My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
Back in 1999, Dr. Robert Cook, professor emeritus of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, introduced his bitless bridle and did a tremendous job of creating the bitless vs. bit debate. Bitless is supposed to be kinder than putting a bit in a horse’s mouth. Bits, according to Dr. Cook create pain […]
Read MoreBitted or bitless is idle chatter if there is no horse in the conversation. via Bit or Bitless? You Won’t Like the Answer. — Relaxed I love this posting by Anna Blake, probably because it reinforces my own experiences in the Bit vs. Bitless debate. Which is better? It depends! I’ve had horses that loved going […]
Read MoreNo, Kelly McKnight did not forget his bridle. He also didn’t forget that horses get some “say” in how they are ridden. When you read the horse bulletin boards you’d think there was a “magic bit” du jour. That if your dressage horse doesn’t like a loose ring snaffle, if your show hunter isn’t perfectly […]
Read MoreOver the past few days I’ve continued to swap around bits and bitless bridles with Sheldon to see if I could encourage him to relax. The Micklem bridle without the bit seemed like a good bet but after a small spook and (short) run episode I wondered if perhaps it didn’t offer quite enough control. […]
Read MoreInterested in trying the Micklem Multibridle? Read a review that looks at all the ways you can ride in this versatile piece of tack.
Read MoreAlthough I have nothing against bitless riding (I rode my last horse bitless), I rarely see good examples of it on YouTube. Here’s a video of Uta Gräf riding the Holsteiner stallion Le Noir bitless schooling some Grand Prix movements. Very nice riding, indeed! Of course it could be argued that she is an exceptional […]
Read MoreI could have used this when I first bought mine! I got a bunch of pieces in a plastic bag with no instructions. Sure, I thought, how difficult can it be? I’ve put together any number of bridles in the past. Creating a side pull bridle was a piece of cake. Figuring out some of […]
Read MoreRecently I got this comment/question from Valerie L. It’s a good one so I thought I’d answer it in a post rather than in the comments. I’m new to all this but have been thinking of using a bitless bridle on my 10 year old as the idea of having a steel bar in the […]
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