#sidepull bitless bridle

[twohorsetackusa]

[certifiedbundleofsticks]

yo I just wanna recommend this bridle because i love it so much it's the sidepull advance from fairfield

[echointernationaljumpers]

KOZAK

Hello! *snickers*

Have I told you guys about a new horse that Vivian bought? *looks thoughtful* Probably not then. This is Kozak! He is a Hanoverian stallion, and he doesn't like bits. Which is of course not a problem, as he will be competing in Show Jumping in the future, but it's quite new to me to ride bitless, so giving him some basic training is a new experience for me.

He is currently ridden in a sidepull, and he seems to like that *pats the stallions neck*

His old owners used a mechanical Hackamore, but as that kind of bridle is not suited for constant rein contact, Vivian decided that a sidepull would do, when doing Dressage. Which is fine by me honestly. I don't use the reins much when riding anyways.

Kozak, or Zack as Vivian calls him, was actually bred for Dressage, but has Show Jumpers awhile back in his lines, so when the old owners couldn't get him to accept the bit they then decided to sell him *shaking my head in disbelief*

Vivian saw the add, and decided that he belonged here with Toémme and me and Lottie. So she brought him here of course, after discussing it with his owners and negotiating the price down a lot, as he couldn't be used for his bred purpose.

With time we will see if he has any worth as a show jumper. For now we are just getting to know each other.

*directed at Zack* ain't we, boy?

Picture down below is from today's training. My first training with Zack. It's clear that he has been schooled well, even if he doesn't tolerate bits!

[zvch-jumper]

Very handsome in my new favorite piece of tack 🤗

[sweater-equestrian]

a good boy :)

[myblackmare]

Kiera got her first bridle today 💕

[donkeylugs]

We tried a sidepull for the first time today and Rosi loooved it... guess we have to get one now^^

[grumpy-mare]

I see that you ride Bit less and from what it looks like your horses are barefoot too. im interested to know your opinions on people who use bits and have their horses shod?

This ask has been sitting in my inbox for a little whilenow, and I apologise for taking so long to answer. I figured I might as welljust say fuck it and walk straight into the lion’s den with my answer lmao.

Yes, one of my horses Is permanently bitless, will never usea bitted bridle again in her life, probably doesn’t even know what a bit isanymore etc etc. Yes, all three of my horses are barefoot and I highly doubtthey’ll ever have shoes on again. However – this does NOT mean I support the~all horses should be barefoot and bitless~ crusade. What I believe in, ismaking the best choice for your horse.

Here’s my thoughts on bitless:

- Worked wonders for Belle and I because despiteschooling up to Lvl 3 or 4 dressage, we always had tension through her mouth.We could never maintain true softness. This is due to her history, plus mebeing unable to fully soften without tensing up in transitions/halfhalts/working towards collected movements because I was so used to Belleholding the bit. She had deep groves in her molars from holding the bit so hardall the time. I got my first sidepull purely to muck around in, but from thefirst ride quickly realised it was the solution to our problems. Take away thebit, which is what was causing our problems and suddenly I had the softest,most willing horse in the world. I used to get dragged around with her rippingmy arms out because she was so strong – without a bit I had complete control inevery situation.

- Bitless worked for us because we had beenschooling together for years and ~understood~ each other under saddle. We hadalready refined our aids. I do not believe we would have achieved the samesuccess at higher level lateral movements bitless, had we trained bitless fromthe get go.

- Bitless doesnot allow for clear, well defined aids and that is it’s biggest problem. Ifully believe in starting horses in a halter. 100% believe that is the way togo, however once you move beyond thebasic stop, start, turn in this general direction, the best way of setting yourhorse up for success under saddle is to introduce the bit in order to provideclear aids. A bitless bridle cannot do that. Here’s a controversial statement;In my personal experience, the majority of people who believe ALL horses shouldbe bitless lack a fundamental understanding of horses, and horse training. Notethat I’m not including those who, like me, use it when appropriate.

- Bitless can do so much harm when done incorrectly,and that harm is often significantly underappreciated and overlooked becausemany people have the idea that bitless is inherently pain free.

- Bitless can also be a wonderful thing, andopened up a whole new world for Belle and I. I don’t regret not doing itsooner, because we needed to have our aids refined before we could properlymove to bitless. I also don’t believe we could have correctly continued movingup levels bitless.

- Flicka either goes in a halter with reinsattached or a bridle, depends on the rider. Ziggy will only ever go in abridle, she absolutely hates being ridden in a halter or a proper bitlessbitless bridle and is soft and supple in a happy mouth snaffle so I don’t seeany reason at all to convert her.

The barefoot thing.. ehh. Barefoot is a lifestyle.Without correct conditions it won’t work. My girls have a lowkey life and havegreat feet= they are barefoot. I would rather my horse barefoot where possible,but I would put shoes on if needed. I love my trimmer because while she’s abarefoot trimmer, she also shoes horses because she’d much rather see acorrectly shod horse, than a lame barefoot horse. Not everyone can provide thelifestyle needed to promote heathly barefoot feet, not everyone has access to agood trimmer. Our horses live in an artificial environment, we do what’s bestfor them. I don’t believe shoeing is cruel. Although it makes me laugh whenpeople from my country (New Zealand) say that “wild horses have no shoes on”because our wild horses, the Kaimanawas have awful feet. They were introducedto the environment that they currently live in and it’s absolutely not suitablefor horses. Their teeth are generally pretty bad as well, because their diet isso poor.

 Anyway basically TLDR: Do whats best for your horse, never trustpeople who believe it should be all or nothing, on either side of the debate.

[blackroseraven]

What is the difference in a hackamore and a bitless bridle? (If you have pictures that would be awesome, if not that's okay!) I tried to Google it but I'm still not sure I get it

A lot of it is in regards to pressure, and where it applies pressure to the horse’s face. Neither has a bit, so you don’t have anything in the horse’s mouth applying pressure to the jaws or tongue. Instead the pressure is usually focused along the bridge of the muzzle.

My bitless bridle actually has twin ropes that squeeze around Quattro’s muzzle, which gets his attention but it also actually doesn’t let me apply the amount of pressure that my hackamore does. My hackamore has two stiff bars that pull down against the bridge of his muzzle: it uses direct pressure, which is why it’s good for when I want to be able to stop him, basically, it gives me more control when I pull backwards on his head. I also have a sidepull that has a big thick leather band that goes across his muzzle and operates better when I use, unsurprisingly, sideways motions rather than hard forward motions.

The sidepull is very fancy and pretty and if I put it on a horse like Q, for example, I might as well just use a big cloth halter because the pressure is distributed so broadly by the big thick band that he can literally ignore it. The hackamore, meanwhile, with two much thinner bars, creates a much harder pressure on the nose.

There’s a myth that hackamores are always more humane than a bit, but this isn’t true. A snaffle is very gentle on a horse’s mouth, to the point that some horses can easily ignore it. A hackamore or any other bitless bridle that uses a narrow rope and is constructed tightly enough can also do severe damage to a horse’s muzzle in unaware hands: the horse’s face is very sensitive, and if you jerk hard enough you can literally break the bones in the horse’s muzzle.

Here is a quick look at the side construction of the bitless bridle I use: you can see how the construction is different and how it uses pressure differently with how the ropes go under the chin and hang down, where they’re then attached to the reins to give more of a pulley system that clenches around the muzzle.

And here’s my hackamore. You can see how the pressure is directed on the double-noseband, and the rest of the straps are just there to hold it on, as well as how the reins directly connect to the ring.

The uh. Chain around his neck is for a Halloween costume, it has nothing to do with anything.

But yeah. I hope that helps answer some of your questions. There are like a million types of hackmore and I’m not even using the “correct one” for a Paso Fino, which is a bosal, but these are at least the basics between the equipment I’ve been using.

[dearkind]

// haha its horse headcanon time - bridle edition

None of Arthur’s horses wear bits.

Kitty has a Cross-Under Bitless Bridle. The throatlatch crosses under her jaw and pulls through the rings to connect to the reins. Yes it is the color in the picture She’s ridden with both hands, with light contact on the rings (Shortened just enough that moving her head moves his hands). She’s only ridden one handed on long stretches of road.

Sir Sour has a Rope Sidepull. The chinstraps is made of the reins through the rings and connecting on the opposite side of the ring after going under the chin to create the chinstrap. He neckreins only, and Arthur relies more on his seat and legs to direct him. He’s ridden one handed.

Louis has a Hackamore. He doesn’t have a chinstrap like in the picture, and his noseband is made of braided leather with a metal insert. I’d call it a Mechanical Hackamore but with a Bosal Noseband that doesn’t extend past the shank. The only reason the shank and noseband are so severe is so it stays in place on Louis’ nose. It sits fairly loose, though, and Arthur doesn’t ever apply pressure to his face. Louis is in tune with Arthur’s body language enough to not need to bridle at all, but it’s put in for looks and hitching purposes. Arthur will hold onto the reins with one hand in case of an emergency, but he’s never had to use the reins.

Salem has a Leather Sidepull with a Rope Noseband. He does not have a throatlatch and therefore doesn’t use the cross like Kitty’s does. The reins simply connect to the rings. He has the simplest bridle and can be neck reins or direct reined. Arthur usually rides one handed.

tune in next week* for saddles

[lussorohorsesaddle]

Purchase High-Quality Horse Polo Bitless

From a conceptual standpoint, the Bitless Bridle is unlike any other sort of bridle out there. By putting pressure on the extraordinarily delicate mouth, a rider wearing a bitted bridle can communicate with the other riders on the horse. Traditional bitless bridles (such as Hackamores, bosals, and sidepulls) mainly work by exerting pressure on the horse's nose. It's possible that any of these procedures, including the typical bitless methods, could result in a painful reaction. The horse polo is bitless, but on the other hand, it enables the learners to interact with the horse by distributing a painless amount of pressure over the entire head.

[twohorsetackusa]

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[leathercordsasia]

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[thequeerblackequestrian]

Hello its the Asian Anon again--so sorry if im getting annoying--I was wondering about riding bitless? I've been looking around and a lot of people say its really bad. Im conflicted because it looks like something I would like to do--whenever I get a horse--and the horses that a ridden bitless seem really calm and the like. A penny for your thoughts on this?

Hello again! None of ya’ll are ever bothering me I love getting asks from people so please don’t apologize I love ya’lls company!

Bitless bridles aren’t inherently better for the horse and don’t automatically make them happier or calmer. If that’s your experience, what you’re probably observing instead is riders that are making conscious efforts to figure out what tack their horse is happiest in. Horses that prefer bit to face pressure can be just as happy and calm!

Bitless bridles, like everything else, can always be misused and aren’t inherently better or “nicer” than bitted bridles. A lot of people think that bitless is “softer” and applies less pressure, but that’s not the case. There’s a whole jumble of sensitive nerves right around where the noseband of the bridle sits, so a lot of pressure can be applied with rough hands and damage just as a bitted bridle would. I’ve included a diagram below.

Because of this, some horses will like certain bitless bridles, or may not like them at all. I’ll probably start toast off bitless because she’s weird about mouth pressure but not so much face pressure other than her poll.

Proper fit is probably one of the biggest issues that can make bitless bridles “bad”. A lot of people hang the noseband waaaaay too low, which can break facial bones and really cause damage. Here’s a diagram done by micklem, which is a bridle that can have a bit or go bitless that is designed to avoid sensitive facial nerves and bones. PS of Sweden is also a similar bridle, just super duper expensive. 

there are also a ton of different bitless bridles, so you would have to see which one hypothetical horse likes best. 

The internet says this one’s called a “Justin Dunn” bridle, which seems to be a version of a side pull. The action of this bridle is pretty simple and straight forward. Here it’s too loose and the noseband’s too low. Also, note that the noseband is made of rope, which is going to be more severe than a thick band of nylon or leather. Smaller surface area = sharper pressure. 

Here’s another pic of a sidepull that’s less harsh.

This is a Dr. Cook Bridle, which has cross under action. What looks like the throat latch actually makes an x under the chin and goes through those metal rings on the nose band, creating more pressure on the cheeks and possibly the poll? 

This is a bosal, used in westerney stuff and idk much about it but it looks cute

Here’s three different types of hackamores, all which have leverage action and act on the poll. A misconception for these is that people think that because they are bitless they can’t be used harshly, but as you saw in the aforementioned diagram, they have a lot of effect on the facial nerves. This combined with the leverage action can be pretty harsh in the wrong hands. Note that the top two are a little low for my taste.

And then of course you can just ride in a halter or rope halter. There’s lots of different types of bitless bridles other than this, so like trying bits out, it’s all about knowing how they work and seeing which one the horse works in best.

Hope that helps?

[sweater-equestrian]

handsome lad!

[purplerainbowdazzle]

Browband with special designed tooling and red stone. Shown on a bitless caveson/sidepull bridle with meander tooling.