Riding bitless with a Cook is no difference then a bit. I see it almost everyday.
I am the BBAC of the Cook in the Netherlands, so i vissit lots of people who wanna try bitless.
Because they have a kind of the same problem as you wrote about. Or the y have tong problems, headshaking and so on.
When i put on the bridle, the horses have never problems with that, first they don't know me, so they are a bit overwelmed. :-)
but they do not feel any bit in their mouth, so the bridle feels as a halter.
Then i ask most people to walk with long reins if they do not trust the bridle, when they trust it it is not nessesery.
When you walk with long lines you can see how the horse react without any problems for you. And when you feel confidense you climb on and ride away...without any problem i can asure you.
Every horse i have seen walked out and act normal and every rider can do what he wanted, walk, trot, galop, yielding etc.
Only the first couple of times the horse do not exactly know every sign and search for what is asked for, If you give the horse a change to find out in a easy way he know very fast what to do. Walk, trot and galop and the whoea ofcourse are normal for them.
And that works perfect. Only yielding or someting more difficult dressage could be some differences for the horse.
So yes try it and trust your horse, he will trust you and you will have more happyness during riding for both of you.
understand that a rope bridle is can be more painfull for the horse when you use pressure then a leather or synthetic one.
Becausae the pressure is more spreaded over the nose then a rope can do.
Which bridle fit the best for you and your horse you have to try out. You know that you can try the Cook for 30 days and sent it back when it doesn't work?? So the first 30 days it will cost you only transport money.
You can try also a stable halter make him better fit or straighter around the horses head, so it won't move with every signal and you can ride. Then it works like a sidepull system.
From: Kellie C. <kacantu1@...> To: bitlessbridle@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, 8 March, 2009 6:22:25 Subject: [bitlessbridle] New Member
Hello everyone!
I live in Arkansas and am considering going bitless. I have a 7 year old gelding that I seldom ride. One reason I seldom ride him is that we both become a nervous wreck whenever I try. I have not actually ridden much in several years. I use to take riding lessons, and then quit shortly before I had my youngest, who will soon be 9. She inherited the "horse gene" and a couple of years ago she started taking riding lessons and we got a couple of horses. We weren't able to swing riding lessons for awhile but she is now taking them again. So now I feel freer to work on my own horse and his/my issues.
He becomes quite nervous when he even thinks I might try to ride him. I pulled him out of the pasture yesterday and he was very nervous, but all I did was toss my little girl on his back and lead him around with a halter on and he never minds that. But if I were to drag out the bridle, omg. Half the time I can't even get it on
him. He will not even open his mouth. He's only about 15.1 but seems to be a giraffe when time to bridle, lol. If I do get him bridled he fusses quite a bit with the bit in his mouth. I have tried many different kinds, it doesn't seem to matter which one I use. And then, when I go to unbridle him, every time he yanks his head up and clenches the bit in his teeth. I am very careful when I take bits out, I always hold them so that they don't bank the horses teeth. Obviously in his past someone was not so careful. I know he was trained and then pretty much left out to pasture for a couple of years, so really he is a "green" horse.
I would like some information on which bitless to try. I am very interested in the Dr. Cook bridle but have some confusion about how the reins work. I am going to join the local dressage club and I know that I will probably be the only one bitless. I would like to keep it as similar in action as I can to a traditional
bit. I have heard that with the Cook bridle the action with the reins is quite a bit different and there is some re-learning involved. I am also looking at some bridles on a website called Crazy Ropes by Debbie. Is anyone familiar with these? The price is much more in line with what I can do right now. I really can't afford a Cook's at the moment but want to try something just to see if I get improvement in our issues.
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