2014 – March
So we went out on a long trail ride on Saturday before the rain came in. She was no different same great reliable horse. She actual puts her nose in the nose band when I put it on. I love it.
Moose’s first time being line driven, in a Nurtural of course, his second time with a harness on. To those who think young horses cannot be worked bitless or driven bitless, it’s about the training, not the harsh equipment that makes a sound mind in a young horse. I’ve started all young (and old) horses bitless and the transition is seamless.
I’m sure everyone has asked themselves this at some point: Will a SPOOKED horse stop in a Nurtural? I found my answer to that the only way one truly can get an answer to anything: I just lived it!
Mirage (my driving mini) has been doing very well in his bitless bridle. But like any equine activity, no matter how well behaved your horse is, sometimes things go south while you’re working. While we were driving around the corner in what Mirage considers the “scary end” of the arena, one of the other horses (large reining horse) spooked and took off right behind us.
Of course Mirage thought the best course of action in this situation was to take off running as well (he is a gigantic coward sometimes). I had never had this situation in the bitless bridle before, in fact I had been dreading this exact scenario. However this is not the first time something like this has happened while I’ve been driving him. I don’t know if it was instinct or just plain muscle memory, but I did what I had always done in the past. I pulled back on my reins and used a few assertive squeeze and release tugs, alternating one rein harder than the other….and he stopped in less than 50 ft.
Why would I EVER admit my experienced driving horse tried taking off on me? Because even though it is somewhat embarrassing, I figured sharing this information might help someone else in a hairy situation. My initial reaction to this whole situation before my reflexes kicked in was “Holy-crap-it’s-happening-how-am-I going-to-stop-him-I-have-no-bit-aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!”
Don’t panic, you can stop.
The lesson I took from this, is I need to work with him more around other spooky horses so his first reaction is not to take off also.
Happy riding!
-Liz
2014 – February
Emma wrote in saying:
“So I really like your Nurtural Bitless Bridle- it’s really wonderful. I was given it as a birthday present for my 12th birthday and in the middle of winter decided, what the heck, why not? My purebred [registered] Arabian horse went in a curb bit and I ride her western.
- However, I rode her bareback today with the Bit-less and was shocked!!!
- I thought she wouldn’t listen at all; I admit I thought your videos were fake.
- But I realized that this Bit-less is actually wonderful! She was focused, listened, and I rode her with split reins the first time ever.
- I can both direct and neck rein with the Nurtural and it’s easy to put on, and causes no pain!
- It was hard to fit but fits great now! It was her first time, and I definitely want to try it with a saddle on; I’ll probably use it for 4-H.
- I really like it, and I think there’s a 90% chance I won’t go back.
- I also ponied a pony on my mare first time, and though she was fidgety she listened better than she would have with a bit!
- There was no head-tossing; I loped her and she listened, and also she never pranced once.
- I am very pleased.”
Jessica wrote in to say:
“I would just like to give you a short feedback on my bridle that I have just received. Honestly when I ordered the bridle I was very skeptical that my horse would immediately do better in the bitless bridle. My horse tends to throw her head a lot and she is stubborn and often refuses to cooperate when i ride her… lets just say she can be a very big handfull sometimes. When I put the bitless bridle on her I immediately felt her calm and relaxed and I decided that if I was going to try it out I would try it out where she does her worst. Expecting her to do the same thing as usual I was very surprise when she didn’t, she was calm with a low head and cooperating to my every demand.All in all I just wanted to say that the bitless bridle seems to work miracles on my little mare. Of course I just tried it once so far but she has never been so calm under saddle.
Thank You very much for this great product!
Jessica
2014 – January
Hi Sherri, I had my lesson on King with your nurtural bridle and wow, wow, wow, what a difference. Unfortunately I couldn’t get anyone to do a video. It was like night and day. King threw his head only three times in one hour and I think it was just out of habit, because Sandra, my coach, said she thought that he looked like he was thinking there was a bit, but did a double take and realized that there was no bit. So quite dramatic. Ken will be available tomorrow to take the next video. Sandra thought that if he continues on this path we could drop the running martingale within three months. As she is afraid that he could take off on me, and I then couldn’t stop him without the martingale, so it’s here to stay for a while. Someone else could ride him without it, if that is important to you for the after video. My riding is just not that good to take the chance. I look forward to meeting you this coming Wednesday. Best wishes, and thank you for coming to my aid with this incredible product.
Kathleen.(A note from Nurtural: see the video here – Kathleen & the King of England)
News – 2012
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News – 2011
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