Hello Kellie,
Welcome, you came to the right place. You will find some great advice
here.
I do recommend Dr. Cooks bitless bridle over any other kind of course
and especially over any bit.

Is there someone in your area that will loan you one?


I can certainly lend you a copy of my DVD and you can just pay to ship
it and send it back when you are done. I know money is tight right now.
It is for me too.

Shoot me an e-mail if your interested.

Cathie

--- In bitlessbridle@yahoogroups.com, "Kellie C." <kacantu1@...> wrote:
>
> 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.
>
> I look forward to your input. Thanks very much.
>
> Regards,
> Kellie
>