7 STEPS TO SEE IF A HORSE IS SAFE TO RIDE

Here's a quick and simple tutorial about how to test a horse if it's safe to ride.

What are the signs that show you it's alright to mount a horse and what tells you that's better not to. This article is referring to a horse with a halter and lead rope. 

So before it gets too boring, let's jump to the seven steps! :) 

 1.Is the horse calm?

How low or high does he carry his head? 

A horse with a high head is usually not very calm, that's a sign of frustration and stress. 

So you'd like to see a horse with his neck and head almost level with his back but not too much higher than that. 

How are his eyes? 

Are they soft and gentle or do they express worries and alertness? 

Is the horse blinking a lot or are his eyes fixated on something? 

Needless to say that a calm horse has soft eyes and blinks pretty often. 

How do his lower lips look like? 

Are they tense or are they floppy and relaxed? 

 2.Is the horse paying attention to you?

When a horse is attentive to you then his head follows you when you move around him, be it from one or two meters or more. 

So when you walk around him, he will follow and turn in the same direction as you do. 

 3.Is the horse standing still while you're moving closely around him?

You have to be able to leave the leadrope on the ground in front of the horse (ground tie) and walk around the horse without him moving at all. 

One step further, he should be also comfortable with you jumping around him and making noise. 

The horse has to know that when you're not using the lead rope and you don't have it in your hands, then his only job is to stand still quietly. 

 4.Is the horse comfortable with you touching him?

He should quietly take any approaches from you to pet him anywhere. 

You should be able to touch his body without him protesting. 

 5.Is the horse comfortable with the saddle pad and saddle?

He should again stand still when saddleing. 

If he tries to move when you saddle him that's a sign that he's not very comfortable with the saddle yet, he doesn't intirely understand what's going on and he's still worried about the process. 

 6.Is the horse giving to the lead rope?

The horse has to respond smoothly and easily to the lead rope. 

Why is this important from the riding point of view? 

This is how it translates to the saddle: when in the saddle, you will use the same cues as with the lead rope, only this time you'll do it with the reins. 

As we are talking about bitless riding, you can convert your lead rope to reins or you can use any kind of reins at all. 

Whatever the case, there's one thing that matters: getting your horse soft on the lead rope will get the same results on the reins. 

So the horse has to smoothly follow the lead in all four directions: forward,backwards,left and right. 

He has to respond to going forward, going backwards, going to the left and turning to the right.

And you have to check your breaks, which is flexing the horse's neck to left and right. 

The horse should be very responsive and soft at this exercise. 

7.Is the horse standing still for mounting?

How does the horse behave when you want to mount? 

Does his head go high, does he get tense or does ha want to move around? 

Or is he standing quietly and calmly for you to get in the saddle and once you're in the saddle is he patiently waiting for you for the next step? 

These are the seven basic steps for testing a horse to see if it is safe to ride or how safe it is to ride so that you can decide on weather or not is mindful to get on his back.

 

Then of course there are exercises that you can do with a horse in order to get him more brave and safe and thus to have a deeper relationship between the two of you but that's another topic for another time. :) 

 Enjoy your bitless rides!

Should You Blanket Your Horse Or Not?

One could talk about this subject for a long time and of course there will be people on both sides, as happens with all debates.

Some of us are firmly convinced about using blankets, whilst others are 100% convinced of the opposite.

So let's try and find the golden middle, shall we? :)

There are really very few cases when one could certainly say: Yes, my beliefe is the truth, my way is the best and that cannot be argued with.

Why not be realistic and take a look at both sides, because there are times and situations when rugs are needed and then there's also a time and place for throwing the rug on your horse's back, as well.

1. General rules for BLANKETING a horse:

- Not enough space: this in most cases simply but sadly means that the horse is kept in a small place, usually the stall or the box, therefore he is not able to freely move around and generate enough heat from his body, to keep himself warm enough

- Not enough or inadaquate food: the best example for this is when, sadly again, some people keep horses for competitions and they neglect proper feeding, many times they also inject drugs for better performances, which can cause malnutrition

- Old horse: an old equine, just as an old person, needs more protection from cold, as his system isn't working at their best anymore

- Sick horse: you know well when you got a cold last time, you probably felt like you couldn't get yourself to be warm enough; well, same for horses

- Horses with really thin coat: obviously these horses could have some trouble with cold

- Horses with sweet itch or other skin issues: in this case the horse needs a special blanket which is used mostly in the summer period in order to keep the flies away from his skin

All the above situations are of course highly influenced by the climate he's kept in, if there's any winter and if there is, how low the temperatures get.

2. General rules for NOT BLANKETING a horse:

Excepting all the above cases, horses don't need a blanket.

The best thing for a horse is really not to wear a blanket, as the goal is to keep our horses as naturally as possible.

Just remember: a horse is a horse and always give a horse what a horse needs. Nothing more, nothing less. That's all.

Final conclusion:

A HORSE DOESN'T NEED A BLANKET unless you have a very good reason for it!

Happy Bitless Trails!

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Rope Halters Can Be Used Instead Of Bitless Bridles

Hi All,

In my last quick tip article I wrote about one important thing to do when you first start your horse bitless and that was to pick a smaller paddock, arena or round pen for introducing this new feeling of a bitless riding tool.

I wanted to underline the importance of this smaller, enclosed area and share another quick tip about riding, so without further ado...

Why is the small space needed for the first few sessions in transitioning from bitted to bitless?

Well, would you adventure yourself by getting on a motorbike blasting on the highway knowing that the bike's breaks are broken? Hope not! :)

Same with horses. Before you get to speed up on your horse's back, you first have to make sure that he/she understands the cues given by you through any bitless bridle or rope halter you use. You have to get to the point where you can clearly communicate with the horse and they willingly and softly follow any cue they are asked to.

Anyway, when I first started riding horses, I had trouble with funding and had to do a lot of improvisation, which I must say definitely helped shape the methods I use today for training and riding horses..

Rather than purchasing a bridle, I started riding my first horse with a simple rope halter. I know, you are thinking, was I mad or something... Believe me, it is a diferent experience all together, as you really need to be able to bond with a horse to be able to ride them with just a rope halter, given the lack of control you have over the horse. But believe me, this is actually not the case.. Why control a horse, when all you really need to do is bond with the horse so that when you ride them, you become one with them and the riding experience is something you can both enjoy...

The more you can bond with these animals, the better your riding experience will be and I will honestly say that after years of riding, training and spending the last 7 years with horses, that a horse's friendship is worth far more, than a horse's submission...

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When Did I Start Using Bitless Bridles And What Were The Obstacles I Encountered?

As I said in my first article, I started learning how to ride back in 2012 in Transylvania at the riding school next to where I was living. Back then I didn't have the money to pay for riding lessons so I was just hanging around watching the horses in the stables and watching other people riding.

I was mesmerized by these magnificent four legged creatures, by their perfectly shaped, athletic, fit bodies majestically moving under the riders' indications. Watching them turning left and right, going faster, slowing down, stopping and walking off with the riders on their back was a true enigma for me as I just couldn't understand how on Earth anybody could coordinate such a big and powerful animal by just sitting on their back...

What I wasn't able to see at that time was the fear, the boredom, the unhappiness and quite often the pain in the horses' eyes. I didn't have the capacity to read a horse's body language yet. I couldn't tell if they were feeling happy, sad, frustrated, bored, angry or playful...All I've been seeing was how gratious and superb they were.

So I started going regularly to this equestrian centre near to where I lived, watching people riding, jumping, having riding lessons and I became more and more fascinated about the beauty of these animals. I began to ask Mary, the riding instructor if there was anything I could help around with and as she was happy to give me small tasks to do, I got more and more involved with the regular work that needed to be done in any equine facility. So I quickly found myself poo picking, mucking out, grooming horses, picking out the hooves and even tacking up and getting horses ready for their riding lessons.

I just found a photo with me and a small black horse called Nerone which I fell in love with at Mr. Bentley's stables and which I'd been taking out to the big arena so that he could have a good run and move around a bit. :)

Until one day, not long after I stepped foot on that place, the equine centre's owner, Mr. Bentley asked me if I'd like to learn how to ride. Pointless to say that that was one of the best days of my life and I'll be forever greatful to this man for not only giving me this great opportunity and doing so without asking anything in return. I did offer though to help with the cleaning of the stables, which I did, only because I felt this was a fair thing to do.

So I began having regular lessons with horses tacked up with English bridles, snaffle bits, English saddles and tie downs as this is the way it's commonly done in most of the riding schools. The first few lessons were about lunging the horse round and round with the lunging line attached to the bit, but after that I got to hold the reins and had a go by myself learning how to lead the horse at a walk, trot and finally at a canter.

This sounds all great and dandy for the average horse people, right? Only there were a few things going on that my riding instructor was teaching me to do which I didn't agree with. I'm fully aware of the fact that it was me that was the complete beginner and the woman teaching me was a professional rider competing in many prestigious horse jumping events, but these things just didn't feel right to me. I really appreciated that she was taking the time and the effort to teach me how to ride and of course I benefited from every lesson getting better and better with moving in sync with the horse, but there were just a few technical things I wasn't keen on doing or that I didn't find appropriate.

It's nothing new under the sun, in fact (unfortunately) the list below is kind of just how things are normally done at riding schools:

• Tightening the reins so that I can feel the horse's mouth
• Pulling on both reins through the bit at the same time as hard as necessary in order to stop the horse
• Using tie-downs to prevent the horse from lifting their head
• Using the whip to spank them every time they wouldn't obey my command
• Lunging the horse in endless circles making them become bored and frustrated, loosing all their interest of being around people

Doesn't it sound familiar? I'm sure it does.

So as much as I was enjoying the riding lessons, I didn't seem to be able to get a good feeling about that piece of metal in the horse's mouth. On the contrary, I was getting more and more uncomfortable by having to ride like that. And that's when the time came to thank Mr. Bentley and Mary for all of their kind support in initiating me in the art of riding and so I moved on to finding another way of riding, one that I'd be totally comfortable with, one that would suit me best.

I began my research on the internet, watching and reading all I could find about horse riding and training and luckily after just a few days I already knew what I was looking for. There was this term called Natural Horsemanship (NH) that I stumbled upon, which seemed to be the answer for all my prayers regarding horses and riding. I was quite intrigued about this training method because it was promising a wonderful relationship with your horse by relying on equine psychology, understanding how horses behave within the herd and the differences between a prey animal which a horse is, and the human as a predator.

This natural horsemanship method was promising that once you spent enough time with the horse by approaching them in the right manner and by doing some simple exercises from the ground, you would begin to notice that the horse would be listening to you more and more, for me, the horse became much calmer and confident and if you can get a horse to this state, then you find yourself only one small step away from riding them bitless, as I did.

This sounded like heaven to me!...I wanted to learn everything about being able to ride a horse without having to put anything at all in their mouth to control them and natural horsemanship truly seemed to be the perfect way of doing that.

So now that I knew exactly what I wanted to learn about, the next step was to find a place where I could do that. I immediately started to search for equestrian centres that would specialize on natural horsemanship. Well, unfortunately my determination wasn't enough for finding a place like that just because at that time those particular kinds of riding centers didn't really exist in Europe and I didn't have the money to travel to the USA to pay to learn at one of these famous NH trainers such as (to name a few): Pat Parelli, Monty Roberts, Warwick Schiller or Clinton Anderson.

The good news was that there were many Parelli lisenced instructors all over the world and I was lucky to find all of them listed on Pat Parelli's website. So I started sending an e-mail to each and every one of them asking for a chance to learn about this training method that they were teaching.

And voila! After two months of intense searches I finally got a positive answer from a well-known Parelli trainer called Berni Zambail who just happened to be needing some working students. Needless to say that the day this happened was another best day of my life and I'll be forever greatful for this gentleman and his wife, Christine Zambail who not only taught me the basics of natural horsemanship in Germany, but they also treated me as a member of their family and looked after me making sure I had everything I needed.

Here's a picture from those times. It's me sitting on my favourite horse, Dragon (well, I have to admit, every horse becomes my favourite in the end, that's just the way it is, haha).

Although none of the NH trainers mentioned above are exclusively bitless instructors, one thing they all have in common is that every single one of them uses THE SAME WAY of starting a horse and that is: BITLESS! And they usually do that by using a simple rope halter normally with two knots on the nose area and sometimes with four knots.

So I learnt the principles of NH and applied them in the basic exercises both from the ground and in the saddle. The only part I skipped was the use of a bit and I was more than happy with the results! I was indeed very pleased to see that all I wanted to achieve with a horse was more than possible by using nothing else than a ordinary rope halter. It was absolutely amazing!

Finally back home in Transylvania with this new knowledge I gained, my next goal was to learn directly from a true bitless horse trainer, from somebody who was handling horses entirely bitless, from A to Z, no matter what he or she was using them for.

Of course I started my research again only this time I wasn't lucky enough to find a whole list of bitless instructors in one place, but for your information, my list included: Missy Wryn, Justin Dunn, Rick Gore and Chuck Mintzlaff.

My dilemna was that I had to choose one of them, right? Actually, what I truly would have wanted to do was to go and learn from all of them but as I financially wasn't in the situation of doing that, I then chose the one I could afford and that happened to be Missy Wryn. Dear Missy, if you were to ever read this, I want you to know that I am deeply greatful for all the teachings I got from you and all the great support you gave me through your course as well as after that. You are a wonderful, positive person and someone who will be in my thoughts forever!

With that decision taken, I bought two semi-wild horses from a man from a village, who had roughly around 30 horses and kept them in a pretty much miserable condition, I won't describe here, but that's why the horses especially the mare, was outright agressive that came out from the fear inducted by mistreatment. Anyway, I was happy I found both of them at the same place and at a good price for me and that they were not used to any kind of gear, they were not even tamed properly, because that was what I needed for Missy's course: to start these horses under saddle.

Anyway, I did all the exercises from Missy's program, the horses got used to the saddle and rider and I got a certificate approving that I was a gentle bitless horse trainer and also got a good insight of how a genuine bitless instructor's training program looks like.

This was my mare, Swallow, during the training:

And this was my other horse, Bear, the mini stallion :) under the training period:

My two main conclusions after all these experiences were that:

1. All natural horsemanship trainers have the same teaching philosophy and kind of the same exercises, the biggest difference lies in:


• how correctly they use them (which I will cover in another article)
• how gentle or agressive they are in the training process


2. Generally bitless equine instructors are behaving more gentle and humane in their approach to the horse (and to other human beings as well) than those who use bits and all kinds of restraints in their training.

So after I made myself a clear image about what natural horsemanship was, I then moved on with one of my horses to this fancy equestrian centre where I was going to work for a few months. That was this equine tourism facility that I mentioned in my first article where all the horses were kept in standard stables, closed in boxes most of the time and taken out almost exclusively only for using them for riding lessons.

That's why I shortly moved out of there and went to another equine facility, a less fancy one this time. There I worked as a riding instructor, horse trainer and trekking leader. The horses had a better life there, they were closed only during the night and were kept in the field at day time, at least this is how they were kept in the summer. I liked the fact that I had the owner's permission to handle them without using the bits and trained them for bitless riding.

I spent happy and useful days here until the end of that summer came, but by shock, I accidentally found out that the horses would be locked up during winter time...😮 This is not only catalogued by me as abuse but also meant that a big part of my work done in the summer would have been lost by spring. That's only because a horse that isn't constantly exposed to the world's stimulus and used on a regular basis will get more fearful and uncertain after a while...

So when I'd confirmed that the horses had no access at all to the field all winter long, I said my thanks and goodbye and just moved on again.

So, I went to a friend, Landon's place where he kept the horses free in a field with two sheds: one for the horses and one for the hay bales. I started to teach riding lessons but it didn't take us very far as a business as neither of us had the financial background to set it up properly. We kept on trying for about a year and then I decided it was time to move on again. :)

Before leaving, I gave my horses to my friend, as a present, because I knew I couldn't provide a good place for them to live in my home town and because I also knew that they would be looked after very well.


What does a good life mean to a horse besides good food, water and regular vet checks in my point of view?

• Freedom, meaning being able to have a good run around if they feel like it
• Social life: being kept together with at least one other horse
• A shelter to hide from heavy rain, big wind or burning sun
• Regular, pleasant interaction with people
• Being used bitless and barefoot (without metal shoes on their hooves)

I left my horses with Landon as I trusted him that he would provide them with all of the above conditions, which I wasn't able to do at the time.

You can see them both below having a chill in their new home:

I then moved back to my home town thinking of what my next move should be regarding equine work and so I stumbled upon a guy, Ryan, who I became very good friends with. He had two beautiful hucul horses (hucul is a hungarian native horse breed), a mare and a gelding, but unfortunately did not have enough time to spend with them because of his work as a musician.

Here's a photo of both of his horses (Marcsi and Robi):

Anyhow, we agreed that I'd use his horses for teaching riding lessons mostly for children and as he agreed that I could use them bitless, I was more than happy to collaborate. I did a few training sessions with them introducing the rope halter as a riding tool instead of a bitted bridle and began the lessons in the small paddock.

Most of the time I'd hold the lessons by myself but sometimes there would be more clients at the same time, a group of children for example, and then I'd have the lesson together with Ryan. He'd use the horses in a snaffle bridle while I'd use them in a rope halter. I'll be honest, we had a few friendly arguments  regarding bits and bitless horse handling but we always respected each other's point of view and had a fructuous cooperation overall.

See below, one of my students having a lesson:

OK, so a good few months later Ryan decided to sell the horses and buy some taller ones which would be more suitable for endurance riding as this was his next goal to achieve. And to be totally honest about it, although Ryan and I were good friends, it still bothered me seeing the horses being pulled around by the bits in their mouth, especially when I got to spend more and more time with them. I mean these horses became my friends as well and it obviously hurt me watching them being hurt and misunderstood.

I only wish that Ryan would have listened to his horses more...

Anyway, I've learned a lot from that experience as well and when our partnership ended it was even more clear to me what I really wanted was to be around people with the same vision about horses as me. I was longing to find a way to educate people about a safer and genuine, honest way of being around horses. As I mentioned in my first article, the very first step of doing that is going completely bitless.

I wanted to be able to enjoy the company of a horse by riding out on the hills and in the forests, and not only that, I wanted the horse to feel the same way as I do. I wanted them to enjoy going out and having a nice walk or run in the middle of nature or whatever the surroundings were. I wanted them as my good friend that I could just wander around with and them to see me as their good friend whom they can feel safe and relaxed with at all times.

Even more than that, I wanted to make it possible for other people to experience the friendship of a horse on the deepest levels as possible. What I really aspired for was to create the perfect environment where both horse and human would enjoy each other's company while enjoying the beauty of nature.

And it suddenly clicked to me the way I could achieve all this was by having my own bitless trekking centre, or by having it in partnership with someone else who has the same vision and plan as I have!

With that said, a new phase of my equine journey began...

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Bitless Bridle Quick Tip For Transferring From A Standard Bridle To A Bitless Bridle

Just wanted to pop my head round the corner and say give a quick tip if you have recently or are about to convert from riding your horse with a normal bridle, to a btiless bridle.

It can be hard at first to convert, for both you and your horse, but I will say that it will be one of the best things you ever do, as it means that you are almost forced into bonding with your horse in a much more natural and spiritual level...

And there truly is a need to do this, as you will never reach your true bonding potential, until you have stopped hurting your horse just to ride it..

Anyhow, onto the tip :)

One of the main things to remember is that when converting your horse from a standard bridle to a bitless one is that, you yourself will be required to develop a completely new riding technique, well not completely new... What I mean is that you will no longer be able to stop your horse by yanking on its mouth, hurting the poor animal and in-turn stopping it in its tracks...

So I would definitely reccommend that you start your riding using a bitless bridle with your horse, in as small a paddock as you can, the smaller the better, thus preventing your horse from being able to run freely...

This is highly important, as it enables you to keep both you and your horse in a safer environment, but also will enable you a better chance of a bonding experience and in-turn build a stronger and more trusting relationship between you and your horse and unltimately allowing you to ride openly, forever, with a bitless bridle!

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Why I've Chosen Bitless Riding?

                               

                                           

Or should I say: why bitless chose me?

So, was it a curse or is it a blessing?

I often wondered about these questions and I've come to the conclusion that yes, maybe once, a long time ago it was a curse, but now I truly can say that it is a blessing...

So, why was it a curse for a such a long time?

As much as I wanted to stay in the "normal" horse world, getting a normal groom job at any of the so many equestrian centres around the world, just wasn't a possibility for me anymore...

Once I'd tasted the feeling of bitless, the feeling of using a bitless bridle or in most cases even just a simple rope halter, I couldn't do it anymore, I had been changed forever.

I couldn't have a normal horse job as I was now against the majority, but I knew in my heart that using bits in bridles was a punishment to horses and not something that you should employ if you are truly trying to bond with your horse. I am sure my life would have been so much easier if I had stayed stupid, but once I had seen the damage they can do first hand, I knew deeply in my heart that it was wrong to use them.

Let's think about it for a moment. I just wanted to be around horses, right? Every day. Day after day, for the rest of my life. As much as possible...

So back in 2012, I made the most logical decision I had ever made in all my days and stepped forward to become the wandering wanderer, an outlaw, a nomad, Billy the Kid :)

The horse whisperer...

In order to achieve my dreams and also in turn help others to see horses in a new light, I worked at different equine facilities all over the world, learning, watching, riding... And having to move from place to place was fun, each new place I came to brought with it new challenges, new opportunities for me to learn and develop myself and my ability to bond with horses, it also gave me the opportunity to prove to people that I met, that even though many places still used bits in bridles, the need for them was just a myth and that if those people used bitless bridles, the benefits for the horse and their ability to bond better would far outweigh any perceived benefits they would get with sticking with bits.

Being a free spirit, I was free to implement my great plan. Having just got my first job at a prestigious, modern equestrian centre in Romania, which happened to be not only a highly ranked equine centre but also a well known hospitality resort with a big restaurant and nice rooms for tourists to rent.

Anyway, I won't describe it too much, that's not my point. My point is, I spent a couple of months working and living there with my horse and dog at that time and I really enjoyed the team work, the company of my collegues and talking to clients, teaching them how to ride, going on trail rides, etc.

So here I am living on site in my self contained, pretty, all inclusive accommodation, with my dog in the house and my horse in the stall, all this for free and with a good wage on top of it as well. It looks all nice and dandy, right?

I mean I have a good place for myself and my dog to live in, good food and drinks, co-workers' and clients' good company, good fun with horses and people, even my laundry was taken care of, haha.

Working in these conditions in a prestigious place with great horses: Friesans, Arabians, PRE, Andalusian, Lusitano, super modern barn with a fancy tack room with all kind of horse tack: english horse bridles, snaffle bridles, hackamore bridles, the boss's personal western show bridle and saddle and the latest acquisition of course: my humble bitless bridle which was more of a halter than a bridle anyway.

So...what else could I wish for? Well, I have to say, I did enjoy all this until I started to notice more and more the boredom, the frustration, the fear and sometimes the pain in the horses' eyes.

What do you mean? - You'd ask.

These horses are well cared for. Look at them! They all are well fed, brushed all over every day, I mean look at their shiny coats!

They are sheltered from rain and cold in nice, clean boxes, with plenty of fresh sawdust to lay on, with automatic drinking troughs for each and every one of them...They even have their own blankets for winter. What an insult thinking they would be ignored or mistreated!

Yes, that's all true. - I'd say to you. But what does the horse have to tell you, my friend? What do they tell you when you look into their eyes? What does their body language and attitude tell you about how they are feeling?

If you were to have eyes to see, my friend, you'd easily notice exactly how happy they are and in most cases that I have experienced, not at all happy, not in the slightest.

In many of the equestrian centres where I have gained experience, I have come across horses that are not content, not calm, not responsive, but instead they appear much more reactive.

Think about it for a second, take a knee, have a good English cuppa...

If you were to stick a piece of metal in your horse's mouth, tie their head down maybe, get a whip in your hand to get ready to quickly adjust its unwanted behaviour at any time and then you can be really impressive and show off as you parade around on their back...

Yeah right! That's until they freak out of something, you want to stop them of course by pulling on the reins, the bit then causes pain in their mouth making them freak out even more and then you find yourself flying off of them, not so proudly anymore... By the way.  Did you know that going bitless could massively help horses with TMJ (temporo-mandibular joint disorder), meaning it could alleviate the pain in this joint? So what do you think the best bridles for horses with TMJ are? Bitless bridles, of course. I think this is definitely something that's worth keeping in mind.

There have been many people to lose when it comes to horses... Sorry to mention it here, but think about the sad case of Superman... Just think, nurturing a horse takes years and years to achieve, but accidents only take seconds...

So how do bits and other horse gear and riding techniques help then?

Well, let me tell you how bitless riding would have helped. A bitless horse would have been much more prepared psychologically, therefore  a horse that is used to a bitless bridle is often:

• much more calmer
• much more responsive
• much more willing
• much more attentive to their rider
• much more comfortable with their surroundings
• much more curious instead of fearful
• much more relaxed
• much more easy to handle

One word for all, a horse trained to ride bitless would have been  much more safe and enjoyable and isn't that something that worth taking the time for?

If you happen to be a bitless rider or thinking about becoming one, I have to tell you, there are, thankfully, many kind of bitless bridles already out there, but there's one particular bridle I'd mostly recommend which I find it to be very effective and also a good looking one. It was designed by one of my favourite horsemen, a guy called Justin Dunn and he traines wild mustangs totally bitless from A to Z, with a very simple and gentle training method and then use them for riding only in this high quality leather bitless bridle.

You can see a full size picture of this bitless bridle over at the Justin Dunn website if interested in having a look, but a preview is below (that's my personal bridle :)). His website is amazing and definitely worth the view, especially if you are interested in bitless bridles, but even if you just want to read some great horsey information. Justin is a true advocate for bitless bridles and has inspired me in many of my endeavours...

Now let me ask you this...

How many times have you heard or witnessed or maybe happened to you that the horse took off running blindly with the rider in the saddle, the rider who had no clue how to stop him anymore despite of the piece of metal shoved in their mouth or the tie downs and all the special, fancy tack put on him?

You don't need to search too far to find out about all kinds of similar stories.

Really? Why does this all need to happen? What's the missing link? Why would happy, healthy horses who love your company as a human, be reactive and act as if you're not even there, putting maybe their and your life in danger?

Well, horses are unpredictable. That's just the way they are. Everybody knows that...

Actually, this is not entirely true... In my experience, horses are only as unpredictable as the lack of trust in the human handling them. Which means, of course, that the higher the trust you have for them the more they will trust you. If they trust you, they are more likely to keep you safe from harm.

Okay, so that makes sense. - You say... But what does trust have to do with the way we keep horses then?

It is interesting how personal horses can be. They love to be kept in dry, clean, even luxurious stables at times. And with this in mind, I find it truly amazing how so many people would consider this is all the horse could ever need or want, but in my experience, they need even more care and attention than this.

Let me explain... So, is it wrong to have a nice, clean stable? No, it's not. Is it wrong to keep the horses locked up in boxes for long hours, depriving them of moving freely whilst enjoying each others company? Now that is totally the wrong thing to do!

Just imagine yourself being confined to a room 20 to 23 hours each day, all by yourself without any or the rare opportunity to have a proper interaction with your fellow human beings. And on top of that having to sleep in the same place which you use as a toilet as well. And every now and then, if you're really lucky maybe every day, somebody would come, stick a piece of iron in your mouth, tie it to a leadrope or to the reins, walk you out of your cozy box and make you perform the exercises they expect you to do and if you don't understand how to do them or don't want to do them, they'd yank on the bit in your mouth and maybe even whip you for not complying.

Hey, but other than that you'd be treated as a king or a queen in your fancy cell: you'd get nice food, good drinks, many treats, nutritious supplements every day, two or three times a day.

Would you like that kind of life? Would you be happy and healthy? Would you be looking forward to meet the one who'll take you out? Would you be eager and joyous to spend time with them? Would you do your best to please them? One word for all: Would you TRUST them?...

So which one would you prefer if you were a horse?

This one (even if it has a small paddock besides the actual horse box)?

Or this?

I think these questions and photos speak for themselves. The answer is pretty obvious...

It's one thing, you see, to keep the horses together in a big enough outdoor area where they have the space to freely gallop if they wanted to and only have them stalled for short periods of time let's say for the purpose of getting them ready for a trail ride or waiting for the vet to come, etc.

But even then I'd much more prefer to see them in a smaller outdoor place, a paddock for example, than shutting them in boxes. And it's a whole other story doing it all vice versa, like keeping horses confined for the majority of the time and getting them out only for short periods of time.

Anyway, I'm sure you get my point by now. That's the reason I couldn't stay for longer at that equestrian centre because of the fact that in most cases, all of the horses were kept in these beautiful looking, wrought iron and shiny wooden made boxes.

Then we'd take the so-called school horses into the fancy indoor arena and teach people how to control them and show them who's the boss by pulling on the reins, yanking the bits around in their mouthes. And that's the reason I've stopped working at this type of places for good.

From my heart, I just couldn't force a horse do something they clearly didn't want to do, or didn't enjoy doing. Even more than that, how could I possibly feel entitled of having any expectations at all from a horse that has been deprived of their fundamental needs?

A horse that has been deprived of freedom and social life is nothing more than a human being deprived of the same life giving needs... Heck, we treat criminals as such, why should we treat horses as criminals, they are beautiful creatures, that deserve our respect!

What right would I or anyone else have to keep you closed and use you in any which way but loose? Isn't that slavery? Isn't that exploitation?

I think I've made my point by now, so I won't go further down on this dark path. I'd rather talk now about the blessings of going bitless and why choosing bitless was a blessing for me.

The fact that it didn't feel right for me to pull on the reins attached to the bits even from my first riding lessons, quickly led me to search for other possibilities. By researching, I found out that there are indeed other, more humane, more friendly methods of interacting with horses. And it was a real delight learning and finally experiencing bitless riding!

I found it absolutely astonishing, amazing and beautiful! You know what? I know it sounds over realistic but I just find riding bitless, simply undescribable! I mean if I had to describe it in only one word, I guess I'd have to sum up all the positive words you can ever find in all the dictionaries around the world all together. Ha! But I'll have to let that to your imagination only because I'm not that creative with languages, haha.

That's bitless riding for me: joy, ease, flow, lightness, friendship, understanding, peace, harmony, excitement, adventure, choice, respect, happiness, miracle, exuberance, freedom, trust, love...and much more than that...

Something like this...

I know it sounds like pure fantasy but for me it is reality. It's my reality because I've lived it and that can't be denied by anybody.

You could experience it too, but maybe slightly differently, which is totally fine as we are of course different individuals and everyone has their own reality about the very same subject, right?

Maybe you already ride bitless which would be wonderful news of course and if you leave a comment on this post, I would love to hear and read about your experiences, journey and trials.

I can imagine that you may have started out in a similar way to myself by learning to ride using all the gear that common riding schools teach you to use: bits, whips, spurs and tie downs.

Well, that was certainly my case and as I mentioned earlier, I quickly turned my focus on bitless riding and, thank the Lord, have been on this path ever since!

So why going bitless turned out to be a blessing even if it's given me lots of inner restlessness as well as external contradictory interactions by people who wouldn't understand it and would even ridicule me for it?

Okay. Here's why: giving up bits and other control devices was a blessing, my friend, because when you do that, what you really do in fact is make room for your very first step towards a successful, powerful, flourishing relationship between you and your horse.

By going bitless, a whole new world opened in front of me, a world with endless opportunities, a world with so many ways of being with horses and doing things with them other than just jumping in the saddle, tighten the reins, bossing around and hoping for the best.

Going bitless gave the horse the chance to express themselves, to show their feelings and their wishes and it also gave me the chance to work on myself and learn every day a little bit more about what can I do, how can I approach the horse so that he'd rather choose me to be with than even their horse fellows.

It is a blessing you see because it teaches both the horse and the human about trusting each other more and more with every minute spent together. And is there a more valuable thing for someone, be it human or horse or any other creature, than giving them your whole trust or for you to have their full trust? Well, for me definitely it's the greatest honor somebody could give me and of course the greatest honor I could give someone.

As you can see going bitless is not just about going bitless. It is much more deeper than the simple act of removing the bits from our horses' mouths or bridles. It's about building trustworthy, harmonious, long lasting relationships by becoming a better version of ourselves in the process. It's about mastering oneself.

And I must say, having the privilege of helping others take on this journey, adding to the quality of their lives and also the lives of their horses' is a true blessing, indeed...

I'll end this article here with a picture of me and Romulus, a friendly, young gelding I encountered a few years ago, having a nice bonding session by just enjoying a good walk on a beautiful, sunny day and eating some fresh, raw corn together. Sorry you can't see Romulus's eyes, being covered by a corn leaf. 😃

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