AppyLover1996
Well-Known Member
Hi Guys,
I'm continuing to refresh my memory on training a young horse and prepping for their first ride - one thing I am adamant on is that I want to start Rabbit in a bitless bridle of some sort. This is because I would like him to be soft as possible in his mind and body before I go popping a bit in his mouth, and I figured that a bitless bridle of some sorts would do the trick nicely without blurring the lines too much. Also, I figured that the first 2 ish years of riding him there will be moments where he's gonna spook and be a bit jumpy as is life with a freshly backed young horse (you can prep them as much as you like but inevitably something will crop up that you can't/haven't planned for!) - that leads to the potential to accidentally catch him in the mouth, which is something I wish to avoid as much as possible.
Furthermore, I don't have any aspirations to compete so I might never actually get around to mouthing him and riding him with a bit - my general plan is hours exploring the hacking that I have with as little tack as possible, so I figured that it would be nice for Rabbit to be able to grab a snack/drink whenever he wants to and not have to deal with negotiating food around a metal bit
He's not mega sensitive in that he will take a correction nicely and move on (for example the other day I was working on getting him to stand ground tied and when he took a step forwards without asking, prompting me to ask him to go back to where I placed him, he did so nicely and politely without any attitude/ reluctance. We continued the session for a few more moments and he didn't hold a grudge so I gave him lots of praise and left it there for the day), however he is also the sort of horse who will quite easily learn bad habits... he's learnt that my dear Mum is a slight pushover and he will be a bit bargy on the ground occasionally if she is leading him for example - so I'm keen for each experience to be as pleasant as possible. I understand that not everything will be sunshine, unicorns and rainbows when training horses, but I like to make things as pleasant as they can be for everyone involved.
With that in mind I've settled on using a Parelli style hackamore (before anyone jumps on me - please don't - I don't train with Parelli as I use different horsemanship methods etc, but I find that their hackamore is the best suited for what I want to do) and I was wondering if anyone had any experience training in a similar style bitless bridle? I've watched the Pat Parelli video on him describing the hackamore and at one point he calls it a bosal before then saying that the bosal is the name of the nosepiece, and it has to be made out of natural materials in order to be called that - but then carries on calling it a hackamore which is a bit confusing - but that's a thread for another day aha!
After all the hints and tips that I can get - so lay it on me - the good, the bad and the ugly
I'm not opposed to trying other styles of bitless bridles, so if anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them too 
Hoping my I.T skills are up to scratch and I've managed to successfully link a picture of the Parelli style hackamore that I am talking about
I'm continuing to refresh my memory on training a young horse and prepping for their first ride - one thing I am adamant on is that I want to start Rabbit in a bitless bridle of some sort. This is because I would like him to be soft as possible in his mind and body before I go popping a bit in his mouth, and I figured that a bitless bridle of some sorts would do the trick nicely without blurring the lines too much. Also, I figured that the first 2 ish years of riding him there will be moments where he's gonna spook and be a bit jumpy as is life with a freshly backed young horse (you can prep them as much as you like but inevitably something will crop up that you can't/haven't planned for!) - that leads to the potential to accidentally catch him in the mouth, which is something I wish to avoid as much as possible.
Furthermore, I don't have any aspirations to compete so I might never actually get around to mouthing him and riding him with a bit - my general plan is hours exploring the hacking that I have with as little tack as possible, so I figured that it would be nice for Rabbit to be able to grab a snack/drink whenever he wants to and not have to deal with negotiating food around a metal bit
He's not mega sensitive in that he will take a correction nicely and move on (for example the other day I was working on getting him to stand ground tied and when he took a step forwards without asking, prompting me to ask him to go back to where I placed him, he did so nicely and politely without any attitude/ reluctance. We continued the session for a few more moments and he didn't hold a grudge so I gave him lots of praise and left it there for the day), however he is also the sort of horse who will quite easily learn bad habits... he's learnt that my dear Mum is a slight pushover and he will be a bit bargy on the ground occasionally if she is leading him for example - so I'm keen for each experience to be as pleasant as possible. I understand that not everything will be sunshine, unicorns and rainbows when training horses, but I like to make things as pleasant as they can be for everyone involved.
With that in mind I've settled on using a Parelli style hackamore (before anyone jumps on me - please don't - I don't train with Parelli as I use different horsemanship methods etc, but I find that their hackamore is the best suited for what I want to do) and I was wondering if anyone had any experience training in a similar style bitless bridle? I've watched the Pat Parelli video on him describing the hackamore and at one point he calls it a bosal before then saying that the bosal is the name of the nosepiece, and it has to be made out of natural materials in order to be called that - but then carries on calling it a hackamore which is a bit confusing - but that's a thread for another day aha!
After all the hints and tips that I can get - so lay it on me - the good, the bad and the ugly
I'm not opposed to trying other styles of bitless bridles, so if anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them too Hoping my I.T skills are up to scratch and I've managed to successfully link a picture of the Parelli style hackamore that I am talking about