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The Great Nurtural Bitless Experiment: Green Horse

Horse in Nurtural Bitless Bridle during fitting. More pictures and video under saddle to come. Please check back frequently.

The Horse: Annie is a 6 year old Haflinger, accustomed to being riding in a Kimberwick bit throughout previous riding. She is gentle by nature, but quite powerful, and would often push through the bit and ‘run off’. She is still green, and is only just starting to learn collection and her leads, this year.

The Preliminary Results: I have always been quite skeptical of bitless bridles. I never thought I would purchase one in my life, but I had been offered the chance to experiment with the Nurtural Bitless Bridle on my green mare, Annie.

My mare has always worked fairly well in a bit. Her main flaw was her desire to occasionally bolt during schooling sessions. It seemed to be out of adrenaline rather than fear or discomfort. Regardless, I accepted the challenge to use the Bitless Bridle and log my findings.

It was a windy day, the first time I put the bridle on my mare. I did not ride with a bit beforehand, but introduced the bridle to her via the ground; flexing, backing her up, halting, etc. until she understood its functions. I was most worried about how she would react to the strange pressure points she had never been accustomed to. The preparation worked. I hopped on my mare, and proceeded with my riding. Despite the wind, she was not spooky and responded positively to my aids as if she had ridden in it for years. I almost instantly noticed how she moved out nicer at the trot, and was very impressed. Picking up the correct canter lead was easy, and my mare maintained a nice, consistent pace.

As I further tested the limits of the bitless bridle, we endured isolated road hacks and schooling of her formidable leads. I was thrilled with her ease during the road hack, and never felt as if my control had been sacrificed. Her spookiness seemed to lesson in the bitless bridle, than when she had worn the bit out hacking. When she would try to bolt at home, I found I was able to bring Annie back faster or at about the same distance as in the bit.

As she became more comfortable in the bridle, we began to practice our execution of flying leads. It began as it often does for green horses, with her only changing in the front. Quickly, however, she began to get the concept.

Within a week or two we were performing multiple flying changes in a row, with a horse who was calm and eager and responsive to the bridle. Overall, my initial impressions were very positive. Control was never sacrificed, and the horse appeared calm and happy.

All this is not to say I do not have any cons regarding the bridle. I am quite happy with my mare’s performance in it, but I wish there was some stretch in the noseband to facilitate chewing. The Circle-X does a fabulous job of maintaining the position of the cross-under straps, but I feel that for some sensitive types, the whole-head hugging action may be a bit ‘traumatizing’, unless they are accustomed sufficiently.

While collection is definitely possible to achieve in this bitless bridle, it can be more easily executed in a bit. Personally though, I do not think I could recommend a cross-under style bitless bridle to teach collective work, as I think the aids could prove confusing, unless done by a very competent rider, who is able to ride solely off their seat.

I must comment on the most dramatic change to my mare since using the Nurtural. She hated to back up in a bit, and would never do so straight. Since using the bitless bridle, she puts her head down and backs up without resistance- and in a straight! I have also found that I am able to get a more ‘through’ connection to her with the bitless bridle, and her turning has dramatically improved, as she bends nicely into the turns.

The Verdict? I went into this experiment quite the skeptic. However, I knew there was no way my horse would work well for me if I had a bad attitude about trying the bridle out. Now I am glad I got the opportunity!

The bitless bridle has proved invaluable for schooling, and has helped calm my mare out on hacks. I find transitioning between using a standard bridle and the Nurtural to be the best for enhanced performance. My mare seems to learn better in the bitless bridle, and I can then transfer those skills over to bitted work.

The bridle has challenged me to use my seat and legs before my hands, and my riding has, in turn, improved dramatically. The chance to use this bridle has proven me to be quite the hypocrite, and I am embarrassed to say that I used to look down on those who competed bitless. I believe bitless bridles can offer effective control and communication. The feeling to the rider is as if riding in a bit.

While I don’t think this particular style bridle would be the best choice for high level dressage, I think it works particularly well for lower to intermediate levels and could provide quite the benefits for those who show-jump, trail ride, compete in western events, or are all-around riders. Any horse who tends to fight the bit or become flighty, would probably settle well into one of these bridles. I will continue to experiment with the bitless bridle, and log my findings.

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