A BITLESS SUNDAY MORNING...
Yesterday we had a chance to share our horses with some
friends and had a small group lesson, It was fun to help folks find their love
of horses and horsemanship. Our two horses (Argent and Ronan) were good to the
novice humans, even when the humans “talked funny.” Everyone survived the ride
and had big smiles! We went with our normal set up (snaffle/mecate) as we were
coaching our friends as to placing it on the horse. That was fun.
Today it was all about communication and reacting well to
cues given. It was a bitless Sunday morning. Going bitless is, for the horses,
much like us tossing on our favorite pair of comfy jeans. It is all about
relaxation and comfort. We started out with our groundwork warm-up. Seeing the
quality of responses and efforts we got, even though the morning was warm and a
bit “smoky” from the fires we knew today was a good day to go bitless. We put
Argent in the bitless halter (which we got from Advantage Horsemanship) and
Ronan got the bosal. We rode some warm-up exercises, then into pattern, lateral
work, vertical flexion and out on the “trail” which is really a disc golf
course next to the arena where we ride. We had it all to ourselves so there was
lots of opportunity to work on handle around trees, over terrain and whatever else
came to mind.
It was a good Sunday for everyone. We like to change things
up with our horses and going bitless just gives us one more tool in the toolbox.
If you have a good handle on your horse, if your horse is responsive to the
halter and if your ability to communicate clearly with your horse if solid, we
suggest going bitless from time to time. If is fun and comfy for the horse and
it is a nice way to gage where you are in your partnership (at least in our
humble opinion).
Have a great week everyone!
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