Jumping bitless

[Flowerofthefen]

My horse has a very sensitive mouth. We are doing well in dressage, I can keep my hands still and use my seat. My problem is jumping. He is an ex national hunt and likes to take on his fences. Unf8i hold him a litt8too much resulting in head tossing. I know I need to ride more from my core but I'm failing miserably!! I thought perhaps trying bitless might help the head tossing? Nothing wrong with horse it is a contact issue.

 

[Red-1]

I would perhaps leave him in the bridle he is trained to and happy with, but stabilise your hands using a neck strap for jumping?

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I do use my neck strap but feel then I have no control. Bridging my reins helps but he is so soft mouthed even the lightest touch can cause a head toss. I know it's me as a professional has jumped him and he was a completely different horse. She rode from her seat. He loved it. It was just an idea to see if would help with a bit of confidence then change back to a bridle

 

[Mynstrel]

My husband went bitless with our tb and he was a different horse. We decided in the end that as he'd been ragged round over a big jump by kids as a youngster they must have made his mouth mega sensitive. He tried bitless in desparation after nothing else helped, never looked back and qualified for various finals. Interestingly he was a totally different horse in the stable too, when he'd been bitted he was always mauling at you when you went in with him (not biting just mouthing and wouldn't leave you alone). After he took the bit away all that stopped too and he was generally happier and more relaxed.

 

[Sleipnir]

Give it a try. A properly chosen and fitted bitless bridle can be a great tool for the right horses (and, with some additional training, almost all of them are the right horses ) in the right hands.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

What sort of bitless should I try first? The idea of bitless was of a fb post I saw earlier of a lady xc with her tb. She just used a Micklem without the bit.

 

[Sleipnir]

When I'm in the mood for bitless, I ride (jumping, dressage, fast hacking) and drive in an Orbitless. I love how adjustable it is - you can choose between several hackamore settings or a simple sidepull just by switching the position of the reins. My big lad agrees with this bridle and I also like that it's made in the UK and the lady who makes and sells them is super helpful.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Mynstrel what bitless did you use??

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I have a Kieffer Kendra bitless bridle. It is a plain but nice quality bridle. Horse I use it on does not jump. I use it for hacking and flatwork. I wanted to start with the most gentle straight forward option first, which I think is sidepull. However, bitless bridles aren't as kind as they're made out to be in some cases, they too are about the hands that use them. You can do damage in them too, especially if you use too much pressure.

You could go bitless, but it sounds like you have a fundamental riding issue that you need to sort out. I think sorting that out will make your horse happier and you a better rider in the long run. It's hard fixing habits and whatnot, but worth it.

You may feel as though you have no control with the neck strap, but that might be fine. Especially if you are micromanaging the horse via the reins. Sometimes you have to go to the extreme opposite to break a deep habit.

IME the sidepull also really made me aware of riding off of my body (dressage work). I have to really ride this horse with my body and be attentive anyway. So if you already have issues with that, the bitless may highlight them even more, just in a different way, perhaps.

 

[Mynstrel]

Our lad had an english hackamore with a sheepskin noseband and he was happy enough with that. We tried a cross under with our other horse who can't have a bit and although that was ok to begin with it began to feel like stopping was optional after a while. She has a little s hackamore now which works really well but she doesn't jump any more.

 

[pansymouse]

I do everything including jumping in an English hackamore without any issues. She's much happier bitless so I got used it it for her sake.