Starting a horse bridleless?

[rallan15]

I was thinking of starting to ride my 5 year old gelding bridleless. Has anyone done this before or have any tips/tricks that could help? His main aids are leg and voice and he hardly needs the reins etc but I don't know how he'll respond to being bitless as he can push his luck a bit!1

 

[Cortez]

Do you mean bitless or bridleless, as they are two very different things? I would suggest you find someone who trains stunt trick horses and ask them, you will save yourself a whole world of trial and error (mostly error....).

 

[rallan15]

Do you mean bitless or bridleless, as they are two very different things? I would suggest you find someone who trains stunt trick horses and ask them, you will save yourself a whole world of trial and error (mostly error....).

I mean bridleless which obviously means bitless too.

 

[Cortez]

I mean bridleless which obviously means bitless too.

Talk to a stunt horsemaster, they can help you (whether they will or not is another thing; they tend not to like talking to "civilians")..

 

[Paint it Lucky]

Try riding in a neckstrap, with a bridle initially but trying not to use the bridle, use all your other aids instead! Then when you feel he is happy take the bridle off and see how it goes. Start somewhere enclosed and start slow. It's certainly a good test.

 

[BBP]

I ride mine bridleless...now, I wasn't brave enough when he was 5, he was nuts! I guess put very simply I started with a normal bridle doing normal riding, then made sure he would neck rein perfectly. Then he went bitless into a sidepull (not because i wanted to ride bridleless, I just couldn't find a bit he liked and he went so well bitless). I then added a cordeo/neck rope and would hold that as well as his reins when riding in the arena. So every neck rein cue I was doing with the neck rope as well. i use my legs and seat to turn anyway but the neck rein gives an extra bit of clarity. Then I worked on just using the neck rope but with the bridle still on, so I could correct him with a clear cue that he understood if he went wrong. Gradually that has progressed to going with the neck rope alone. He will also steer without the neckrope just with a hand on either side of the wither and my legs/voice/seat but the neck rope is much clearer for him. I do reward the good things, with a scratch and a word, or with a treat if he has done something really good, and I trained the whoa with a treat as an emergency measure! This week we have been practicing trec and archery without a bridle! He has been cantering bending poles and 'maypoles', cantering figure of 8s with simple changes, doing rein back, side pass along a pole, all in a big field instead of the arena, all that sort of stuff that tests that its not all just coincidence! You can see its a lot for him to think about and we aren't quite there yet as his ears are back a lot thinking to himself that I have lost my mind! Its a nice little challenge to add to your other ridden and in hand work, but i would say don't rush it or set your expectations too high and expect him to get it straight away. (A few photos of us messing around, taken by my partner)

 

[Orangehorse]

In the ABC of Breaking, Josephine Knowles broke in ponies using a nose band attached to the reins, to keep the pony's mouth soft for young riders.

Western horses are ridden in a bosal, and other countries have various bitless arrangements. I have a stiff rope circle that I have used in the school which worked perfectly, including jumping, changes of direction, halt. However, this was in an enclosed area. Countries where I have ridden bitless have been in wide open spaces where there was no traffic to get mixed up with and generally a huge long beach or miles of prarie ending in mountains, so plenty of space to run out of puff.

 

[Equi]

whats the point? Genuinely want to know. All that can be done is "tricks" cause you sure as hell can't go out on the road, or compete.

 

[Shay]

Actually there is a very limited different between bitless and bridleless. Bridleless usually means ridden in a head collar or similar structure - not nothing on the horse's head at all. Depending on fit etc a head collar is in fact only a bridle without the bit! We ride bitless if it suits the horse. And bare back in a headcollar or side pull at least once a week. It improves rider connection to the horse. But we event and hunt so absolutely never would we compete without a bridle (you can't anyway) nor can you legally go on the road. I have had comments that riding without adequate control would invalidate our insurance - and that is probably true. But as long as you stay in an arena at home the risk is negligible. We did think about hunting bareback for charity last year and bottled it. Perhaps next year....

 

[joosie]

We did think about hunting bareback for charity last year and bottled it. Perhaps next year....

Some inspiration for you!

https://horserider.com/index.php?/e...and-national-bitless-and-wait-for-it-bareback

 

[BBP]

whats the point? Genuinely want to know. All that can be done is "tricks" cause you sure as hell can't go out on the road, or compete.

What is the point in riding at all? Or having mini horses that you can't ride? (I'm not trying to be rude, just making a point I hope!) I don't ride to compete and I don't ride just to go on the roads. I ride because I love my horse and playing around with things like bridleless riding challenges me as a rider, how much do I depend on my hands vs my seat and legs, how much subtlety can I get into my ridden work, does the horse go better bridleless, in which case I need to look at why, what are my hands doing that they shouldn't be when I have reins to use. It's all part of the challenge and the joy and the fun of riding, and it takes the pressure off some days. I work on collection, lengthening, lateral work, trec training, jumping, everything that I do with a bridle (except hacking). I'm not saying we are perfect at it yet, but it's another challenge to add to the arsenal!

 

[Equi]

What is the point in riding at all? Or having mini horses that you can't ride? (I'm not trying to be rude, just making a point I hope!) I don't ride to compete and I don't ride just to go on the roads. I ride because I love my horse and playing around with things like bridleless riding challenges me as a rider, how much do I depend on my hands vs my seat and legs, how much subtlety can I get into my ridden work, does the horse go better bridleless, in which case I need to look at why, what are my hands doing that they shouldn't be when I have reins to use. It's all part of the challenge and the joy and the fun of riding, and it takes the pressure off some days. I work on collection, lengthening, lateral work, trec training, jumping, everything that I do with a bridle (except hacking). I'm not saying we are perfect at it yet, but it's another challenge to add to the arsenal!

And i totally get that, but to me thats something to work on with an already very established horse, for fun. Not something to START with..

 

[HashRouge]

I've ridden my mare bridle-less, but this was after years of owning her when we knew each other inside out. Seemed pretty easy at that point just to hop on without a bridle or head collar (or saddle). It was just something I did for a bit of fun, not regularly, but we could walk, trot and canter in the school quite nicely and I once rode her back from the field without anything when I went to fetch her in and realised I'd forgotten her head collar. Just used my belt as a neckstrap and cantered up the hill. Getting on was the hard part!

I like the advice someone gave earlier in the thread about trying bitless first, then dropping the reins and seeing how you go. At least that way you have something to take hold of if it all goes wrong! You may want to wait till the horse is more established though. As others have said you can't hack or compete without a bridle, so it shouldn't really be a main part of your training. And trying it with an unestablished horse who you don't fully trust is likely to be stressful and unproductive!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

And i totally get that, but to me thats something to work on with an already very established horse, for fun. Not something to START with..

well, not necessarily.


OP look up Emma Massingale. Also there are various R+ trainers that ride with a cordeo. as already mentioned, in some countries horses are started off bitless, they then progress to a snaffle and then to a curb. I know a fair few people that start horses off in headcollars or bitless too. It might be different, doesnt make it incorrect. Do bear in mind though that if you ever plan to sell the horse on, its better for him to have an all round education.

 

[joosie]

I think the OP needs to clarify what she means because the initial post is a bit ambiguous. Several people commenting here seem to think she is planning on "starting", as in BREAKING IN, her horse bridle-less... but she says "his main aids are leg and voice and he hardly needs the reins" which to me makes it sound like the horse has been broken in already, and she wants to start introducing bridleless riding into his existing training.

My mare was backed in a Dually halter, and hacked out in it for her first 6 months of work. Then she was introduced to a bit and bridle for schooling. She'd been in work for about a year when I started riding her in a bitless bridle, she's so responsive to weight and voice aids I never really needed a bit to control her, so taking it away was the logical progression - and there was no "transition period" when I made the change, she just "got it" straight away. I mostly ride her in a webbing scawbrig, and she is just so relaxed and responsive when she's bitless, we hack and school and have been to the beach and out showjumping in it, but I still ride her in her snaffle bridle at times because I'd like to do some dressage in the future and it's also useful when a friend wants to ride her but isn't confident riding her in her scawbrig (it does look like a headcollar to be fair). I think that it's good for her to have some variety between the two.
In my experience horses that have done some bitless work - especially if it was introduced in the early stages of their training - tend to have good soft mouths and be light in the hand because they have learned to relax and soften without the distraction of a bit and to tune in more with the rider's other aids.
Certainly for my mare going bitless actually transformed her bitted schooling, she used to be a little wary of the bit and tuck in behind the contact and not want to soften and relax her neck, but when I took her bitless she learned to relax and was then ten times better when the bit was reintroduced.

Sorry but I don't agree with the comments people have made that there's "no point" to riding bridleless because you can't hack or compete without one. Those might be your main or only goals, but they're not everyone's... and it's not like there's a limit to the number of different things people can do with their horse, or on the reasons they want to do them. Maybe OP wants to try bridleless because she thinks it might be fun, or because she'd like to experiment with something new, or because she wants to improve her relationship and/or communication with her horse, or because it's a way to add variety and interest to the horse's workload, or for the sense of achievement when they get it right? There are many ways people get pleasure from their horses and we don't all want the same thing. Just because you don't want to try it doesn't make it "pointless"!

 

[Orangehorse]

I watched a demo once where an eventer was the guinea pig. The horse ended up being ridden with no bridle and a strap around his neck. He did much better work and a perfect halt bridleless.

 

[CrazyMare]

I just took my bridle off one day and carried on my session.

Recently tried a new bit, she hated it so just took bridle off. Rode for a good half hour, schooling figures if 8 with two other horses in the arena!!! No-one really noticed from outside the arena.

I use a rein under the neck and I keep my schooling whip because I have a weak hip so I use it to support that

This video is from when we first started

https://youtu.be/VYvoQiCdiB0

 

[Maybe?]

I'm sure there are many ways but this is what I did with my little mare, we had our first completely tackless ride two days ago and she was fab! Timescale was 3 1/2 hour to 1 hour sessions but she is a very quick learner and she'll already pretty much work off my voice.

All lessons took place in an enclosed sand school.. pretty sure if I'd've been in a field she would've just put her head down to eat!

Session 1

Started with riding in my normal bridle with a neck strap. My first lesson was to teach her to woah when I pulled back on the neck strap, so I would gently pull back on the strap saying 'woah' and then back up with a rein aid. Rinse and repeat a few times and she had picked up that neck strap pulling = woah, and no rein pulling was required!

Lesson two: turning left and right.. Similar to above, pull your neck strap left, back up with left rein if need be, and repeat until she learned that pressure from the strap on the right side of his neck means turn left.. Same but the other way around for turning left!

I did this in walk and then moved up to trot once she's got the idea.

Session 2:

'bridleless riding with a bridle!!! dropped my reins completely and worked with the neckstrap, backing up with a rein aid as a reminder if she didn't quite listen. This is the point that I also tried a canter!

Session 2.5:

When she was doing this all consistently, I just leant over and took her bridle off She was fine!


Final session 3:

Rode bareback with a bridle for ten mins just to get her accustomed to the feel of it w/t/c and then slipped her bridle off and away we went!!


Problems I encountered:

Because I'd taught her to 'woah' and halt so well with the neck strap in walk, the first few times I tried to bring her from trot to walk she did just stop in her tracks, not very easy to sit!

She's only just beginning to trust me to ride her bareback and we did have a few little bucks which were hard to control without a bridle!!

She's also well aware that she *could* take control at any moment, but is happy to play along if there's nothing more interesting to do.. walking next to the hedge for example ended in a brief snack stop, and at one point I did have to jump off quickly and allow her to roll!!!!