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The Bitless Revolution
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Can Am 2007Kids on school horses
The following independent articles and videos may be helpful if you are
considering joining the bitless revolution and exploring the potential
benefits of bitless training, riding and driving.
The Bitless Horse
Part 1: A History of the
Bitless Bridle
Part 2: Recent developments in bitless bridle design
Harsh Bits, I Don’t Think So
A You-Tube Video
Written as a paper for the Guelph University course Equine functional anatomy
– Spring 2007 by Sydney Kotow, Canada
by Kelly Howling, published in Equine Wellness magazine
by Anna-Kaisa Maurer, Germany Letter to the editor Leslie Smith Dow in a Nurtural BRIDLE
The original Nurtural Bitless Bridle Review in Horse Canada Magazine
By Lesie Smith Dow, Canada
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The Bitless Horse By Wendy Wainwright, UK
Part 1: A History of the Bitless Bridle
This is the first part in a series of articles looking at bitless bridles. Over the coming issues topics covered will include: types of bitless bridles and how they work, reasons for choosing to use a bitless bridle, training the bitless horse (and rider) and the bitless bridle in sport and competition.
There are two main parts in the history of bitless bridles (BB). The origins, when horses were domesticated over 5000 years ago, and a more recent history of the last 120 years in which we see the development of the BB as we know it today. Read on
Part 2: Recent
developments in bitless bridle design
Until 10-15 years ago bitless bridles were seen as the bridles of no
choice, typically used by people whose horses had unusual mouth
conformation or were recovering from a mouth injury. The choice of bitless
bridles was limited to the mechanical hackamore (English-Blairs pattern or
German) or the Scawbrig and they were mainly used by showjumpers and
endurance riders.
The last decade has seen an increase in the variety and availability of
bitless bridle designs. There are now over 20 different bridles
available, many of which demonstrate an innovative approach to this method
of communication. This has allowed bitless bridles to emerge as a real
alternative to bitted bridles and here we will examine some of the factors
that motivated their designers. Read on
Harsh Bits, I Don’t Think So
A You-Tube Video
by BayPony17, UK
This is NOT a video against bits nor is it a video promoting the bitless
bridle.
This is to try and open people eyes how people abuse the bit and give horses
no choice.
In the video there are pictures of people riding rolkur and hyperflexion
which is disgusting and cruel, the video then goes on to show our happy
natural horses who are bitless and barefoot. I am trying to open people’s
eyes to how you can ride and that anything is possible naturally if you go
into it correctly and in the right mind.
Form vs. use - Bitting by Sydney Kotow, Canada
There are over forty recognized diseases and ailments caused by regular bitting of a horses mouth and many times more that amount in behavioral problems. Almost every horse owner has done it, bitted their horses and had a behavior problem and then proceeded to blame the problem on the horse. Webster defines the adjective “cruel” as willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress. So why is it every time a horse runs away with a rider, grabs the bit with it’s teeth, and refuses to let go or shakes his head so violently he nearly unseats his passenger, we still put a bit in a horses mouth time after time?
There is a list of diseases and other ailments caused by bits that goes way beyond traditionalist training diagnoses on the horse, and delves into science. Sometimes these ailments are not caused by the bit but they can be aggravated and worsened by the use of one. Some horses are more susceptible to these diseases than others due to the conformation of their head, neck, and mouth. Read on
The BITLESS
revolution
by Kelly Howling, published in Equine Wellness magazine
Today some bits
almost look like works of art, and there is an ever expanding variety.
There are bits to fit each discipline, type of horse, mouth size and more.
So why is there a growing movement toward abandoning this piece of
equipment?
Why bitless?
“Pain and fear of the bit trigger flight, fight and freeze responses, and
loss of control,” states Dr. Robert Cook, FRCVS, PhD, and developer of
the Bitless Bridle. “I have now documented over one hundred problems the
bit causes the horse.”
The Bit
by
Anna-Kaisa Maurer,
Germany
Riders of all disciplines demonstrate that all the performances a horse is able to show can also be achieved without metal in the horse’s mouth. To mention some well known names: Fred Rai is an example for all trail riders, Jürgen Krakow shows that even jumping is possible without metal in the horse’s mouth and Monika Lehmenkühler performs even difficult lessons in classic dressage without a metal bit. Regrettably the metal bit exists already since thousands of years, the aforementioned painless alternatives since only about ten years. And “a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right”.
Read onLeslie Smith Dow in a Nurtural BRIDLE
By Leslie Smith Dow, published in Horse Canada Magazine 2005
When Zoe Brooks of Worthington, ON (near Sudbury) read about my ‘witless’ experiments with a bitless bridle in the July/August issue, she offered to let me try out a bitless bridle of her own design, called a Nurtural BRIDLE™. Its name refers to both ‘natural’ horsemanship and a nurturing, non-confrontational environment for horse and rider. Here is what happened when I bridled up my stargazing 16-year-old National Show Horse. Read on
This drawing is from a 1913 patent for "Improvements in bitless bridles". The patent was filed in the U.K. by Maurice Chedeville. This interesting patent combined components of the hackamore with the crossover straps used in more recent designs.
This 1988 Bitless Bridle patented in the USA by Erwin Meroth has reinstraps that cross under the horse's chin and pass through rings that are connected to the noseband by a short strap .
This 2001 Bitless Bridle patent application in the USA by W. Robert Cook has reinstraps that cross under the horse's chin and pass through rings that are connected directly to the noseband. The patent design includes holes to receive "studs for applying painless pressure on regions of special acuity at the poll and behind the ear of the animal".
The Nurtural No-Bit Bridle changes the function of previous bitless bridles by, among other things, threading the reinstraps through a Circle-X so the reins may be positioned for consistent ideal contact on the horse's cheek. The solid crownpiece ensures that reinstraps are always balanced. The textured noseband gives extra contact with the nose. Reinstraps can be shortened to attach reins close to the horse's mouth, mimicking the typical action of a bit.
Nurtural Horse - Nurturing Horses and Horse Lovers since 2005