Scary experience with bitless bridle

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Simbacat

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So on Thursday I thought I would be brave and try my mare out in my \OH's Dr Cooks bitless bridle. She is very sensitive in the mouth but also very hot ( being an ex polo pony) I ride her in a soft snaffle but thought she was doing so well I would try her bitless - having read so many good experiences on the net, and with hubby saying how well his quite nervy Spanish horse stops with it. So I put it on and tried out turning her head on the ground. I climbed on and off we went. She stopped on a sixpence from a walk, and from a trot. We cantered round on her good leg very quietly and tried to change to her bad leg. Didn't work the first time so tried again and then all I can remember is thinking where is her head as she gave the most almighty buck. I tried to pull her round as she did it again but too late and off I fell.
I got back on and circled her in a walk, then took her back and untacked her, Then I rand hubby and said I think I have fallen off, and why do I have your bridle in my hand?? He said just give the phone to the yard manager. Obviously I did cause next thing I can remember is I am in the ambulance on the way to A& E unable to remember my age LOL! Not a good day.. Anyone else have a bad moment with a bitless bridle> I feel such an idiot!!
 
I ride my mare in a hackamore but have just ordered a Micklem for her as I think they look kinder. I did look at a Dr Cook's but wasn't 100% about the only website I could order it from, so opted for the Micklem. I'm pretty confident that she will be fine in the Micklem as she hasn't objected to the hackamore in any way.
I haven't had a bad experience with her, which is just as well really as she has unresolvable teeth problems and is far too young at 7 to be retired.

Hope you have recovered now :)
 
I event in a hackamore and never had these kind of issues.

I am guessing you didn't have an instructor or experienced friend with you? I am not saying it would have stopped you falling off but bitless bridles are very different and take a bit of getting used to, both for the horse and rider. May I suggest that you have an instructor who knows about them if you try it again?

That said I feel really bad for you, that must have been really scary!?
 
Ouch! Hope you're ok! I have one and use it for one of mine who doesn't really have room for a bit. It's also been fine on my TB, but on some horses you have no brakes with them, and on others they react badly to the compression around their head.

Get well soon!
 
Yikes!! Glad you're, at least comparatively, okay lass. Very scary indeed!


I tried a hackamore on the Dizzy one, or rather my very experienced instructor did (ironically enough, I was off games due to having had a bleed on the brain :cool:). One gentle touch on the rein and Dizz sat on her bum with a most put out look on her face :rolleyes:. Instructor tried a little longer, but the Dizz really was not impressed, so we gave up going the bitless route and now she's happy in a Vulcanite mullen mouth with D rings.
 
Used to ride my nervy, head-flinging-about TB in a hackjamore. Must say never had any problems and she hacked really sweetly in it (I don't school in an arena). Maybe it just surprised your mare a lot to find a different form of restraint. I did take things very slowly with my girl - I think we walked for about 3-4 days and just gradually built up.

Do hope you are OK now - what a shock for you. Take things easily for a bit (you AND your horse). Best wishes for a quick recovery.
 
Yes I'm sure it was a toxic combination of nativity and cockiness on my part that caused it - it was just that she seemed so cool with it all that I went too far! I went down to see her yesterday and got back on with my old faithful snaffle. We rode quietly around the arena and she seemed just as chastened by the whole experience as I am - she was super obedient - no sign of a buck. Shame I've scared myself so badly with it really, the bitless bridle might have suited her - but I don't have the confidence to try again!
 
I use a jointed loose ring snaffle and a hackamore. I've found that I have a lot more control out hacking in the hackamore. We sometimes have a dispute as to when it's time to go home lol. I do prefer the snaffle for schooling in though.
 
A good workman never blames his tools.;) Okay, that's a bit unfair.:) I do think that to blame the bitless for your horse bucking you off is unfair too. It could be coincidence caused by other possibilities. Give the bridle another go, in a safe enclosed area and remember any nerves on your part will affect your horse.:)
 
I used to love riding my now last gelding in his Dr Cooks. Strangely he used to froth at the mouth with this, but never did with a bit!
I found that I had to ride much stronger with my leg and body with it though and could not just rely on my hands as that would cause the compression around the head. I had to be incredibly light with my hands. It's possible that you've just taken the same contact that you would have with a bit, and the restraint around the head has caused him to freak out. Hope you're ok soon!
 
Tried hacking mine out in a hackamore once: we encountered something he didn't like and he predictably napped, and the stupid flippin thing slipped round his face.

Not a good idea!!! Shan't be doing that again.

Some horses are fine with bitless, but personally I don't see the point of doing it just for the sake of it: people have been putting metal in horses' mouths for thousands of years now, and it feels a tad like if it aint broke don't fix it???

Sorry just me being me.
 
I ride YO's in a hackamore quite often as she has an uber sensitive mouth and never had a problem, hack out up the woods in it etc. She does get a bit heavy sometimes but she's only 5 and a bit bum high still.
 
I've been riding my bit hating mare in a hackamore for a week now. She goes just as nicely as she does when she manages to relax with a bit in (which is most of the time now at home but at shows I find she concentrates so much on her bit that it affects her performance quite badly).
Her jumping has improved 100% as shes really looking where she's going instead of panicking at the last minute when a jump 'appears from nowhere'.



However....

I absolutley would not hack her in it because she does have a tendancy to throw in a couple of little bucks when excited. This is all well and good as long as I can get her head up so it doesn't escalate. In the hackamore she can pretty much pull her head as far down as she wants and there's nothing I can do about it (leading to a full on rodeo up the field, launching me into space....) Lesson learnt ;)
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Tried hacking mine out in a hackamore once: we encountered something he didn't like and he predictably napped, and the stupid flippin thing slipped round his face.



Well, even bitless bridles have to be fitted correctly!! And my ponies don't like the cross under Dr. Cooks bridle either, I use a Parelli rope hackamore and I have more control with that than I ever had with a bit......but you can't just put it on and go!! The horse needs to understand about following a feel, and reading your body language, and if your body language keeps changing he hasn't got a chance of understanding it!! So,like everything else changes need to be made gradually, so the horse learns step by step.
As for bits, just because something has been used for 1000 years doesn't make it right!!! And why should a bit, any bit, even the mildest bit, not cause a reaction in the horse that is not good for the horse? Normally when a horse has something in its mouth, it is eating it....that's why saliva forms when a horse has a bit in his mouth. ....And still humans seem to think that a bit controls a horse!! When a horse has to learn what pressure on a bit means......it has taken me 50 years to get a grasp on that principle....!!!
Click to expand...
 
I rode my previous horse in a hackamore for a while as he cut his mouth and couldn't wear a bit. No worries with brakes, steering, etc, but he was unbelievabley spooky out hacking in it. It seemed he took some confidence from his bit, as he was fine when he went back to that. Don't think it was me making him nervous either - I was a gung ho teenager and I don't think it even occured to me to worry! Oh how things change!
 
A friend's pony went mental when tried in a Dr Cook's, I think he just couldn't cope with the pressure-round-the-head idea and flat out bolted round and round the field. Needless to say she still rides him in a bit...........

Like everything, one horse's ideal is another's nightmare. But I would definitely recommend trying a Dr Cook's in an enclosed space, as some horses do seem to freak out at the pressure.
 
I've never liked the Dr Cooks - to me they seem to have every much a possiblity of being harsh as a bitted bridle (the pressure is just in a different place, surely). The cross-under action seems unnecessarily confusing, too. That said, plenty of people do like them!

When I went bitless, I bought a sidepull. The only issue I had was Henry getting used to a noseband again (his bridle didn't have one).

If your mare is going well in her snaffle, though, I don't see the need to change!
 
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