walking) but it trot and canter i find it quite difficult to stop!! gonna go back to normal bridle and bit but i'd say def give it a go cos my horse seemed really happy in it- i just didnt have enough control! someone gave me the idea of riding in both bridles at first (remove the noseband from your normal bridle tho) and have two sets of reins. that way you have the bit if you need it and you can feel quite safe when doing faster work. as said earlier, not all horses go well in them. good luck!!

 

[mad_egg]

My friend's TBx bolted in one of these, when he's normally fine to stop in a bit. She was incredibly shaken at the lack of brakes and from this experience alone I wouldn't recommend. However there seems to be lots of positive comments on their website (surprise, surprise huh?) so it may be worth a try in a safe environment i.e. the school.

obviously different bits/bridles suit different horses though.

one last thing - if your horse is going fine in his current bridle/bit I'd suggest not changing from simply looking at their very anti-bit website, as with soft hands and correct training horses do accept bits very well.

 

[Troggy]

Thanks all, at the moment I am not looking to changing, it's just because it came up when looking up about head shaking
Thanks for your opinions

 

[Eceni]

Bear in mind that there are a number of makes of bitless bridles and not all of them are based on the cross-over principle. If you're going for one, it's worth shopping around.

Eceni