Going bitless, tips please.

ycbm said:
I've never found a bit which will stop Ludo's chomping, I've tried practically everything. The best I can do is the Bomber Happy Tongue, but even then he's busy messing with it. I've always thought he was a horse who should be bitless. Then it hit me yesterday watching him worked in hand in a string halter with a totally relaxed closed mouth that I don't plan ever to compete again and there's no reason not to go bitless.

I have almost no experience of bitless. Where would you start? I'm hoping to use my Micklem, but maybe that's not the right bridle?

All advice welcome.
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My cousin decided to ride bitless, she used her Micklem bridle without any problems. Like yourself, she was very light in the hands regarding contact. He was 24 and blind, so only did light work with him
 
I'm going to try the Micklem this week and compare it with a pretty purple colour flower that I've got cheap off ebay coming later in the week. Then other options if neither if those are approved of by his highness. I don't want to go back to a standard throatlash, I think they are a bad design and I want the stability of the strap below the jowls. I think I've worked out a way to fit the flower on a Micklem, we'll see when it arrives.

Thanks everyone, this is fun! I'll report back when we've had a play.
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Well that was interesting! I set up a Micklem like BB's picture above and went in our normal 40x40 to try it. I was very surprised to find that in my hands it felt very little different from a bit except that he wasn't constantly messing with the contact.

He stopped, started, turned, half halted exactly as normal. We did all three paces , some shoulder in and leg yield, serpentines and reducing and increasing circles.

I would say it really exposed the moments when he wasn't properly bending through the body and it was clearer when he was dropping onto his forehand and losing balance because of the amount he would lean on it if not corrected.

He swishes his tail when unbalanced and corrected using a bit, and there was a lot less tail swishing going on. I saw him in the mirrors licking and chewing once but it seemed to be submission, not tension. Other than that I think his mouth was shut the whole time.

When the reins were released completely he dropped his head and neck immediately into a free walk. It would be more normal for that to happen more gradually.

I got some glimpses of how he might react to poll pressure, shaking his ears if a rein aid happened to move the headpiece a bit. I doubt if I'll be going down that route, partly because it seems at the moment to be completely unnecessary.

I won't be hacking out like it tomorrow, but I'd be surprised if I'm not hacking out bitless by the middle of February (edited, had no idea how close to the end of January we were! ).
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I have both of mine in English hackamores for hacking, in case we need a little more in the way of brakes, and Transcends for school work. I have both the simple and the double - the double is really clever because you can use it in several different ways. Also a lovely looking bridle.
I did try my mare in a sidepull early on and she just hated it; she took to the English hackamore the first time she had it on - she seems to dislike the squeeze.
 
I have a cob with a low palate and Giant tounge. I've tried everything and whilst she behaves she sticks her tounge out occasionally and drops her head right to the ground too, she's obviously uncomfortable.

Best bit I found (and I went through the whole of the bit bank!) was a beris konex soft port straight bar. Quite cheap if you want to give another bit a try.

I've got a micklem multi bridle. It has 3 different bitless modes and the only acceptable one imo is the side pull. The 2nd tightens around the nose but is very slow to release and the 3rd is a cross under which really doesn't release at all.

I def wouldn't recommend a micklem past use as a side pull. Buy a proper bitless bridle. To me the transcend is 'the best' but you need to train your horse properly with weight aids so you can use the bridle for cues not control. The lite ride is a similar budget design.

If you need the bridle for control you'll need to experiment to see what type of pressure your horse likes best.
 
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