Bitless Bridles

From a post I started on Facebook. Join our Versatile Equines Discussion Group to see where our conversation took us!

I am having a discussion with a lady about bitless bridles, here is my opinion, would love to hear yours 

I don't like them because it doesn't release properly (no model I have seen to date any way), the horse always has some pressure on its face. People will try to tell you that constant pressure is called 'neutral pressure', bull crap, pressure is pressure. I want it to clear to my horse, no pressure is nothing, pressure is something.

Also the way you pull the reins does not put the correct pressure on a horses face, you have to teach them how to understand it. It is not as simple as putting it on and hoping for the best. It has a different feel to a halter and bridle, so it is not wrong, just different to what I prefer.

Also the horses can evade them much easier as it takes longer to get a clear message to them as opposed to halter/bridle.

Another reason, the way they fit on a horses face is more critical than with a halter, I feel to be effective they need to be designed specifically to the horses face shape, length etc.

Another reason, clip reins hang almost in mid air, so the pressure is like unclear....

I have other reasons too, overall any time I have used on, on a few different horses I have not liked the feel between my horse and I.

I also see people riding around in them, having trouble with their horses and it is simply because they try to ride in them like it is a bit and bridle and/or halter. A bitless bridle is different again so needs to be used differently to a bit or halter 

Any way would love to know what you think. Do not let my rant scare you off lol. I am always interested to hear a different side and I do not judge people by the gear they have on. You could ride with a bicycle chain in their mouths if that is where you are at in your journey, in this case I would judge privately  

All jokes aside if you have a success story to share please feel free to share it

GROW- Think of the Process

What I mean by this is...

Goal: Get Jazzy to put all 4 feet on the mounting block

Realities: Has never done it before, can be unconfident at trying new things, is a right-brained introvert by nature, horses have poor depth perception.

Opportunities: Make sure she can put her front feet on confidently, use a pattern to make putting her feet on the mounting block the comfort zone, have her walk over the whole thing not asking her to stop, stand with her back feet on but front feet off, do it at different lengths of lead rope, use a lower pedestal, use a bigger pedestal.

Where to next: get her to want to put her front feet on a low pedestal.


You will notice the acronym above spells GROW, so GROW your horsemanship and be aware of the process needed to achieve your goal. If you goal is seemingly out of reach or unachievable, go back through your process to find out what is missing.

So above with my GROW demonstration, I have tried to demonstrate SOME of the ideas that may be running through my head- eg the process.

So I will set a REALISTIC Where To Next, then once that is achieved I will choose another 'Opportunity' to work on, then eventually all of these things will come together and she will just put all four feet on and stand.

I encourage you to do this with your current goal. This GROW is a work in progress also and will change and adapt as you and your horse do. So do not see this as a rule, see this as a way of organising your thoughts.

Forward Focused

Success

Ugly to Pretty

There is alot to criticise of me in this clip (will try to get video loaded, otherwise it is on VE Facebook Page)

My theory in horsemanship at this current point in time is that sometimes it looks ugly at the start, but that can often be the progression needed to get to the good stuff.

I find that too often people shy away from the ugly stuff, sometimes this is a good thing because they do not have the skills to get through it, but too often people doubt their skills and quit before they get to the place they want with their horses.

So for example in this clip this wee pony is highly reactive, runs over his child owner, does not respond appropriately to pressure etc etc. So in my eyes I am thinking, OMG nothing is more important than safety at this point and if that is at the expense of this ponies feelings for a brief moment then so be it!

So what is happening here is that the pony cannot handle the stick and string slapping the ground. So I am helping this pony understand that the stick will not harm him and that the only answer is to "hurry up and relax". The people that own this pony had only had him for 2 months, I suspect that his previous owners potentially may have been 'avoid-a-holics'. By this I mean that they avoided anything that upset him. Unfortunately all this does is repress the problem, then it comes out in a BANG!

So the thought process I have while doing this is
1. do not release the pressure (stick and string moving) until he has stood still!
2. only stop the pressure when the horse shows a sign of relaxing AND has feet still
3. if I release the pressure when the horse is fearful, I am teaching him that being fearful is the right answer
4. horses do not learn from the pressure (stick and string), they learn from the release fo pressure (stopping the stick and string)
5. Keep him out of my space as much as possible
6. ABOVE ALL- My safety is the MOST important thing!

Signs of relaxing may include:
-big blink
-cocking a hind leg
-lowering head
-sighing
-blowing nose
-licking and checking

It is important to note that a horse does not WANT to be like this, they just do not know any other way to be. I see it as my responsibility to the horse to help them find a place where they can best survive in humansville, this means that they need to be able to cope with any and all situations we force them into! Along the way I hope to help people do this themselves and on the same token, learn ways that I can do this EVEN BETTER!

Sorry this is a big novel, hopefully I have explained clearly the mission I was trying to accomplish lol!

If this was a horse I did not know, I would be more vigilant about the hind end and not let the horse turn his head away as much.

Horsenality

I really do love the perspective of the Parelli's. In saying this I follow many other trainers also.

So interesting studying lots of trainers, there is alot of contradiction!

Any way, this article is very good, food for thought if nothing else!
http://www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/pattern-savvy/


In saying it is amazing, there are some things I would change, I am currently considering my own classification in my head, will get it down on paper one of these days!

The sensitivity of the horse

How sensitive they are

Have just watched the Parelli's latest savvy club DVD. It is called "Calm, Connected and Responsive, Under Saddle". 

It is a really good watch, it was a follow up from the last one which was on the ground. It is so good to see Linda work with an RBE horse and an LBE horse, and their owners, and explain the strategies they used to get the horse C, C and R, BASED ON their horsenalities.

Has any one else seen this yet?

What I really took from this was how the horses respond to people, based on their horsenality/personality. There was a RBI person, so a person who was tense, on an LBE horse. The horse felt her tension, so acted out (kicking up back legs), as soon as Linda got on, who was loose and fluid, the horse changed immediately. SO what I saw happening was that an extrovert wants to move their feet, so was getting agitated by its rider subconsciously saying don't go through the tension in their body.

So just reiterates how sensitive these wonderful creatures are. I would love to hear your stories of extreme sensitivity, when have you had or seen an experience like this?

Key
LBE- Left brained extrovert (thinking, wants to move feet)
RBE- Right brained extrovert (instinctual, fly from fear, move feet)
RBI- Right brained introvert (instinctual, go internal, frozen to the spot)



My facebook share:
I moment I recall is when I was at my friend Lisa's house (about 8 years ago!). I was a on a mare named Tara-toot. She is a kaimanawa x QH/Appy. She was part of Lisa's trekking team, so was ridden by many people. I quite liked the look of her so hopped on to have a ride. She started off un-connected, then after 5 minutes it was like we had the same brain! It was almost like she had been craving for this connection. I would think stop and go and she was doing it- INSANE, blew my brain out!

A saying is in my head- "how little can you do?"