#bitless riding

[capricorncorvette]

Going on summer horse camp again and CANTTT WAITTT

also my mom gave me new riding pants. I appreciate her so much for respecting my horse love. I love my mom ❤️

[track2hack]

26.09.2023

Looking like a dreamboat in his Enzo sidepull 🤤💕

[j0them0971]

Remember the lil tyke? Well... I thought I might integrate him into ETG... so I made a new account and made him!

HES SO CUTE

And here's my avatar on him

I'm riding him bitless for now, and he'll only use one during competitions bc I'm a good horse mom :]

[black-thoroughbred]

Been missing riding a lot recently. Idk why because I haven't ridden in a long time and I'm mostly chill with that. I feel like I struggle with wanting to ride but also not wanting to feel like I'm forcing a horse to do something they aren't happy with. Like there are a few horses at the paddock I'm positive the owners would let me ride but I don't want to do something at their expense just for my own enjoyment...

[islenskihesturinn]

I’ve started riding Fjara to help my dad with her tripping (read: he likes to ride with a long loose rein and Fjara ends up tipping forward).

The first two times we were still getting used to one another, she’s still trying to gauge why the heck I’m asking her for turns and to do a few steps backwards and walk sideways a little.

Today I decided to take a different path around the farm and Fjara was particularly high in her energy, so when we turned to go back her back curled a little and her tempo went up…

And I’m sitting on her all impressed at the energy but also please don’t do a happy buck, I’m still getting used to how different you are from my regular horse 😅

[sfaira]

I hoped to draw something on my vacation but I'm returning so tired from the rides I might not pick up a pencil at all.

My trusty steed for this year is Paco, and I'm super happy to ride him without a bit

[manglechanbluh]

I’ve tried some stuff during my recent Lucky Luke phase, and kind of gave up. But it looks okay so I’m posting it anyways

The first doodle is my revenge on the fact that I never had the chance to braid a horse mane, so Jolly needs an haircut. The second is just him being dramatic and he refuses to move.

[besnouted]

she was so weird and legitimately the perfect horse for me like i always bond more with “flawed” animals or animals that would be considered kind of difficult.. idk if i’ll ever have the chance to even have another horse let alone one that i felt that kind of connection with

[spockular]

lord help me im back on my bullshit (obsessively looking at endurance/trail tack online)

[tailsofredwoodtrails]

Rain or shine we’re here all the time

[quezycoatl]

the equestrian in ME says riding western in a snaffle is perfectly good and valid, and nose bands are good for western horses too because they prevent your horse from breaking his jaw if the rein gets caught on something and pulls his mouth.

In fact, that looks a bit more like a bitless bridle, and they're perfectly valid too, especially if you can ride with your seat and your legs instead of yanking his mouth around.

A++ art, bro! don't let the weird western purists get to you

Applejack (human) and Applejack (horse) studies.

[equestriangypsymonique]

𝒩𝑜 𝒷𝒾����, 𝓃𝑜 𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈—𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓈𝑒 🌬️🐎💫 🪽🪄

[twohorsetackusa]

[j0them0971]

Bombproofing the bitch horse

Also she's calmed down a lot since I last worked with her. Needs more lunging tho

I think using a bit on her would make her worse and she's doing fine rn

Also she stopped kicking at Nacho, which is good, and apparently they're friends now. Mares, what can ya say? (She was kicking the bars between their stalls and scaring the shit out of him so I had to move her, but now she's fine. Idk)

[whywishesarehorses]

Hello! I have a question: I think I’ve seen you ride in a bit less bridle? Can you tell me about the one you use? My horse has a leaser who is really hard on the reins. She’s in lessons but I’m thinking of having her ride in a bitless bridle when she isn’t in a lesson. But I know nothing about the bitless options. I’d love your opinions! Thank you!

Sure! I ride Thea exclusively bitless - bitting her up has just never worked out.

This side pull is the one I started her in: it’s simple action, direct pressure, with the stabilizing triangle. The thinner noseband can lead to harsher impact - but it’s direct and easy.

This little S mechanical hackamore is what we ride in most these days - it DOES have leverage, it does apply pressure to her nose, jaw, and poll when I lift the reins. I do not recommend this for someone who is heavy handed - this can be a harsh bitless tool in heavy hands. For us, it lets me steer with my pinkies and lift her shoulders (think curb bit for a finished horse). You can see that this has a curb chain, kept loose but lightly touching.

We also have a loping hackamore - this is like a bosal, but softer & made of yacht rope. It uses direct pressure on her nose + the rotation created by neck reining can serve as its own cue

I’ve been riding the Chicken in a wagon wheel hackamore - this has almost no leverage, but can be rigged for poll pressure as well. There’s also similar “flower hackamores” that add a small amount of leverage if needed, without as much as a shanked option!

A lot of this depends on whether you’re English or western, how much stopping power is needed for your horse, and other factors. My key point is: not all hacks are less severe than a bit. Heavy hands can do a lot of damage with a hack - they sit over the sensitive nose bones and nerves, esp if not set correctly.

Personally not big on the criss cross style hack

[horsesarecreatures]

Hey Noelle, I'm curious, why do you ride Amber with a bitless bridle? I love to do that myself but I'm wondering if it has any "deeper" meaning (like her teeth are not supporting anything else).

It was normal for us kids to ride to the pasture with our bicycles and ride our ponies back to the stable without saddle (or bridle if we were too lazy to get it or wanted to show off lmao).

Do you have a brand/style you recommend?

I bought a bitless bridle for the islandic horse mare I used to ride years ago. It never really fit though, even though it was her size which sucked. It never chaffed luckily but especially the noseband moved a LOT with the reins. Granted she was a very stubborn mare xD

I'm taking care of Zoe, the heavy warmblood, of my boss now. My rode halter with rings for reigns might fit her but I'd like a "real" bridle.

Thoughts? Tips?

I hope Amber and you had a good and calm new years!

Hi, there is no deep reason other than I like my horses to be versatile. Amba was restarted bitless, but then she was introduced to a snaffle, and her leaser still rides her with the snaffle. I've also ridden her with a neck rope and mechanical hackamore, but she disliked the mechanical hackamore. Since I switched barns and started jumping her more, I bought a Masego Horsewear multibridle that I converted to bitless because she sometimes head tosses or over-jumps, and I don't want to accidentally catch her in the mouth with the bit. Her teeth are fine for a bit though and she generally does well in them. If I can find a double bridle and a bosal for cheap I'd also be very interested in introducing her to those and see how she does (Arabians do tend to have small mouths with low palettes though, so sometimes double bits and spade bits and ported bits aren't good options for them).

I like riding bitless or in the snaffle the majority of time because I think it's the best way to get a soft and responsive horse, but I'm not opposed to sprinkling other things in.

I really like the Masego bridle I have now. It's pretty and does not utilize a cross under pull. I've used cross under pulls like the Dr. Cook bitless bridle in the past on other horses and they went well in them, but they don't always release pressure right away. Edix seems to have nice bitless bridles but I haven't personally used them.

I hope you and the warmblood have a good new year as well!