Episode 235: The challenge of bit-less and bridleless riding.

Episode 235_ The challenge of bit-less and bridleless riding..mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 235_ The challenge of bit-less and bridleless riding..mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
Because here's where people often get confused. Bitless riding is actually a version of riding with the bridle. Bridleless is generally defined as having nothing on the horse's head.

Speaker2:
Podcasting from a little cabin on a hill. This is the Stacy Westfall podcast. Stacy's goal is simple to teach you to understand why horses do what they do, as well as the action steps for creating clear, confident communication with your horses.

Speaker1:
Hi, I'm Stacy Westfall and I'm here to teach you how to understand, enjoy, and successfully train your own horses. Today I'm answering a question that came in about Bitless and or Bridleless riding. Let's listen to the question.

Speaker3:
Hello Stacy. Thank you so much for your wonderful podcast. I learned about it thanks to my 16 year old daughter and we've enjoyed listening to episodes together. I'm hoping you can help us with a training question. We have a 12 year old retired jumper who is retired due to back from jumping due to back pain. He can still be ridden on the flat, but trainers and vets have encouraged us to be really mindful that he's using his back in a healthy way. My daughter is very interested in Bitless and Bridleless work and we just want to make sure that we're doing this work in a way that doesn't accidentally undermine healthy biomechanics. I have noticed and have some concern that he is bracing against the bitless bridles, either the rope halter or the bustle. And I also have some concern that he's. Not carrying himself. Well, when when Bridleless. I'm wondering if you could share a checklist or advice about how you decide when to proceed with Bitless and Bridleless work. Thanks so much. Bye bye.

Speaker1:
Thanks for the question. I'm going to answer your question. Knowing that you and your daughter are listening for the answer. But I also want to answer in a way that helps everyone else listening who is considering a situation like this. They're considering Bridleless or Bitless. So when I zoom out and really think about what the challenge is, I will come back to your specific challenge with bracing against the Bitless bridles. But when I zoom out and I look at the bigger challenge, what I often see is that when people begin looking at Bridleless and I'm going to put Bitless in there for a minute later in the podcast, you're going to hear how I separate that out. But when people start thinking about Bridleless, one of the biggest challenges I see is that people immediately think of what they want to do less of. They want to do less with the reins. But rarely do people think about what they want to do more of. Another way to say it is what are you going to replace the Rein, Q with? So for me that's going to be more leg cuz. For example, if I want to stop my horse, it's very common if you're riding with a bridle to stop the horse with the Rein, Q. I want to create a queue with my legs that stops the horse and even asks the horse to back up. And then another challenge that I see is that maybe people do imagine that they will be using more of something like I just explained, like more leg.

Speaker1:
The next level of challenge there is do those people stop to double check the horses? Understanding of that cue? A different way to say it would be. Did the previous system of training. Address this so that the horse will understand that new cue. So in your situation, if I plug your horse into this example, does his background. Already support the idea that you're going to be using a leg cue for a backup. So let's say that the previous training was a combination of the bridle and the legs to back up. So if that's true, then the horse really doesn't understand just the use of the legs to back up. So we start to see the layers of challenges that are on the table when we want to switch to this. And here's why. Bridleless riding is an entire system. Riderless isn't just removing a piece of tack. It's literally learning an entire different system. So the horse in Bridleless riding has to understand the cues that replace with the reins used to do so. If the reins used to ask the horse to turn to the right, what's going to ask the horse to turn to the right now? How's the horse going to know if they're supposed to turn a little bit to the right or a lot to the right? And the rider has to have a plan for how to support the horse when the horse is confused.

Speaker1:
Not if the horse is confused. Horses get confused and ask questions during a normal traditional training process. Let's call that with the reins. And the riders have to have a plan for how they're going to address this. You have to have a plan for how you're going to address this when you head towards Bridleless riding. If not, if you don't have this plan, then what's going to happen is the rider is going to be confused. And when the rider is confused, they're unclear with their body. And then the horse. In this case, we're still plugging your horse into this example. If that horse has come from a traditional using a bridle education and he doesn't understand those new layers, then he's confused. What really needs to happen is the rider needs some clarity, the horse needs some clarity, and ultimately it must become muscle memory for both the horse and the rider. That's when we can say it's really clear when it's that immediate response and that what we could call muscle memory, or at least a very habitual memory of understanding, Oh, when the rider does this, this is what they're asking for. So let's take a closer look at what Bridleless riding is and isn't. The first thing to understand is that you have to make some decisions about how you define bridleless riding, because here's where people often get confused.

Speaker1:
Bitless riding is actually a version of riding with the bridle. Bridleless is generally defined as having nothing on the horse's head. So no halter and lead rope, no bosal, no bridle, no bitless bridle. So bridle is riding. You might see people riding with a neck rope and that would be defined as bridle less. They might be using know dressage whips or sticks to help steer the horse in place of the neck rope. Or they could be riding with just the rider's body. So the legs, maybe even they reached out and use their hands. Those things would be used to help steer the horse in Bridleless riding, but it wouldn't be a bitless bit. And the reason this is an important definition is because less bit, which is what a bitless bridle is, is not the same as no bridle, so less bit. The category of less bit would include halter bitless bridle. Et cetera. All of those. What they have in common is they can still use a rein, system to help support the horse. So in your message, when you say I've noticed and have some concerns that he's bracing against the Bitless bridle. What you're indicating is that when the horse moved to less bit, which is basically just a different type of signal through the reins, any anytime you change bits, whether you go more or less, what you're doing is you're changing the signal that comes through the rein,.

Speaker1:
So if your horse isn't clear on what that different signal means. Then a really common response is that they're heavy on the reins. So this can happen with different bits or in your case, going without the bit. But the reason I want you to really slow down and think about it like this is because you can actually address this bracing issue from two completely different angles. The first one would be to address it the same way you would if you were improving the horse's response to any bit. So if you were applying pressure to the REIN, to ask the horse to do something you would pay detailed attention to when you would release that Rein, When the horse did that movement or was closer to that movement, you would release and you would create a habit pattern that helped the horse find that desired response. So in the first version, you're basically just improving the horse's response to the bit, even though it's a bitless bridle, we're calling it a bit. The other way to look at it is that you replace the signal with a completely different signal. So instead of the rein, being the signal and going to the bit, you now replace the signal to do something like stop. You never replace that with a completely different signal and you teach the horse to respond from a completely different cue. You could replace the downward transition to a stop with a leg cue.

Speaker1:
Can you see that there are two different approaches to this? Now you can fully work both systems. That's exactly what I do. I actually want to improve my horse's response to my rein, cues. But I also keep it very clear in my mind that the other thing I want to do is teach a system that involves no reins at all, in this case, leg use. The challenge here is in the rider's mind and then in the rider's body. The challenge here is staying clear on the separation between the two. Very often when people are trying to learn this, they think they're using just the legs. But if you recorded yourself, you would realize that you're using a little bit of rein, and leg, and that's fine for the training. But what I want you to understand is that what I'm talking about is actually two completely different systems. And the one that's going to be the most important if you go bridleless is going to be the one that doesn't involve the bridle at all, not less of the bridle. Here's a possible and I'm not sure because we're not talking, but for everyone listening, here's a possible thought error. The possible thought error is. I've been riding my horse in this bit. And on a scale of 1 to 10 and I'm just making this up, it's a it's a level five bit. So therefore, if I teach my horse to respond better in a level four bit and then a level three and then a level two and then a level one, then the next thing I could do is take the bridle off.

Speaker1:
The problem with that would be lighter and lighter responses to the Rein, Q. Doesn't necessarily mean they're ready for Bridleless because it's two different systems. This is why I've always recommended that before people try Bridleless riding, they should always consider tying the reins up to the saddle loosely so that they've got the safety net there and riding full blown rides for a month or two, or let's give that number like 20 to 40 rides and solve all of the challenges you face without touching the reins. Because when you take the bridle off, you won't have that safety net anymore. If you can do that, you will then know that you are fully using what I would call a bridle system. They are two different systems. Lighter and lighter rains could be combined with also refining the bridle system. That is how I do it. They can be closely related, but pay attention to this next sentence. They're not always closely related. So let's circle back to two questions that I believe you must answer to yourself repeatedly the entire time you're on a bridal journey because your answers may change. You need to continually ask yourself and answer these two questions Why do I want a ride? Bridleless. How do I want to define success? Many people that I talk with about bridleless kind of skate right past these questions without even deeply considering them.

Speaker1:
So slow down for a minute and really consider why do you want to ride Bridleless? The biggest danger in skating right past this is that many people, without realizing it, are approaching bridleless from the standpoint of avoiding the use of the bridle. Now, listen to this. It's very subtle. The problem with avoiding the bridle is you have to look closer at that to see if it's rooted. In a negative thought about bit. I promise. This isn't about bits. Underneath a possible negative thought about bits. Let's just pretend that you're like, ooh, yucky bits, negative. Thought about bits. Under there is often not 100%, but often a negative thought about pressure or the concept of pressure. This is actually the root that we're looking for to see if it exists. It's not the bit or the no bit that causes the problem. One of the biggest problems I see is the idea that Bridleless doesn't involve. Anything that you could perceive as pressure. And I'm telling you, bridleless does involve something that you could perceive as pressure. Bridleless does involve something that your horse could perceive as pressure. I'm just using the word pressure, but it's something like that. So here's the totally fascinating thing. It's not the horse's perception here that's the problem. It's the human's perception of it. So if you have any indication that you are avoiding a tool like a bit because you're like a bit, you just get curious and really look at it.

Speaker1:
You can write it on a piece of paper and then burn it if you don't want to admit it. But you've got to at least admit it to yourself. Because yes, when I ride my horse and you see me riding with no bridle, it is easy for you to perceive that there is no possible way. I'm using bridle pressure. There's no bridle. It's true. There's no possible way. I'm using bridle pressure. But I'm telling you, I am using leg pressure. I have a lot of leg cues. So oftentimes when people want to avoid the concept of pressure. They end up in a little bit of a bind because if they don't think about it, they will get to the point where they need to use something to communicate with the horse aside from mental telepathy. But if you pull that off, I want videos of it. I want to know how it worked. But if you are riding with what most people do when they're going for Bridleless, that is going to be moving many of your cues, if not all of them, into your legs and your body, maybe a neck rope. What's going to happen there is you're going to still have to at some point deal with your concept of adding pressure. You've heard some recent podcasts about this, so I'm going to stop myself from going any deeper here because again, this is actually a writer's mind issue.

Speaker1:
I'm here to tell you, hot horses can be trained to ride bridleless and accept the leg pressure and yes, not run off. I'm talking about they can make really good riderless horses. Cold horses can be trained to ride bridleless and respond willingly to leg pressure. But for clarity's sake, there will be some type of pressure involved here. So it's just important to realize why are you choosing Brideless? Sometimes when you go with less, like less bit or less bridle, sometimes less is less clear. That's why I encourage you to think that. Yes. In Bridleless riding, you'll be using less reins or in my case, when I'm bridleless none. But you will be doing more with your legs. That's where the clarity is going to come from, at least in my program. So let's pretend again that I ask you why do you want to ride Bridleless? And you've already done this. Reflecting that, I just recommended that you say I am not avoiding the concept of pressure. I am just fascinated with this type of communication. I'd say perfect. Me too. I consider Bridleless riding to be advanced communication. The translation of advanced communication is a more refined system. It's subtle, but it's clear. It also at least currently still falls under a non traditional queue system. So then you need to look at this next question.

Speaker1:
How do you want to define success? And this is, again, way more important than you think. On the surface, it's like I can ride without a bridle. Yes, but what does that mean? Is success riding around in your round pen at home, at a walk and a trot and being able to stop when you want to? Or is it competing in a freestyle reining with no bridle? There isn't a right or a wrong, but the level of the cue system needed does change. As you change that goal and you're allowed to change the goal. And it might seem obvious when I ask it, but here's why I'm using two extremes Round pen at home walk and trot versus freestyle reining. Sometimes people forget that even with a bridle, when you change locations, the horse's response can often change their having a different emotional experience probably at home than they are if they're in front of 6000 people at a horse show. So when I ride bridleless, one of the reasons I'm fascinated with it is because of how mentally engaged the horses learn to be. They have to learn to really pay attention and listen to every part of my body. But. This also makes it a different challenge when the world around them gets noisy. I totally start in a controlled environment. I highly recommend that you do. Also. That could be a round pen. It could be your indoor arena, it could be somewhere.

Speaker1:
And again, the reins are tied up. But what I want you to remember is this is a new system and a new way of thinking that requires the horse to make choices. Even when and especially when you're in a new environment and there's something loud and noisy over there and your system. Is refined and is subtle. They need to understand it very well. So for me, I like this challenge because my horses learn to listen to my subtle cues and also learn to tune out these other distractions. But this means I have a really good relationship with sensitizing and desensitizing aspects of work. Because advanced work and bridleless is advanced work always contains both sides. The horse needs to be sensitive enough to listen to all of those subtle cues, but desensitized enough that they're not hot and reactive to all of those leg cues. Now, let's address your concern and your question. Your concern is that he's bracing against the Bitless bridle. And I've addressed that when I mentioned you can look at the system of how you would improve a horse's response to any bit, and that's one angle you could look at it. And the other one is that you could look at what you're doing for cues that don't require the reins at all. That's how I would begin to think about the bracing. But that also bleeds over into your other question, which is I'm wondering if you could share a checklist or advice about how you decide when to proceed with Bitless and Bridleless work.

Speaker1:
One of the reasons it's challenging for me to say where the Bridleless riding starts for me is because I do overlap the two systems. So again, let me say it this way. It sounds a little bit like you might be thinking the path is less and less bit until eventually you have none. But that is not my approach. Let's use the example of teaching a horse to stop. This is something that can be done with the reins only, and it's commonly done with the reins or a combination of the reins and the legs. But in my program, when I'm training a horse, once the horse understands the cue of stopping with the reins, then I begin teaching a separate independent cue for stopping that uses only my legs. No rein, at all. So that process of teaching the horse to stop with a leg cue only, not a leg and rein,. Q But a leg. Q Only when they really understand that the other thing that it teaches them as a side effect is that the horse begins to think, Oh, legs don't always mean go forward. And because that league-q doesn't rely on the rains at all, it really helps to reduce the dependance on the rain during downward transitions, and that reduces a lot of bracing. It also, even when you're going to use the rains, helps you clarify different things because you now have a whole second system for regulating the horse's speed that doesn't rely on the rains.

Speaker1:
So now you're able to create different bends and different shapes and guide the horse with the reins while regulating the speed a different way. So in my resourceful writer program, there are students in there that are currently teaching this concept to their horses because they were looking for improved downward transitions and improved balance when cantering. And it's interesting because the easiest way to improve the downward transitions, the upward transitions and the balance, the overall balance in riding is by weaning away the dependance on the reins to regulate the horse's speed. So that's why, even for a lot of people that have no interest in riding Bridleless, I'm still going to teach them the system that would lead to bridleless even if they never desire to ride Bridleless because it requires a different type of thinking from both the horse and the rider to understand that. Now your legs are able to slow the horse down and speed the horse up. That changes something about the way the horse thinks and it changes something about the way the rider thinks. And what's fascinating about this approach is that there's no need to change the bit. It's just a different system entirely. And what happens is it becomes part of the riders habit. It becomes part of the humans habit and it becomes part of the horse's habit.

Speaker1:
So even though you're riding with the same bridle, you're not dependent on the bridle to do all these different cues. But this also makes it really challenging for me to say exactly when the bridle is training begins because I'm overlapping the bridle as training cues system and the improved bridle cue system the whole time. But if I were going to create a checklist for you, this is how it would work first. Do you have your success plan? What is success going to be? Are you riding in the round pen? Walk, trot, stop. Reverse directions. Back up. Okay. Everything that you need to be able to do to stay safe and to be successful in that plan, you must replace every cue you currently have with the bridle. So let's say you go into the round pen with the saddle and the bridle on and you tie the reins up loosely to the saddle so that they're there in case you need them. It's your safety net while you walk across the Grand Canyon. Can you control the speed? Can you go? Can you stop? Can you slow down a little? Can you speed up a little? Can you ride transitions? Can you go from a walk to a trot? Can you go from a trot to a halt? This is your checklist. Can you steer? Is that changing directions? Can you be specific when you steer? Can you steer around cones? You have to overlap your definition of success.

Speaker1:
Please keep safety in here. You have to overlap your definition of success with the cues that will be required for that. And if they're not working, you need to go back to the bridle and keep yourself safe. And you need to figure out what you're going to do to make this more clear to the horse. So personally for me. The first time I take the bridle off, I've trained the horse with the reins and I've tied the reins up and I've ridden around and I've checked out any wobbles or questions the horse has, and I've addressed those until there are no more wobbles and questions. And if there are, I know I can address those without touching the reins. And the transition then becomes so smooth that the first time I take the bridle off I can do Canter to walk, walk to Canter Canter Canter haunches in all kinds of advanced movements because that was my goal. My goal was that my first bridleless ride would look like that. With this information. I hope you can now see how important it is for you to define what you're going to call success and why you want to ride Bridleless. For me, these are really important because they're going to inform me of what that necessary checklist is. If your checklist is walk, trot, stop back up and do that safely in your round pen.

Speaker1:
Then your training program to get there will be different than mine where I want to be able to do Canter to walk, walk to Canter Canter Canter and haunches in. My definition of success is going to require me to build more nuances in that advanced training. I've been riding Bridleless at a high level for 20 years. I won the freestyle reining at the National Reining Horse Association for Charity show in 2003 after riding Bridleless for this long. One thing is really clear to me. My horses and I have the exact same relationship with and without the bridle. When I take off the bridle at a show or to give a demonstration, nothing changes in our relationship. It doesn't improve. It doesn't degrade. The reason it stays steady is because I built the relationship and both systems bridal and no bridal. The only thing that changes when I drop the bridal and go in and show or give a demonstration is that you, the other humans watching, can see my relationship with my horse more clearly when I walk out and I put the bridle back on. For many of you, it doesn't look like that relationship is there, but I assure you it's exactly the same thing. Thanks for the question and thank you all for listening. Make sure you're on my mailing list because I plan to talk more about Bridleless riding in future emails and I'll talk to you again in the next episode.

Speaker2:
If you enjoy listening to Stacy's podcast, please visit Stacy westfall.com for articles, videos and tips to help you and your horse succeed.

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