Hi - I love my Bitless Bridle! My mare hated bits, and so  did I - didn't want to use them. A mild hackamore was okay, but when I'd put it on her, she looked so odd, head would go down, as if she felt she was "submitting" to such a contraption. I bought the nylon bitless - less expensive. The moment I put it on her, her head raised, her eyes lit up, and she seemd to have sudden energy - but it was "contained", and contained humanely. She wasn't going to run away from me - she just felt the difference! I wouldn't use anything else. I remember reading how you might feel that your horse isn't "in your hands", but they are. I've had no trouble with it. Love it (and I use my own reins, too). I do agree that you have to make sure you have the correct fit, the correct snugness, and that it's working correctly on the appropriate pressure points.

guess everything has its pros and cons....but she is currently being a very happy broodmare. Will see what happens if/when she comes home.

 

I couldn't agree more.  To be honest I would probably never have tried one if I hadn't had so many problems with my horse.  My last pony who I sadly lost 2 years ago I would never have even considered going bitless with.  SHe was happy in a eggbutt french link for 11 years.  The major downfall for me is that hardly anywhere allows you to compete bitless.  I have come to the conclusion though that I would rather be happy riding safely at home with my current 2 than fighting and having problems with them.  I'm going to give endurance riding a go.  At least I can enjoy having my guys rather than considering selling them. 

 I also agree about the harshness.  They do have the potential to be harmful.  Haven ridden under strict instruction of a very good dressage trainer I feel that I am pretty sensitive.   But do be careful.  I used to see so called good riders sawing on their horses mouths which really used to make me angry.  I always wished their horse would buck them off just to serve them right!!!

I have a bitless bridle. I'm not absolutely positive it's a dr. cook, but I know that it helped my horse out tremendously. He used to have an awful time with bits in his mouth (because apparently he needed his teeth done and we were still n00bs and didn't know there were such things as horse dentists) and so to try and get a fix, we bought a bitless bridle. Phoenix was the type of horse that would toss his head, bite the bit and not let it out. As soon as we put him into the bitless, he was perfect and he really does respond to it well. I still use it today occasionally to jump in because he has that sensitive of a mouth. The only problem is, unless you just do english trail rides, you can't show in them except for I think stadium jumping? If we could show in them, I would definitely use it all the time rather than the rubber snaffle. They're easier to clean xD