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|
Facts and Comments regarding the Bitless
Bridle by Dr. Robert Cook
-
by Zoe
Brooks, inventor of the Nurtural Bitless Bridle, May 20, 2008:
Last Friday a customer
asked me "Why does Dr. Cook say that
your bridle hurts horses, and that it is illegal for you to ship your
bridles to the USA?"
The Nurtural Bitless
Bridle does NOT hurt horses and Dr. Cook has been aware since 2005
that we legally ship our bridles to the USA.
I have been polite
(I am Canadian, eh!)
I told him that I sympathize that other people have copied his design.
I did not copy his design: the Nurtural Bitless is a new patented design
with different features and functions that the Dr. Cook Bitless.
I have done my duty.
(My British
mother raised me well.) I
have written and spoken to Dr. Cook several times since I designed and
patented my bitless bridle, and invited him to work together for the
betterment of bitless horses everywhere. He has neither
acknowledged or accepted my repeated invitations.
I just read the collection of derogatory, contradictory
and just plain false statements at the Dr. Cook site;
(My daddy was a backwoods
Canadian)
.... and it's time that the 'good doctor' got his come-upins!"
So ....let's
play a game of "He
says / She says"
and let you be the judge!
1.
Illustrations from patents
2.
Dr. Cook says the bridles are different
3.
Dr. Cook says the bridles are the same
4. Independent study shows the bridles
are different - and Nurtural works better
5. Other patented bitless
bridles
7. The challenge: Let's meet in an
arena and prove which is better!
8. Questions or Comments?
a.
Poll Pressure,
Keepers and Who did invent the crossunder bridle?
Facts: This
drawing shows the many differences in the two patented bridle designs:

Return to Top
On this
page, Dr. Cook says the bridles are different:
|
He Says (Dr. Cook) |
She
Says (Zoe Brooks) |
| On his main
page, Dr. Cook prominently states "BEWARE
OF IMITATIONS". |
Although there are many direct copies of the Dr. Cook Bitless
Bridle on the market, he seems most concerned with the
Nurtural Bitless. I guess we have made quite an impact in our
short history! |
| Confronting
Misinformation [2007]
http://www.bitlessbridle.com/dbID/317.html
|
| He said:
We have found some
statements concerning The Bitless Bridle on other websites that we
feel are inaccurate and potentially misleading.
In an effort to
clear up any confusion that may exist due to these statements, we
offer the following responses: |
(Doesn't that sound a lot like what I just said?
)
The
Nurtural Bitless Bridle does NOT hurt horses and we
legally ship our bridles to the USA. Any statements
saying otherwise are inaccurate and potentially misleading.
So here is my response ... |
|
A widget of some kind connecting the crossunder straps under the
horse's chin is somehow "better." The two cross-under
straps of The Bitless Bridle are intentionally designed to move freely and
independently of each other. Whatever the particular conformation of a
horse's jaw, each strap falls naturally where it should and without the
built in tension that results if they are locked together.
Being
themselves relaxed, they exert minimal stress to the skin they lie on and
mold themselves comfortably to the contours of the jaw. As they are free
to move, they can automatically adjust to any movements of the jaw and to
the constant flux of rein pressure. For these reasons, it is a principle
of the design that the cross-under straps should not be united and
'stabilized.' |
I assume that he is referring to our Circle-X, or as it is called in
our patent, a 'crossover reinstrap stabilizer'.
In fact the Nurtural Circle-X prevents the straps from becoming
tight at the back, and requires zero tension on the reins to keep your
reinstraps in exactly the correct position for your horse.
This prevents the straps from tightening at the back or from falling
from their ideal position.
In my experience, the
free-to-move reinstraps were free to slip right off the horse's face
entirely, or to twist and tangle under the horse's chin. This
twisting leads to dangerous situations like these:
This experience is echoed in an e-mail arrived on Sunday from Nurtural
Coach Sydney Kotow:
....I talked to a girl on the weekend that rode in a Dr. Cook and bought a
Nurtural bridle because the Dr. Cook kept twisting with the rein straps
and she would end up with a 1500 pound runaway draft cross that thought he
was a thoroughbred racehorse (been there, done that myself, not fun. Why I
didn't use the Dr. Cook's of my friends a third time) She bought your
bridle from a tack shop. She said she recognized me from the site and
liked how there were a lot of people like her who bought the Dr. Cook
and found no control and switched to a Nurtural.
Good job Zoe! |
Rubber gripping
on the noseband provides more "contact."
He said:
More "contact" is not
necessarily a good thing - one could gain even more "contact" by
resorting to increasingly draconian measures. A mechanical hackamore
provides so much "contact" that it is capable of breaking a horse's
nose!
Our noseband is
designed to provide excellent control while avoiding pain and
discomfort, thus our nosebands are smooth on the inside. We don't
want the noseband to pull the hair and grip the skin at the bridge
of the nose. The noseband should be able to move slightly to adjust
to varying rein tension without causing discomfort to the horse. |
Good grief! How
is a rubberized noseband that receives nothing but praise from its users
lumped in with 'draconian measures or a mechanical hackamore that it is
capable of breaking a horse's nose????'
Here is what Nurtural
Bitless users say:
The third ride was the
real test - 3 other horses, one of which is quite hot and known to get
the others excited. The jokes when we left the barn all questioned my
sanity having no "brakes". I did have to take hold a few times and tell
my mare "steady" once - again, no more than with her usual snaffle. I was
curious to see her head though - had I been forced to take a consistent hold
with a bosal, she would have had rubs. Other than a bit of sweat under the
noseband and crown-piece, there wasn't a hair rubbed. That was the
ultimate proof. We had done two hours of fairly strong-paced riding in a
group and my mare was balanced and relaxed up and down hills, happy,
and easy to control. Congratulations on designing and manufacturing a
great product!
Nurtural
Coach Sydney Kotow:
The horse is less likely to lean
against the noseband when it has a texture. The pressure you place on
the reins indeed gets spread out over many smaller surface areas. It
amplifies the signal but not as much as he claims. The only way you
could be placing constant pressure on the horses nose is to A) have the
noseband cranked so tight that it becomes restricting if the horse were to
open it's mouth (meaning no fingers could be fit between it) or B) you had
to constantly white knuckle on the reins for minutes at a time. I think we
all have to agree this is a training problem if you have to ride like this
and NOT the bridles design.
The knobby rubber is flexible and will not stab or rip out hairs as Dr.
Cook claims. Dr. Cooks bridle does not have the texture and it makes it a
lot easier to lean on the smooth, padded nosebands. I wonder if he has
even seen one of your bridles in person to make all these false claims.
|
Other
bitless bridles use an undivided crownpiece.
He said:
This statement refers
to an older design of our synthetic bridles. On our leather bridles, the
crown piece has always been undivided and it was only on the synthetic
bridles that the crown piece was divided. We changed this a while ago on
our synthetic bridles as well and all our bridles now have undivided crown
pieces. |
Gee, what a coincidence! This happened just after we
released the Nurtural Bitless where our patented design specifies
always a solid crownpiece.
The Dr. Cook patent shows and describes a split crownpiece ...
with holes to add studs to increase pressure on the sensitive poll. |
Connecting the reins
closer to the horse's mouth makes the bridle action feel more like a bit
to the horse and rider.
He said:
Regardless of whether the
reins are attached two inches away or five inches away from the noseband,
the "feel " of the bridle remains the same - any tension on the reins
would originate first at the rings on the noseband, not at the point of
connection between the reins and the cross-under strap.
Our cross-under straps
are fully adjustable, so you can attach the reins as close or far from the
mouth as you wish, although we recommend adjusting them to allow a minimum
of three inches between the connection point of the reins and the ring on
the noseband (to avoid entanglement).
But even so, we think making a bitless bridle feel more like a bit defeats
the purpose of going bitless in the first place. |
Notice that he says
the feel would (in theory) be the same with longer or shorter
reinstraps. It doesn't sound as if he has actually tested this.
I did! I hopped on my Appaloosa mare with Dr. Cook-style bridle
adjusted for my big Canadian mare. With longer reinstraps, I had no
control. I shortened them as much as I could and saw immediate
improvement. Then designed our bridle with MUCH shorter reinstraps.
I could certainly not
adjust the Dr. Cook bridle I first tried to shorten the straps to 3 inches
from the noseband - the straps were simply much too long. Unless he
has copied more of my design and shortened his reinstraps, they
still are too long. Try it!
Ummmm .... so if it
doesn't feel like using a bit, does that mean his bridle requires that a
horse or rider who is trained bitless must completely change how they
behave? Horses and riders/drivers with years of experience in a
bit convert in seconds to the Nurtural Bitless. Newly trained
horses and new
riders/drivers learn quickly and compete with bitted horses without
people even noticing they are bitless. |
Return to Top
On this
page, Dr. Cook says the bridles are the same:
And then I found this
at
http://www.bitlessbridle.com/dbID/255.html
What is the difference between The
Bitless Bridle and the Nurtural Bridle,
are they different in design? |
| He
Says (Dr. Cook) |
She
Says (Zoe Brooks) |
| He said:
A: No, not really.
|
What?? I'm
confused! Did he not just tell us about all the differences between
the two on the last page??? |
| The Bitless Bridle has been on the market since 1999. We were granted a US
patent on the crossunder principle in 2002. The Nurtural Bridle is a copy
of our bridle and was first marketed in Canada in 2006. If the Nurtural
company export to the USA they infringe our patent. |
Really? I have
told Dr. Cook repeatedly since 2005 that the Nurtural bridle is NOT a copy
of his and that we export every day to the USA. He has obviously
been to our site and seen the many US tack stores that carry our bridle.
In late 2007, I challenged his claim to VERO rights on EBay - he claimed
he owned the right to the words Bitless Bridle for any crossunder bitless
bridle design. See transcripts of that conversation below, and
notice that we now advertise Nurtural Bitless Bridles every day on
EBay.com. |
| The fundamental
principle of both bridles is the same. But whereas our bridle is painless,
the Nurtural bridle is not.
|
What????
That's just plain untrue
(as in, "I think the man lied to you.")
What single speck of evidence does he have to support such claims?
The bridles are
NOT the same. See the report from the expert examiners in the
Worldwide Intellectual Property Office.
Our bridle IS painless. |
| The Nurtural company
has made a few changes in an attempt to differentiate their bridle from
ours but this is simply a marketing ploy. None of the changes can be
recommended as none improve the function of the bridle and all are
impediments. |
People who use the Nurtural Bitless Bridle say:
Your bridle seems to have fixed the
things I didn't like about the Cook bridle. I believe my horse and I
will both love it. We've been bitless for years ...
I wanted to let you know that I have one of your bridles and prior to
that used Robert Cook Bitless bridles and yours is certainly an
improvement. |
| The crossunder straps of the Nurtural bridle are tied together with a
widget. This prevents their independent movement and they can no longer
fall in the natural alignment most comfortable for the horse. The widget
does not prevent the reins from twisting; this is the responsibility of
the rider. |
I guess that's why I found so many
complaints at chat groups that people had to constantly worry about
untangling their reinstraps. I certainly
did! And if you don't keep them untangled, they can tighten up
and hurt your horse, stop the bridle releasing and create a runaway
situation as described above. |
|
We deplore the stiffened noseband of the Nurtural bridle and the
addition of rubber studding. The noseband does not need to be any
stiffer.
Rubber grips the
skin, causes pain and pulls out hair.
Some movement of the noseband is to be preferred.
|
Our customers love the rubber gripping.
Horses do not lean into it, and they cannot flip their noses up to
evade the contact (as our horses did in the Dr. Cook.)
Customers tell us of horses leaning so hard into the smooth Dr
Cook noseband that they create a dent in their nose.
Funny, we never hear of that from thousands of happy customers.
What? Horses respond to consistent
signals. Not nosebands that slide up and down and reinstraps
that flap in the wind. |
| The crown piece of our leather bridles has been undivided since they were
first marketed in 1999. The synthetic bridles had a split crownpiece for a
while but, as the benefits of this were marginal, these too have an
undivided crownpiece. |
Too bad that's
not what he patented!
Our patented design is very different from the Dr. Cook Bridle.
The bridle he sells and the bridle he patented are not the same.
|
| The keepers on the Nurtural bridle are plastic and have sharp edges. We
prefer the softer material of our keepers. |
Wow!
That's picky! Actually they are smooth rubber or leather, and
NO ONE has ever mentioned them. |
| The Nurtural company claims that their bridle offers more adjustment than
ours. Our adjustment has been field tested for seven years and needs no
change. |
The Nurtural
Bridle does offer more adjustment.
The Circle-X let's you position the reinstraps in the best position
for your horse and KEEPS them there - in a loose cradle that
applies pressure only when you want to signal your horse. (If
you could buy a car or a phone or a TV designed in 1999 or one
designed in 2005, which would you choose?) |
|
The Nurtural company claim that their bridle works better than ours.
Such a comparison lacks any foundation and is simply another
instance of negative advertising. If you want to read a thousand or
more testimonials from users of The BitlessBridle,
click
here |
We have lots
of foundation for our claim that the Nurtural Bridle works
better! MANY of our customers are previous users of the Dr.
Cook bridle and turn to us to get better control.
See our customer
comments. |
More information about The BitlessBridle is available in our Frequently
Asked Questions, while the scientific validation of our bridle is
explained at length in our large collection of Articles. Our warranty
means that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
So, go ahead, go bitless, go painless and, as the old jingle used to
advise, "beware of imitations."
|
I designed the
Nurtural Bitless Bridle with my husband, our son and about a dozen
horses on our farm. The bridle was designed from love, not
science. We worked with the horses to create a bridle that
they intuitively understand and respect. Our Nurtural bridle has
been tested and praised by coaches, riders, competitors and horse
lovers around the world. We offer a 30 day satisfaction
guarantee and promise to help if you have any problems.
Wasn't there an old commercial that said
"They made it first; we made it better!" Things evolve.
You don't drive a Model T Ford or use a rotary phone, why use an
old-design bitless bridle? |
Return to Top
Independent study shows the bridles are different - and Nurtural
works better
|
Horse Canada Articles
This series of articles was published in
Horse Canada magazine in
summer/fall 2005. |
|
1.
Bitless Bridle Update (The Bitless leading the witless)
... Review of a Dr.Cook style of Bitless Bridle
Conclusion:
The bitless bridle is a wonderful tool for
training and for limited hunter-type arena jumping, particularly for
learning riders and those rusty from a winter hiatus. Horses appreciate a
break from the bit; riders can use the time to brush up on leg, seat and
hand coordination. Low key hacking at walk or trot over
familiar territory (with a buddy and wearing a helmet) on a usually calm
horse may be a reasonable place to use the bitless bridle; use your own
good judgment.
I won't try the bitless bridle for cross country, or galloping or cantering
on a hack again. But I will
continue to use it regularly as part of my training regimen.
|
3.
FURTHER BITLESS Adventures
(Leslie Smith Dow in a Nurtural BRIDLE)
The end result (for
the Nurtural Bridle)?
All positive. When riding, I forgot I was using the Nurtural Bridle,
since it feels so similar to a regular bit and bridle (though more leg
and less hand are required, as with any bitless bridle). I finally feel
my riding is progressing (also thanks to my super coach, Liz MacGregor)
and intend to keep on using the Nurtural bitless bridle. I’m even
thinking of taking it on an upcoming Hunter Pace.
Here's an update from Leslie,
November 200 6
I am still enjoying the Nurtural bridle and
hack for hours in it, including long, crazy gallops in fields. I can actually stop my horse faster with a Nurtural bridle than I
can with a bit, since he tends to fight the bit.
Leslie Smith-Dow,
Horse Canada Magazine
|
Return to Top
Other patented bitless bridles
Our “Bitless Bridle with crossover reinstrap stabilizer” is a unique design
different from any other bitless bridle, and is protected by 3 patents:
Canadian Patent CA2522524; Worldwide Patent Pending PCT/CA2006/001597;
US Patent Pending 12/066,167
To
me, it seems that Dr Cook refers to 'The Bitless Bridle' as if his
bitless bridle is the only crossunder bitless bridle ever designed or
patented.
Yet the photo to the left is from a 1913
patent titled "an improvement in bitless bridles" that sure
looks like it has crossunder straps.

The 1988 Bitless Bridle on the
right, 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 .
I am surprised that Dr. Cook was granted a patent when his bridle is so
similar to this one!
Here is what the international
patent examiner concluded about my "Bitless Bridle with Crossover Reinstrap
Stabilizer"

Want to know more about all the bitless bridles
patented in the world?
Go to http://ep.espacenet.com/
I just did a quick search for 'bitless and bridle'. Here's the
first 10 of 17 patents filed:
RESULT LIST
17 results found in the Worldwide database for:
bitless and bridle in the title or
abstract
BITLESS BRIDLE WITH CROSSOVER REINSTRAP STABILIZER
Inventor: BROOKS ZOE C (CA)
Applicant: BROOKS ZOE C (CA)
EC:
B68B1/04
IPC: B68B1/04;
B68B1/00
Publication info: CA2522524 - 2007-03-29
Bitless bridle has crown line whose free ends
pass through two end loops of browband and run over cable rollers so when
bridle is fitted the free ends run along lower jaw of horse and cross
underneath throat
Inventor:
Applicant: REINHARD
SINA (DE)
EC:
B68B1/04
IPC: B68B1/04;
B68B1/00; (IPC1-7): B68B1/04
Publication info: DE202005011450U - 2005-09-29


Bitless bridle for governing horses and other
animals
Inventor: COOK W ROBERT
(US)
Applicant:
EC:
B68B1/04
IPC: B68B1/04;
B68B1/00; (IPC1-7): B68B1/04
Publication info: US2002148207 - 2002-10-17


Bitless bridle for saddle and draft animals
Inventor: MEROTH ERWIN
(DE)
Applicant: MEROTH ERWIN
(DE)
EC:B68B1/04
IPC: B68B1/04;
B68B1/00; (IPC1-7): B68B1/04
Publication info: US4722171 - 1988-02-02


Bitless bridle.
Inventor: LE TIXERANT
ERIC
Applicant: TIXERANT
ERIC LE
EC:
B68B1/04
IPC: B68B1/04;
B68B1/00; (IPC1-7): B68B1/04
Publication info: EP0085612 - 1983-08-10

Cloverleaf bitless bridle
Inventor: WATKINS L
DALE; WATKINS LYMAN M
Applicant: WATKINS L
DALE; WATKINS LYMAN M
EC:
B68B1/04
IPC: B68B1/04;
B68B1/00; (IPC1-7): B68C1/04
Publication info: US3998033 - 1976-12-21


Improvements in and relating to bridles
Inventor:
Applicant: HENRY GEORGE
HARRIOTT
EC:
B68B1/04
IPC: B68B1/04;
B68B1/00
Publication info: GB640208 - 1950-07-12

Bitless bridle
Inventor: LAWS ORPHA M
Applicant: ORPHA M LAWS
EC:
B68B1/04;
B68B1/06
IPC: B68B1/04; B68B1/06;
B68B1/00
Publication info: US2469046 - 1949-05-03

Improvements in or relating to bridles
Inventor:
Applicant: LAWRENCE
WINSLAND SMITH
EC:
B68B1/04
IPC: B68B1/04;
B68B1/00
Publication info: GB458930 - 1936-12-30


An improved bridle for horses
Inventor:
Applicant: OTTO CLEMENS
EC:
B68B1/04
IPC: B68B1/04;
B68B1/00
Publication info: GB268824 - 1927-09-08
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return
to Top
The challenge:
Let's meet in a public arena and prove which is better!
Closing Remarks:
Bitless bridles are wonderful! They are all better for horses than
using a bit.
We should work together to
promote bitless in general.
I am an active participant at
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/bitlesshorse/ where bitless users of
all types share information and promote bitless. I have not seen Dr.
Cook there ... or even seen a photo of the man on a horse for that matter.
So... Dr. Cook, if you want
to see why our Nurtural Bridle is better, why don't you and I meet in a
public arena and convert a couple horses from bit to bitless?
Stay tuned for more
details of this challenge! Here's the rough plan:
The challenge will be hosted by an organization that will publicize it and
donate proceeds to therapeutic riding or rescue facilities, for the
purchase of their chosen bitless bridle. If you are interested,
Email Zoe for detailed plans.
(I am 56 years old
with a fused ankle, fat ass and no formal training - but I have enough
faith in my bridle to know that any horse behaves better in a Nurtural
Bitless Bridle. So, come on Doc, let's have some fun and
promote bitless!) Zoe Brooks
___________________________________
Questions or comments? Email
Zoe
If you like, copy your comments to info@bitlessbridle.com
I will post
your messages!
Return to Top
From Nurtural
Coach Sydney Kotow, May 22, 2008
That's awesome Zoe. I would like to add this:
The last 4H meeting we had I showed all the kids the Nurtural
bridle. One of the parents there spoke up and said "how much pressure
does it place on the poll. My horse is extremely sensitive to poll
pressure and rears easily".
I had the kids be the judge. I already had the bridle on Indigo so
I had some of the braver kids step up and place their fingers under the
poll strap and pulled back on the reins making Indigo back up in the isle.
I then asked them how much pressure they felt on their fingers and all
of them said either no pressure or very very very little.
I never knew Dr. Cooks bridle had holes for studs in them or I never
would have thought of this! That is cruel! It would be like someone
stabbing you in the soft skin behind your ears, ouch. I know Indigo
wouldn't tolerate that because she is possessive of her ears and the area
around it (though cooperative to what I do to her)
Also about your keepers they are durable! From years of having my
own bridles no amount of care or leather conditioner can keep, keepers
from breaking! It's merely an unsightly problem and not a safety one but I
don't see mine breaking in the near future so long as I take care of them.
Plus the keepers on my first Nurtural bridle, which is nylon has soft
rubber ones on anyplace that touches the horse.
Want to really nail him to the wall. Point out that HE did not invent
the bitless cross under bridle and that the original was the SPIRIT
BRIDLE which he endorsed and then proceeded to claim as his own. Wouldn't
you feel cheated, even if you gave someone permission to use your design
if they made no reference to your name after all? At least Nurtural
thanks everybody for their help and shared experiences.
Note from Zoe: Here is a
portion of how Dr. Cook describes his bridle in his patent:
"The centerpiece may include a
plurality of holes for receiving studs for applying painless pressure
on regions of special acuity at the poll and behind each ear of the
animal, or may receive a separate sleeve which includes the studs in
order to apply pressure over areas of special acuity. Studs of different
sizes can be fitted in a range of locations, depending upon the amount of
pressure required and the conformation of any particular horse or other
animal." See more at
http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US2002148207&F=0
Wow! That sure
sounds different from a Nurtural Bridle!
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