Most horse folks accept the bit as a obligatory instrument that’s usually used when training, riding or driving a horse. But does, invariably, actually mean that bits are essential?

Not really. Don’t know if you’ve ever witnessed the fabulous sight of horsemen riding the California and Vaquero styles, but they use no bits? At least, not until such time as their horses are assumed past their prime.

I often hear and read somebody claiming that ‘I get more control with the bit’ I even saw a horse forum post once advising readers on the best bits to use with halters to maintain ‘more control’, do you really want to know what bits? My answer is NONE! I have addressed the issue of pony control in another article. I think about this issue to be of great criticality.

Before going on to anything more, I begin with 2 long lines on each horse I handle. That also suggests I chuck in 2 rings, a surcingle and a halter with the long lines. Almost inevitably, my first coaching is on stops. I take the horse on a slow walk and at some particular point command him to stop with a ‘Whoa!’ I stop walking myself, and that means the pony continues on into the longs lines and the halter. This applies strain on the horse’s nose. He comes to a stop, and I ease off the pressure.

It has been my experience that no horse ever took more than a day to work out that it was far smarter to stop immediately at the command ‘Whoa!’ than to keep on on and grind into the halter and the lines. I achieve twin objectives with this: I assert an oral command’s domination and I teach the horse to respond to very slight pressure.

Is it actually possible to ride a pony with merely a halter? It is pretty much possible , though there may not be much to show by way of elegance.

You can resort to either the, Hackamore, or the Bosal. I am biased in favour of the Spanish-looking Bosal. If you trained your horse with long lines, you should find this a breeze. The basic trick’s to train your horse to respond to the lightest pressure.

This also allows you to surmount some problems associated with bits.

Unless you are a perfect rider with long experience, you would tend to apply pressure on the bit unwittingly. That clearly makes it extremely uncomfortable and confusing for your pony. When you’re starting out with a pony, it won’t give you perfect stops immediately. That compels you to heap on some pressure. This in turn leads to the pony giving more attention to the discomfort it feels than to your cues.

Possibly the biggest disadvantage of bits is that riders have a tendency to rely completely on them, and sooner or later they lose their efficacy because the horses get inured to them. To compensate, riders use bits with increased leverage, leading to another cycle that ends in futility.

You achieve great coordination when you train horses without bits because they reach much greater sensitivity.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about horse blanket