… a wise man said. And I could not agree more. You should never depend on the bit, you should never need it to gain control. A bit can be a torture device in the wrong hands, and should me handled with care. But in some cases, it can be a helpful tool of communication on the long journey of educating the dressage horse. But never because you need it.
If you need metal in your horse’s mouth to be able to ride him, you are doing something very wrong.
Riding is not about the tack. Riding is a feeling, it’s two induviduals communicating at the finest level. If you need metal in order to do so, it’s no longer fine communication. If you use the bit with great care to add more finesse to your hand, then it’s fine communcation.
But in the end, it does not matter if you choose to ride with a bit, with a bitless bridle, with a rope halter, with a cordeo or without anything. Riding is so much more than the tack itself, why do we focus so much about it? Riding is a feeling, and it’s all about the foundation of communcating through energy and body language. That’s the important part. The second most important thing is how you chose to use all your aids. A touch of your leg, or a kick?
Remember, in the wrong hands, even a cordeo can also be painful. Don’t stress so much about what kind of tack you prefer. The goal is to ride with the lightest signals possible, but that doesn’t always mean to throw your soft sidepull in the trash can because someone else can ride barerback, bridleless and with voice cues only.
Use your head, never use violence and find the best solution for you and your horse. Aim for your goals, but take your time and enjoy the journey!
3 comments
I do need a bit because my horse embarks me so for our security I need a bit (but that’s not enough to control him). That make me sad because I DON’T want to depend on it. If you have any advices, I’ll take them with pleasure ! Thank you for posting those kind of topic on your blog ! xoxo
I Use a Bit Too. I only recently started to inform myself about Alternative riding methods and started to stop using the reins and only having them for safety reasons because my horse dosn’t know brideless riding. I started to Use my legs more and to stop by using my weight. I try to teach my horse to get more sensitive and it works really well because sie is already sensitive.
Thank You for showing me this Better way of riding!
My horse is very lazy so although I want to try to ride with very small aids I find it very difficult. I’d love to know if you have any tips as my goal is to be able to communicate while riding with small aids?