20 Oct Jet ridden bitless
This is pretty much our last ride in a bitless bridle. Not that he is never going to be ridden bitless again. He definitely will be! Just that in his training he is now ready to move on. You can put them back bitless anytime and it’s like they did it just yesterday.
Before I start using the bit I want them to be able to walk, trot and canter on a loose rein without changing the gait unless asked and definitely not speeding up by themselves. Also I want them to know what one rein stops are and to be able to read my seat and only stop from that.
They need to follow their nose which means that when I turn their head\nose in any direction while moving forward, I want the rest of their body willingly follow. I’m sure you have seen horses where the riders are trying to turn their horses and the horse turns it’s head because he has no other option but his body is drifting to a different direction.
It’s all very basic things but you would be surprised how many horses would be completely lost if you asked them to do any of those things. This is just a very simple foundation and we can now start building on it.
We will still work on all of those things but with the bit. We will also slowly start working on the softness. I like my horses very light!
I don’t use side reins, draw reins or any tools that will keep their head down. Instead, I teach them how to soften to my leg and hand and have very light contact. But I will talk about it more in another blog.
In the video, I showed one time how the one rein stop works if it’s an emergency. When I practice and teach them I always ask them with my seat first before flexing them around. But if your horse is bolting, bucking or doing any dangerous behaviour you just pull their head around immediately.
We also had a pop over a tiny little x pole for the first time!
I have sent Jet over some simple jumps from the ground before. He used to panic when he knocked the pole down so that was another thing I had to desensitise him to. I definitely don’t want him to panic and bolt when he accidentally knocks a pole down.
Even then when jumping over a little jump I want them to stay relaxed. Loose rein, no rushing or taking off after the jump.
Jet has done very well with everything so far and I’m really enjoying training him 🙂
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