bitless, to me is for young horses to learn without damaging their mouth. I use a hackamore ( bosal) to start horses and teach them to yield to pressure.
bitless is not more humane, it puts pressure, and yes pain, in places other than the mouth. I have seen a horse with broken nose cartilage from hackamores, nerve damage on the jaw from mechanical hacks.
the cruelty comes from the hands of the rider, not the device on the horses head.
Bitless works better for some horses, and to take it one step further, certain kinds of bitless work better for some horses. Some kinds of bitless don't work at all for some horses. It shouldn't be assumed that all bitless bridles are universally accepted by horses.
Case in point: I know more than one horse that absolutely HATES the Dr Cook's cross-under style bitless bridle. My horse prefers a Little S hackamore or a sidepull.
I don't think bitted or bitless is always better in all circumstances. There is no such thing. I do think that all horses should be educated in both, because you just never know what the future brings.
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