Bitless Bridle

Using a bitless bridle will heighten your horse communication and create a far better relationship. The evidence on why a bitless bridle is more humane is indisputable. The scientific community of veterinarians can and will no longer deny the ill effects of a horse forced to have a piece of steel in their mouths. Especially since it was two veterinarians who wrote the most recent evidence! With more evidence on the way everyday!

It’s long been known that a horse’s mouth is one of the most sensitive parts of its whole body. Try this experiment. Touch the top of one of your hands with a finger, gliding it a few inches. Notice how that feels. Now touch the inner palm of your hand with a finger, gliding it the same way. Notice how much more sensitive the palm of your hand feels than the top? It could be compared with a horse’s muzzle being the top and inside the horse’s mouth like the palm of your hand. A highly sensitive area! Add to that the fact that inside a mouth, even your own you have only cellular membrane (like the gums in your mouth) not hard calloused skin.

Now if you were to put a piece of steel in your mouth, and then with just a slight pull on one side which creates huge pounds of pressure per square centimetre you get a huge pain inducing instrument!





Here is an example of what Pain can look like.

The reason why you can build a stronger horse communication style using a bitless bridle is because you will no longer be the one inducing pain in your horse's mouth. Pain which induces Fear and causes all kinds of training problems in horses - it is a natural reaction for horses (and all of us!) to run from Pain.

Many have witnessed the horse whose bad behaviour just disappeared the moment the bit was replaced with a bitless bridle.

In the Natural Horse Magazine Vol.11 Issue 1, page 11, Dr. Robert Cook did a demonstration using independent judges to score horses before and after using the bitless bridle. None of the horses had ever used a bitless bridle prior to this experiment. The results were astounding. Within a four minute exercise the average score when bitted was 37% and when bitless, it was 64%! That’s a huge improvement within minutes!

This also tells us that the removal of Pain caused by the bitted bridles allowed the horses to become better focused upon the tasks being asked of them. Also that no adjustment period was needed for the horses to get used to the bitless bridle either!

If you have been led to believe that there is safety in a bitted bridle let me assure you this is a false myth. In fact I see the complete opposite happening. What’s really missing is a trust in your horse communication skills: that your horse will stop when asked and under all circumstances.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say I’m out on a familiar trail a deer jumps out of the bush and my horse spooks and is ready to flee! If I had a bit in my horses mouth the first reaction would be for me to pull on the reins trying to stop my horse from bolting, right? My horse is already in a state of Fear, I induce Pain which causes Panic and now I am in a heap of danger! I am at the mercy of my horse’s emotional state - left with very little, if any, control of his physical self.

Horse training problems such as the above example can be rectified thorough better horse communication. Long before I go out on a trail I would want to be sure that I could stop my horse under all conditions. How? By teaching my horse the one rein stop in a bitless bridle. I would spend the time at all gaits: walk; trot; and canter, so that when I pick up one rein and slowly take the slack out, my horse would bend into the circle, laterally flex his neck and calmly come to a stop. Once this becomes second nature, I have complete control of my horse’s physical self even under emotional circumstances.

(In the picture below I have already taken it to the next step, without a headstall at all!)

Here’s a true story:

I was out riding on a familiar trail along with my dog. Normally I put a collar on the dog that has a bell on it which allows us to hear her coming. However this day I forgot the collar and my dog jumped out of the tall grass behind us. I didn’t see this happen but my horse did and wasn’t going to take any chances with the monster in the grass! She was already heading for the thick trees in Fear by the time my brain kicked in and my reflexes picked up one rein. In seconds my horse turned into the circle quickly calming to a complete stop. I stopped Pain and Panic from ever setting in. We were all Safe, but I couldn’t resist giving my dog a dirty look for that one! (even though I knew it wasn’t her fault!)

That one rein stop is like having great emergency brakes in your car. I wouldn’t leave my driveway without knowing they work!

Documented Facts:

Dr. Cook has now documented over 100 ways in which a horse demonstrates, through behaviour, that the bit is causing pain.

If Pain turns into Panic and Panic escalates to bolting - a condition in which the horse is literally unaware of its surroundings - it is not surprising that a runaway is a grave danger to themselves and their rider.

In addition, it has been proven that a bit is harmful to the health and welfare of the horse by its interference with the normal functions of respiratory and digestive tracts.

Many misinterpret the horse chewing or salivating with a bit in its mouth as something the horse enjoys, but the opposite is true. The horse is actually trying to rid itself of this foreign object in its mouth - trying to spit it out. As well, it has been physiologically determined that a ridden or running horse should have a relatively dry mouth.



Can you see how it would be difficult for this horse to breathe and the impediment to his digestive tract (the foaming from the mouth)?

No such thing as soft hands or a gentler bit!

Another myth many try to sell is that by trying to justify their continued use (or the sale) of bits they say, ”The snaffle bit is gentle”. Hogwash! "Prove it", I say.... and they can’t!

In fact the snaffle pinches and creates Pain just the same as any other piece on metal and possibly more! It has a nutcracker effect! Just place one in your hand and pull on both sides equally, you will feel it for yourself.

“But I have really soft hands”, Then why use one at all? Even the tiniest pressure causes Pain. My goal is to not inflict Pain but to accomplish communication.

My point here is to help us all see that we have been living with many ideas just passed on from one generation to the next without valid facts supporting them. I encourage you to become empowered and feel free to ask the WHY behind any information you are offered.

For further proof on the abusive effects of bitted bridles see the book called “Metal In The Mouth”, by Dr. Robert Cook and Dr. Hiltrud Strasser. Click on the book image below to purchase.