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I own a fantastic 23yr old chestnut gelding called Bullet Dancer
When I bought him he was as crazy as a box of frogs and terrified of EVERYTHING. He ran into jumps at 100km/h and was an incredible aggressive horse.
Over the years I have worked with him, He is not the bravest horse I have ever ridden. We swim in dams, jump jumps I never imagined we would ever be jumping. I even managed to stop the dashing into jumps at 100km/hr.
We can now clear a 1.20m course completely controlled (Mostly) and safely.
This horse has learns a lot, but I cannot begin to describe how much I have learns from him.
My biggest dilemma with him was getting him soft and help him relax his mouth.
For years I tried snaffles, gags, pelhams, water fords etc... you name it, i probably tried it.
And where some managed to help me with control issues, I always felt that he was just constantly tense.
He is an incredible hot horse as it is, so I always thought that his tenseness on outrides was because he just wanted to run.
I had his back checked, teeth done, everything. He was just permanently tense in a bit.
Then one year I decided to try a hackamore.
And man oh man was Bullet a completely different horse!!!
He no longer ran away on outrides, for the first time ever I could canter out without having to hold on for dear life.
I then went to a jumping clinic and jumped 1.30-1.40m on him with ease and no tenseness.
despite the improvement I had with the hackamore, i had to shelf it and look for a bitted option to compete and work in.
I then went back to an apple mouth pelham, it wasnt as great as the hackamore, but It was my only option.
Now years later, Bullet is now hapily retired.
He still hacks out and has fun, but no more shows.
I then decided that keeping him in a palham was unnecessary.
I did not want to put him in a snaffle because of my previous issues, so I finally returned to the Hackamore.
I now have a horse, that works better than he has ever worked before. He is round and on the bit on outrides with hardly any contact at all, he is relaxed, and not tense in his head at all. (He is still as crazy as a box of frogs at times)
But overall he is a pleasure to ride.
I honestly wish that I chose to stick to the hackamore all those years ago.
The only downside is that it is not allowed in dressage in South Africa (Which in my opinion is ridiculous)
Dressage is about your seat and invisible cues, not your hands.
What is the big deal about bitless riding then?
I think that it should be allowed, not for the riders sake, but for the incredible change in the horse.
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Shanleigh Blackburn
*Gingers With Their Stars*
FB: Bitless Riding - South Africa
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