Does anyone long rein/drive/ride their mini bitless?

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Calekio

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Locket is going to be 4 in August and we plan to start training him. He is a good size so should be suitable as kids riding pony like our other adults and i plan to long rein him this summer, doing some short walks with the kids on with aim this winter he'll start his training as a lead rein pony.

Now he has a relatively bad undershot jaw, when i was spoke to my vet a year or so ago it was said he would need to ride bitless due to his jaw.

But having looked there are so many different types! All my others are ridden bitted, they may have started bitless in just a lunge cavasson, then reins hook through bit to cavasson, then to both bit & cavasson before finally going all on bit pressure... which is normally as they start to do more off lead rein and need the extra control.

But Locket won't be getting bitted so i need something that will give us some control. He's got a habit of going round dragging his nose on the floor, even canters round the field playing with his head down (how he doesn't trip over his own nose i don't know! lol) so something that would help lift his head up would be good as well... as needs steering from side of face no underneath jaw as he can be quite strong when he wants to when leading in a normal head collar (just typical excited youngster learning something new)

I'm in the UK but i think i need to look outside of the UK for something as not a lot of choice over here in mini size! lol
 
Maybe consider a bitless bridle (google -- "Dr. Cook Bitless Bridle" and/or "Spirit Bridle"). I use those for riding and they are available for minis. The control is flawless for the riding horses I've used them on. It's very, very unsafe to drive with a halter vs. a bridle. Even more unsafe than to ride that way.
 
I wonder if a hackamore would work just the same hmmm....

I know Ozark sells the bosal and you can buy the competely bridle set but you would need longer reins, you may ask them? Plus it would work just fine for riding him.
 
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I did use a hackamore for a short period of time on one of my riding horses, but realize that those mechanical hackamores are VERY harsh. I didn't realize how much so at first and once I did, that was what promted me to try (and then love) the Dr. Cook Bitless Bridles.

... think of a stud chain over the nose vs. under the jaw. That's about what a mechanical hackamore is.
 
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BBdiagramB&W.jpg


http://www.bitlessbr...CFQyc7Qodo1ev6g

These are just amazing!
 
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A friend of mine (who is a tack dealer) trains all of her small Shetlands with a bitless bridle and has a couple of different ones that fit small ponies and minis. PM me and I'll send you her contact info if you are interested.
 
Apart from the safety aspect, well, actually as part of it, I do not think you will find an insurance policy that will cover you if you attempt to drive bitless- insurance (ie third party) actually require blinkers , so they are not going to go for a bitless option!

If it is purely for your own personal use, fine, but, as soon as there is anyone else involved you need insurance.
 
Well at the moment i'm more interested in long reining and then hopefully he'll be ridden in it... i did wonder about the safety aspect of driving bitless but if needed i'd of look into that closer to the time... but after what some have said i think driving him is out of the question as he can't be bitted so yes going to be for long reining and riding.

I've looked at the dr cooks (they do seem very expensive but if it works i will pay the money), but having tried a dr cook immatiation that just confused my little ponies i'm not sure.. the immatation was a bosal style.. and cross under the jaw and to the other side of the nose though, not under the jaw and up towards the poll.

After discussions with vet/edt today when he was having his routine work done, his nostrils are also very small compaired to the side of his head and we think his nasal passage is smaller than it should be, she said only problem with bitless is we will need to be careful about nose pressure.. anything we have we have to sit higher than it normally would and we will have to keep an eye to make sure it doesn't cause breathing problems for him. so again thinking something that give more if not an equal amount of poll pressure will be needed.

This is still all very much investigation, if we do decide anything over his nose for bitless will cause a problem then he will be worked in a head collar only and do lead rein only. He is such a little love and i know he will make a lovely ridden pony, but if his head confirmation means he cannot have anything more than a head collar for control he definately won't be doing off lead like the others do, but its not a huge issue, as a youngster we were convinced he'd never be able to be ridden... but vet can't see any reason why he couldn't be ridden.
 
I'm a little confused, but if he is a larger mini say 34 to 38"s and you just want to do lead line then there shouldn't actually be any pressure in his mouth. We had a 37" gelding that we trained for lead line, and used a bridle with a bit, but had a halter under the bridle, the young child only held onto the reins and no contact was made by the rider, it was just for show. We did all the leading with the halter and lead. I wouldn't see any problem with his bite if there was no contact by the bit. I wouldn't drive him without a bit, as I don't think it is allowed in the show ring, and might be dangerous even at home. I have rode horses plenty of times in just a halter at home, so if you are just using this mini at home there shouln't be any problem going with just a halter, the show ring is something different.
 
No he'll only ever be used at home, but its the space where the bit would go that would cause an issue, he has so much going on in his mouth (he's currently getting his canines early.. and they are being worn down by his top front teeth..) that i think it could be uncomfortable to be bitted for him. And if he only on lead rein i don't see the purpose of the bit, as i only ever use a bit for the purpose of control sort of thing. Hopefully he'll progress to working alongside our others doing pony rides at events, but then he'll be worked off a head collar anyway as they are all lead in just their head collar.

He's approx 35" and will possibly make 36", his parents are 33" & 34" and he is chunking out really nicely as well (he's a british shetland, can't really call him a miniature shetland any more! lol) so pretty sure he is not a dwarf, I bred him (the one that came out wrong! lol) and as a foal/yearling we thought he might be a minimal dwarf, but he's been well fed, supplemented with extra hay and has really thrived and is looking fantastic condition (first few winters we struggled to maintain his weight with his growing as well) The only other problem he can get is an upset tummy but he's on fennel which helps a lot and if he does get an upset tummy just give him a probiotic and unless we try to stable him he's fine (vet think he's got irritable bowel syndrome, hence being worse when we restrict his movement, my old irish cob had that)
 
JFYI, until a couple of years ago, the only dwarfs I had seen in the UK were out of pure Shetland stock.......
 
I have an imitation Dr. Cook bitless driving bridle my friend made me, (made exactly the same as Dr. Cook style) complete with blinkers and when I switched my mini driving guy to it, he took right to it and did wonderful! You must be sure it is fitted correctly, the nose band is lower than normal and tighter, but gives good control etc. I loved it so much I had her make me one for my full size riding horse and have been using it for years, love it and so does my horse! No pain, or uncomfortable bit in the mouth. I had her make me another for my Hackney pony I trained and he did great in it and I recently had her make me another for my other riding horse I am starting, and will probably have her make me another for driving other minis some day.
 
Sorry Rabbitfizz did my comment on him being a british shetland sound like i was saying he couldn't be a dwarf for that reason, i've just read it back a few times and it certainly wasn't ment to sound like that! lol Ignoring the dwarf part i was only putting he was a british shetland as i know on here most people think of the american shetlands, which are taller and not quite as stocky as our british ones if that makes sense?? He is for over here a nice chunky shetland type, not a miniature horse type.
 
Sorry, I did not mean to be snippy, I just thought it was worth pointing out that there is quite a high degree of dwarfism in UK Shetlands and I do actually think that is where it all started in AMHA animals.

Had you thought of using s drop noseband- just cut the strap, add a buckle, buckle it into an ordinary bridle, adjust it quite high on the nose so it is on the bone, not the soft part, do up the buckle so it is snug enough to prevent slipping and away you go.

If you wan to try it I am pretty sure I have one somewhere and I could pop it in the post to you??
 
Someone else mentioned a drop noseband... but not about putting it higher.... not knowing much in relation to the different noseband how would it different to say using a cavasson noseband? Or a inhand bridle??
 
Or having just browsed ebay.. a filly slip?? Which has browband & throatlash and the rings on the side??

(ignore previous question as to why not a inhand bridle/cavasson noseband.. when looked at the picture of them all i saw why! lol)
 
I have used a Dr. Cook's bitless bridle on my two mares at varying points in their training, as well as when I am working them in very cold temperatures and don't think shoving a cold piece of metal in their mouths would be very nice. Both my girls go well in it, although my younger mare, who is deaf, goes particularly well in it. I'm learning with her that less overall stimulation is better, she gets less confused and worried, and it seems that without a bit in her mouth she can fully concentrate on me and my cues. Some people feel these bridles put pressure on pressure points and are cruel, but my experience has been that the horses seem comforted by them, they hug the head and when used with normal care as any bridle should, they work exceedingly well. Right now I'm only ground driving her in this bridle, but would consider driving her in it as well, if I can successfully get her driving with her deafness. Not sure how it would work for leadline, as it is a little awkward to deal with close up to the bridle with the longer straps that go under the chin....I don't know. Just my thoughts..

Katie
 
dr cook does seem to be quite popular.. maybe i will save up for one of them (having just look at the price! lol) and looking on the webite.. they do a lunging strap... which can be used for a handler to lead when a rider is on board.... would need to check they can do one in mini size though... lol
 
I don't like gadgets, sorry, and the drop noseband made my mare perfectly safe- why would you put an animal in a spade curb when it only needs a snaffle?

If he is safe in the halter he will be safe in a drop- it has the rings on the side to put the reins on, that's why I used it and not aplain noseband.
 

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