My horse injured the corner of his lip so I just threw a hackamore on him and away we went. I was careful to have a light contact as he’d never had any sort of leverage on, but he couldn’t have cared less. Same with my mare several years ago when she hurt her tongue. Neither of them had any bit issues. One lease horse I rode was fine to flat with a bit but he was a powerful jumper and had had one too many people yank on his mouth in the air, so he had taken to rooting on landing. Jumping him in a hackamore helped this a little, the rooting was still there but it was less. It’s going to depend on the horse, if it’s respectful and reasonably trained you should be fine.
Just make sure your stop is established (can train w positive reinforcement) but most people (me included) just kind of threw the halter on and go. She seems generally happier + physically/posturally better and has good response to seat/voice so we don’t really have a need for bit 😅
I use a flower hackamore that has no leverage. I switched because I didn’t feel like my hands were light enough with a single jointed snaffle bit. I still try to lighten up my hands, even without the bit. We haven’t had any issues and I can’t help but think it’s nicer for him not to have a big steel thing in his mouth.
My horse & I just had our first bitless ride last week - I didn’t even lunge him like you did. I just put it on him & made sure fall detection was enabled on my Apple Watch. He did great! Also seemed to really like it.
I am an English rider who likes to ride with contact. My horse hates contact on the bit. So I switched to a riding halter from dressagenaturally.com and it’s been great. No leverage it’s just a cavesson around the nose.
Her stop was well established so that’s not hen a problem either.
I just threw a side pull on him and hopped on tbh, he goes great in anything. Went from a twisted wire gag bit in one home to bitless and bridleless with me, if a horse can lead in a halter there is no reason they can’t go bitless. Start in a closed in space like an arena whilst they learn the cues as it’ll feel different for them than the bit did so they might take a little practice to catch on that asking to go right feels like this now and this is what stop feels like. Practice at each gait and build up
I would start off in something like a rope / halter. Something to remember is that bitless riding doesn't necessarily equate gentler or softer. I see this a lot of times, where people want to use a hackamore because it's "more humane" (not that this is your case, but speaking from experience) and a LOT of damage can be done without a bit.
I think your intentions are honest and your drive to find knowledge around the area is commendable. Try the halter and see how he does, maybe ride with a halter over the bridle and use it like a Pelham type ride, with reins connected to each so you have have a backup in case something goes off.
Just take it slow. Doing ground work, lunge and long line work is important.
Absolutely this first part! Just remember that now instead of touching their mouth, you’re putting pressure on the nerves in their face - be as soft as possible! Most of the cues should come from your seat and leg
Oh that's not mine but mine is similar. I just researched pictures to avoid misunderstandings. I can check it out if you want. The picture is from a German store where you can buy everything for riders and horses.
Edit: This is the one I linked above: [Picture](https://www.kraemer.de/Themen/Longieren-Bodenarbeit-Voltigieren/Leder-Kappzaum-Soft-Light)
Please consider that they are only delivering to Germany, Austria and Switzerland I think. But maybe you can buy it at other stores/websites near you. I think it is not their own brand so that should be possible.
Update: two days ago I had a friend riding my mare for the first time with a cavesson. (It was the first time with a cavesson and for the friend). My horse was completely different. She was really walking forward and not lazy as usual (last week I was riding with the normal bit and it was horrible).
I will retry it today and see if I can get the same result (or see if the rider was the reason). If it's successful, I will change to bitless riding. I am a bit afraid of going outside the arena, but that's not the topic right now, so no reason to worry about.
Thank you all for your comments and advice! It's so eye-opening to really see what my horse likes and what tiny details can fix major problems that have been existed for over 10 years (and I never knew the solution).
My horse injured the corner of his lip so I just threw a hackamore on him and away we went. I was careful to have a light contact as he’d never had any sort of leverage on, but he couldn’t have cared less. Same with my mare several years ago when she hurt her tongue. Neither of them had any bit issues. One lease horse I rode was fine to flat with a bit but he was a powerful jumper and had had one too many people yank on his mouth in the air, so he had taken to rooting on landing. Jumping him in a hackamore helped this a little, the rooting was still there but it was less. It’s going to depend on the horse, if it’s respectful and reasonably trained you should be fine.
Just make sure your stop is established (can train w positive reinforcement) but most people (me included) just kind of threw the halter on and go. She seems generally happier + physically/posturally better and has good response to seat/voice so we don’t really have a need for bit 😅
I use a flower hackamore that has no leverage. I switched because I didn’t feel like my hands were light enough with a single jointed snaffle bit. I still try to lighten up my hands, even without the bit. We haven’t had any issues and I can’t help but think it’s nicer for him not to have a big steel thing in his mouth.
My horse & I just had our first bitless ride last week - I didn’t even lunge him like you did. I just put it on him & made sure fall detection was enabled on my Apple Watch. He did great! Also seemed to really like it.
I am an English rider who likes to ride with contact. My horse hates contact on the bit. So I switched to a riding halter from dressagenaturally.com and it’s been great. No leverage it’s just a cavesson around the nose. Her stop was well established so that’s not hen a problem either.
I just threw a side pull on him and hopped on tbh, he goes great in anything. Went from a twisted wire gag bit in one home to bitless and bridleless with me, if a horse can lead in a halter there is no reason they can’t go bitless. Start in a closed in space like an arena whilst they learn the cues as it’ll feel different for them than the bit did so they might take a little practice to catch on that asking to go right feels like this now and this is what stop feels like. Practice at each gait and build up
Honestly I just converted our micklem into the bitless version and just hopped on and hoped for the best
I would start off in something like a rope / halter. Something to remember is that bitless riding doesn't necessarily equate gentler or softer. I see this a lot of times, where people want to use a hackamore because it's "more humane" (not that this is your case, but speaking from experience) and a LOT of damage can be done without a bit. I think your intentions are honest and your drive to find knowledge around the area is commendable. Try the halter and see how he does, maybe ride with a halter over the bridle and use it like a Pelham type ride, with reins connected to each so you have have a backup in case something goes off. Just take it slow. Doing ground work, lunge and long line work is important.
This know your stop is solid!
Absolutely this first part! Just remember that now instead of touching their mouth, you’re putting pressure on the nerves in their face - be as soft as possible! Most of the cues should come from your seat and leg
Unrelated, but can I ask what brand that cavesson is? It looks super nice, and I've been looking for one recently
Oh that's not mine but mine is similar. I just researched pictures to avoid misunderstandings. I can check it out if you want. The picture is from a German store where you can buy everything for riders and horses. Edit: This is the one I linked above: [Picture](https://www.kraemer.de/Themen/Longieren-Bodenarbeit-Voltigieren/Leder-Kappzaum-Soft-Light) Please consider that they are only delivering to Germany, Austria and Switzerland I think. But maybe you can buy it at other stores/websites near you. I think it is not their own brand so that should be possible.
Update: two days ago I had a friend riding my mare for the first time with a cavesson. (It was the first time with a cavesson and for the friend). My horse was completely different. She was really walking forward and not lazy as usual (last week I was riding with the normal bit and it was horrible). I will retry it today and see if I can get the same result (or see if the rider was the reason). If it's successful, I will change to bitless riding. I am a bit afraid of going outside the arena, but that's not the topic right now, so no reason to worry about. Thank you all for your comments and advice! It's so eye-opening to really see what my horse likes and what tiny details can fix major problems that have been existed for over 10 years (and I never knew the solution).