Who rides bitless?

I do and love it. I've got a ? figure 8 one - crosses under his jaw. Same control as a bit - so far! His ears don't go back when he sees it coming either, which they do when I appear with the bitted one.
 
I do, frequently. I break youngsters in bitless initially, before moving on to a snaffle when their steering and brakes are well established.
I also revert to bitless when dealing with strong or bracey horses, as they are usually completely different once you remove the bit.

I'm currently bringing on a three year old who I will hopefully have the rest of her life, and I don't intend to bit her for many more years.
 
I should add that I don't use a bit anymore now. I read the stuff produced by Dr Cook and can't bear the thought that I may be inflicting pain on him. Horses are very stoic and put up with lots without complaint.
 
I ride bitless!! :D

Made the very easy transition in December and haven't looked back :) I ride my exracer in a sidepull (basically a headcollar) and he goes lovely. Today he even schooled in an outline.. for about 30 seconds but still :) Control is fab too. Took a while for me to learn to use my body and legs more but now he stops when I breathe out and lean back and turns just off a light nudge of my leg.

I think bitless is underrated and too many people are too closed minded about it. You don't need to inflict pain on a horse for it to do what you want it too!
 
I have ridden my mare bitless since she was 5.
Have tried her in a bit recently but she's so much happier without that I've gone back to that.
Not really sure why I decided to try a bit again :confused:
 
I do. My 2 endurance Arab's (now retired veterans) have never been bitted, I did western, show jumping and Endurance with them in a Monty Robert's Dually. My ex racer (also now a retired veteran was also ridden and competed in a Dually. My youngster (just 5) was ridden in an Orbit less until Dec but he out grew the head stall and I don't want to buy a new headpiece until I know he has stopped growing. He is now ridden in a Dually or a rope halter. Today we did the Ride for Life and I used both the rope halter and the Dually (each with a set of thin rope reins). I ride bitless because of my fear of hurting my horses particularly when you have one of those "knee jerk reaction moments" and grab the reins!!! Riding bitless is about trusting each other and must be pressure and release. You get to a point that the pressure is minimal and this is a very heart warming feeling.
 
I've had to go right back to the beginning (basically re-backing, as he had lots of gaps/niggly issues using PNH methods) with my boy and bitting was a nightmare in the past.

Currently riding in a rope halter & can't believe the difference in him :)
 
I used to ride my last TB bitless and he was far better than he was in a bit. I want to take my TB mare bitless, but she can explode for any reason and I don't know if I feel confident enough - although I would long-rein her in it first. I'm tempted to just get one of the cheap ones from ebay first to see whether she is suited to bitless.
 
Me me & we love it ♡♡ best thing ever and wished I did it sooner. Only been init for about 4 weeks, my boy is so much happier.
 
I tried my last horse in a hackamore, but we had steering problems and he strangely enough seemed happier in his snaffle!
My horse now does throw his head up and down sometimes , he is a bit of a head shaker, has improved by not having a noseband!
I do wonder about trying him bitless, but I am a bit apprehensive about it as he can be very unpredictable out on the road, so I do worry that I will be able to control him, if he throws one of his wobblys!!!!
 
I ride a 16:3hh heavyweight Irish Draught mare bitless because she hates metal in her mouth. I use a Dr Cook's. She stops on a sixpence, schools, jumps does whatever, pain free and much more relaxed. Have recently taken her shoes off to be an iron free horse. The problem - you can't compete because of people's narrow minds. Not allowed in dressage, yet isn't that supposed to be about rider & horse in harmony? I wish BD and BE and all of the other societies etc would allow bitless and barefoot horses to compete. Perhaps they are worried we might actually do better than with all the gadgetry some folks use. I also ride my other horse with a bit if necessary but at home or hacking bitless every time. Go bitless and feel the freedom of a truly happy horse. :)
 
All og my horses are bitless, my youngster (riding 6 year old) and old girl that I backed (21 year old Welsh D) have never had bits in theri mouth :) I also make various styles of bitless bridle.
 
I have just started using a rope halter on the appy, he gets sunburn and sore mouth in the summer.

We have turning issues and we can sort of stop with just a squeeze of my knees but I haven't hacked him off the yard fields in it yet as am still getting used to the way we both work in it.
 
Back in the olden days :D when I learned to ride, I was taught you never used a piece of tack you didn't need. So unless you needed it, you didn't use a martingale. Unless you needed it, you didn't use a drop noseband. Unless you needed it, you didn't use a Dutch gag.

I grew up, got my own horse, took off the martingale, the drop noseband... and then I got to thinking :D

So he's been ridden bitless since he came to me as a baby horse (aged 4) and I haven't needed a bit yet ;)

We have also experimented on whether we need the saddle and bridle, and concluded that yes, outside of the field, we do :) So I'm still using them...
 
Brightbay said:
Back in the olden days :D when I learned to ride, I was taught you never used a piece of tack you didn't need. So unless you needed it, you didn't use a martingale. Unless you needed it, you didn't use a drop noseband. Unless you needed it, you didn't use a Dutch gag.

I grew up, got my own horse, took off the martingale, the drop noseband... and then I got to thinking :D

So he's been ridden bitless since he came to me as a baby horse (aged 4) and I haven't needed a bit yet ;)

We have also experimented on whether we need the saddle and bridle, and concluded that yes, outside of the field, we do :) So I'm still using them...
Click to expand...

:D:D Love it!
 
Yay, rode my last share horse in a dr cook bitless, v forward going Arab, she went lovely in it, nice loose reins minimal interference. I shall start my youngster bitless, possibly with the dually as will be long lining her in this next year. Was great to see so many international show jumpers at Hickstead yesterday in their hackamores, the horses had nice still heads and were not fighting it.
 
Littleblackmule - there's always the close contact 'saddle' just stirrups and girth set up, might be worth looking into, next step up from bareback.
 
im tempted to try bitless but im very nervous i wont have brakes! my horse gets very fast and strong when we hack with lots of people -do you think he can be stopped in a bitless? hes 20 and has a very hard mouth so is quite strongly bitted at the minute, what do you think?
 
I ride bitless and bitted. Old boy seems to prefer what he's used to, so he wears a bit. The mare I started myself goes everywhere in a rope halter. She's always seemed unhappy about bits. Arab boy goes in a rope halter, a bit or in a bosal. I'm still trying to work out what seems best in his case.
Tip for bitless - work on flexion. Including a "soft feel in the neck from self-carriage. Also practise hindquarter and front yields. The better these get I reckon the more you feel in control.
 
I do.. I took the bits away from my novice BD horse, my retired SJ and my (backed and ridden by me) adult Clevelands due to lack of necessity.. It made a big positive difference to the two competition horses ways of going..

My young Clevelands are being bitted this summer but will be backed and ridden away bitless initially..

However as they will be competed, they'll need to work with a bit for DR and showing, so will learn that too..

I hack bitless though..

It's all about having a tool box from different schools of thought, for me, and picking and choosing what's best for a particular horse by listening to that horse and applying what I've learned over the decades and continue to learn..
 
archiepoo - I'm sure everyone can relate to these concerns but really a bit is just a false sense of security and the harder it is used the more the horse will want to run away from the pain. Any horse will need to be trained to respond to the lightest of pressure first. I'd recommend doing some ground work first with a training halter, getting them responsive from voice and then progressing to long lining and then under saddle in an enclosed area to start with. If they are excitable hacking with other horses that's a separate issue that needs to be worked on.
 
Yep see if you can borrow one, the matrix is a bitless that you can adjust to use as a side pull or a head hugger (cross under like dr cook) depends what your horse prefers. Then there's the micklem so you can ride with both a bit and bitless, so if you were hacking out and feel you needed the bit it would be there. See if you can hire the matrix maybe.
 
Then of course there's the dually which you can buy with the training DVD. I've yet to try it but I'm going on a training course shortly and will get a chance to test run it then.
 
I tried my boy in my old hackamore today, just for a ride out down the lane and back, kept my hands really light, so he didn,t even feel any pressure,but he did not like it, was tossing his head about!
Unfortunately I don,t think he likes anything on his nose, might try a different type when the pollen season is over!
 
I've ridden bitless for quite a few years its an imitation dr cooks and my horse goes very well in it, I went bit less because someone took my mare of the yard and cut the corners of her mouth (still don't know who took her :-( )and I still wanted to ride. Tried bitless and have never looked back. I must admit i'm not brave enough to hunt with one but sj, xc etc I ride bitless.
 
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