Nurtural and Dr Cook bridles

[michellev123]

Does anyone use either of the above?

I was considering starting my youngster bitless but dont have any experiance with it.

Any experiances good or bad would be appreciated. It is just a thought atm but would like all the info I can find about them so any websites etc also appreciated




Thanks

 

[tas55]

Hi

I used something similar to a Dr Cook on a young TB I had.
Due to breaking her jaw as a real baby she was very hard to bit. She would display all sorts of aerial stunts and in desperation I turned to a bitless.

Never had an issue with her again. We had enough Control to jump and ride out. I never felt that she ran through the bridle at all.

However, I do dressage and am not allowed to Compete bitless so that was a real downer for me.


I had one of these:
http://www.nobitbridles.com/

 

[Jennyharvey]

Ive used the Dr Cooks bridle. Its quite a good ridle, it gives good stopping and turning signals. But some horses dont like the feeling of it hugging the head. I have one horse who likes it, another who hates it. Has to change it before she went nuts.

I start all my horses in a rope halter. I do a lot of groundwork with my horses, flagwork, stuff like that. I teach them things that they need to be able to do when im riding. I teach them to bend their necks, so that when im on them, they already know how to steer. I dont like long reining in bitless bridles, because you cant be as soft with your hands. It can sometimes encourage the horse to lean on your hands. Thats why i like ground work, so i can teach the horse to be light in my hands.

If you can find someone who does natural horsemanship, maybe a silversands trainer or parelli, as they should be able to teach the hose to be light, o teach you to teach the horse to be light.

If you dont want to go down the NH route, maybe get an instructor who is familliar with teaching the horse bitless. I think that the more you learn about something, the better you can do it.
Also google it, as im sure there are plenty of sites that can tell you much more.

If you want to know some good exercises for starting a horse bitless in a halter, feel free to pm me. I think that if taught well in a halter, they can go very well in other bridles, whether bitless or bitted.

Ps, maybe look into a sidepull bridle. They only apply pressure to the nose when the reins are used, they dont tighten around the head at all. I quite like them as they work similarly to a halter.
http://www.longridersgear.com/catalog/images/RJ-Sidepull.jpg Something similar to this bridle.

 

[Oberon]

I broke in and rode away my draft horse in a Dr Cooks. Never had a problem except him leaning on me. That was my own failing tho!

I use an s hackamore now as he can be strong.

I had an instructor who insisted I use a bit for her to teach me. Fell off horse twice bitted, found him tense and spooky.

I still introduced the bit as a two year old while playing with bits of equipment but we both prefer bitless.

My old Arab hates a any type of poll pressure so he is happy bitted. None of this newfangled stuff for him!

 

[bitlessbill]

I started my youngster in a Dr Cooks, then changed to a Nutural because I prefered the Circle X. He was bitless for the first year but when it came to proper schooling my instructor advised a bit. Now he's nearly 7 and he will happily go in either but I tend to use the bit for showing and serious stuff and hack him out in the bitless.

 

[Mari]

I use a bit & a Dr Cook bridle on my horse. He doesn't lean & isn't strong with either but with a bit, any bit & I have tried all sorts of different bits, he sticks his tongue out to the left. With the Dr Cook he never sticks his tongue out. I can do everything with the Dr Cook that I can do with the bit but the Dr Cook has made me be softer in the hand & give very clear hand aids. It doesn't suit every horse, just like the same bit doesn't suit every horse, my horse was 10 yrs old before I tried him in a bitless Dr Cook bridle. I sometimes compete HC unaffiliated in the Dr Cook & we would have always been in the top 3 had Dr Cook been a permitted bridle.

 

[Tinypony]

Personally I'm not keen on Dr Cooks because I don't think they release well. Are you planning to get some help with starting your youngster, because the person helping you may have some preference.
I see that one of the options suggested is a Silversand associate. Just bear in mind if you go that route that we don't aim to just ride bitless, the rope halter is just the start of the process. Normally the young horse would progress to some sort of simple bit. Also they would probably not use a Dr Cook, but by preference go for a rope halter. I'm afraid there isn't an associate near to you in Suffolk though.
I would start a youngster in a rope halter, it's much easier than people think, but if you're new to this I recommend that you learn the process with an older experienced horse first.