About riding bitless...

Here is an extract from the following web page which all can access Natural Horsemanship - The Parelli Method - Technique

1. The Four Savvys – Becoming Horse Savvy The Natural Horsemanship Way
   For you and your horse to really enjoy each other and work together in ways that are joyful, fun, seamless, safe and natural, the Parelli program focuses on helping students become truly horse savvy. Rather than using artificial aids or quick fixes for your horse problems, Parelli natural horsemanship helps students develop true understanding and expertise by teaching these Four Savvys:
   
   
   • On Line – groundwork
   • At liberty – the horse is free of physical restraint
   • FreeStyle - riding without contact, either a loose rein, or bridle-less and bareback – the ultimate FreeStyle!
   • Finesse – riding with contact, refinement and precision

Notice the order. Freestyle includes riding bridle-less and comes before finesse which is riding with a contact. The Parelli levels program is
Level 1 : Online
Level 2 : Online and Freestyle
Level 3 : Online, Liberty and Freestyle
Level 4 : Online, Liberty, Freestyle and Finesse.

Note there are two levels of Freestyle before riding with a contact in Finesse. Mostly folks ride freestyle either in a hackemore or bridle-less. Once you are used to seeing horses ridden bridle-less it ceases to be something exceptional, it is just a different style.

My wife, Ritchie, and I attended a weekend clinic at James Roberts yard 2 summers ago. It was a charity event so there were lots of riders and horses there. The focus of the exercise was herding a cow, bridle-less. Little did I know that I was to be one of the "cows" as real cow work is actually frowned upon in the UK. Silly I know.
By the middle of day 2 there were 20 + horses being ridden around the outdoor arena bridle-less all at the same time.
I then found myself being herded by my wife riding our horse bridle-less from one end of the school to the other. The first time she had ridden bridle-less.
For a while we were at an all NH yard with lots of teenagers on it. They were amazing riders. They would just play with horses as kids do and I swear they rode bridle-less more than with a bridle (mainly because as kids they were too lazy to put a bridle or indeed saddle on), including jumping. Unfortunately the yard went bankrupt and we had to move.

A last thought. During an interview after winning the Beijing Paralympics Lauren Barwick was asked "You must have really thought outside the box to win here". She replied "Box, what Box ?". This has become one of my favourite thoughts, and not just for riding.

Stop using PP as an example. Watch is videos and watch him ride. He has no FINESSE.

Then Watch Stacy and wantch her finesse.

Then you will know how it is really done.

Im sorry if I upset you but ever horse can be ridden bittless if YOU know what you r doing. I apologize for being harsh but im sure you know what you r doing (to some extent) but if you do some research you may be able to ride in just a halter! That's what I did! I apologize for my behavior. Have a happy new year! :)

I have watched Stacy ride, we have some of her videos and she does provide a small part of the horsemanship puzzle, but then so does Pat, Chris Cox, Buck etc.

And thanks for the advice but I will still keep watching Pat and others with an open mind.

YOu are the one who sound upset.

Again you can not clasify every horse into the same catagory. If you do you are the one who is delutional.

As for knowing what I am doing. I think I have proven that enough. RG is the one who knows very very little. You can tell that from what he does in this videos. Sorry but runnig a horse into a fence to get it to stop vs teaching the horse how to stop properly jsut screams not know what he is doing. Maybe you need to go and learn from real trainers who have proven infront of their peirs that they know what they are doing before you start talling others what is and is not correct.

I am very open minded and my open mind tells me this is some croppy riding with no finesse at all. If you want to learn how to ride from someone who does this. Go for it.

I'd love to see them try riding Mia bridle-less around a bunch of strange horses. They won't be doing it long.

Nor does that mean I'm lazy, that I haven't worked with Mia, or that the trainer who spent 6 months working with her is an idiot who just needed to drop the bit and trust Mia.

I guess I just don't understand how come folks think other folks are too cowardly or too stuck in their ways to ride bitless, as opposed to simply having a lot more experience with horses. Am I supposed to believe that world champion eventers, barrel-racers, polo players, and reiners are using bits because they are too cowardly to trust their horse, or too blind to see how their horse would compete better bitless?

Herding a human in a controlled environment isn't a very demanding task for a horse. It isn't the sort of thing that would get most horses very excited. Nor does it require very detailed communication between horse and rider.

"ever horse can be ridden bittless if YOU know what you r doing."

You don't have enough experience to make that statement. I know, because it simply isn't true. If you ever encounter an intense horse who gets excited about her 'work', then you will change your tune.

Bits and bitless options are just tools. Some work better in certain situations and with certain horse/rider combos than others.

We have a horse here that always rides bitless and is very responsive in it. We did have to try out a couple styles until we found the one that worked best for him - but he goes well with it and his rider is comfortable using it. I see no need to change it.

On the other hand I have another horse here that can be ridden bitless but he can be a bit resistant with it so he tends to go better in a snaffle or curb.

Another horse I no longer have was trained to ride bridleless and was very responsive just off leg pressure. But you couldn't ride bridleless outside of a fenced area because he would take advantage. Same with a bitless on the trail - he would plow through just because he knew he could. And he really did not like the direct pressure of a snaffle. But put him in a curb? He rode as pretty as could be and rarely would you have to touch the reins - just leg pressure. And he accepted the bit so much better - sucked it right up where you were hard press to get a snaffle in his mouth.

Both of my current young horses will be started in a version of bitless and will be eventually trained in a snaffle. If we stay at a snaffle, go back to bit less or move up to the curb will depend on them and also what I want to accomplish at the time.

I don't understand the bit hate nor the bitless hate. Both can inflict pain in the wrong hands and both can be wonderful tools in the right situation.

You are not upsetting me but I will be honest, I do tire of the extreme bitless/bridleless folks assuming that those of us who use bits get lumped into- we are cruel and need a torture device to control our horses because we don't know how to train. In reality that is not the case at all, I find it to be the opposite more often than not. I have seen some dandy wrecks from those who think they are doing their horses a service by riding them in a halter, didn't do the training, and got themselves, their horses and bystanders hurt.

I start all my colts in a halter and all my horses can be ridden in one if need be. They can be ridden bridleless as well. I do not see it to be some magical feat of training. It is just good training and having broke horses that work off first your seat then leg. I ride my horses in bits for refinement of cues, you can not get that level of refinement from a halter. Halters are meant for leading not riding. If you want to piddle around the pasture in a halter, go for it, nothing wrong with that but I am not satisfied with just doing that and it bores my horses.

I think you need to do more research or get more experience before you make that kind of judgment. I use the old vaquero way of making a bridle horse snaffle to bosal to two rein to bridle. But I've come to some horses that will not tolerate a bosal, therefore I must make the transition snaffle to long shank to two rein to bridle. It isn't that the horse didn't respond to the bosal, it's just that the horse didn't like it. Some horses are just more comfortable carrying a bit, and some horses see that when the bit is in their mouth that it must be time to work. It is 100% impossible to say that "every horse" can be ridden bridle less. Every horse is different. It's like saying every human can be singer. We all have the capability, but there are only a few that do.