# "Teaching" Bridleless riding



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

IMHO, being able to ride bridleless is something that is a side effect of good training, not something that should really be trained towards. I know lots of horses that you can ride without a bridle that I still wouldn't bring home on a bet simply because their training is crappy.


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## Tophandcowgirl (Jun 23, 2007)

smrobs said:


> IMHO, being able to ride bridleless is something that is a side effect of good training, not something that should really be trained towards. I know lots of horses that you can ride without a bridle that I still wouldn't bring home on a bet simply because their training is crappy.


Ditto!!! I can and do ride completely bridleless walk, trot, and lope with no neck rein. In fact, I don't even think the neckrope would help at all. Its purely seat, leg, and voice. But I think bridleless riding is almost a necessity for some horses. My horse works so much better bridleless simply because the combination of leg and rein just annoys him to no end. It's just constant tail wringing the whole ride unless I get out of his mouth.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I kinda thought I'd get that reaction ^_^

Thanks guys, I never really had any reason to try brideless because I don't do a lot of freestyle classes. But with Selena I just kinda....Did it for fun (I was getting her out of the pasture) and was just wondering if there was any method I could use to improve it. Shes still very green for a reiner and has a lot of work to do, which is why the neck rope with her is important to me at the moment.

I'd enver heard any "official" methods about trianing bridleless, so I thought I'd ask just to see ^^ Any sort of training that can make my horses more responsive is welcome.


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## Lissa (Mar 1, 2011)

I'd look into Stacy Westfall's stuff.. just ANYTHING you can find on her.. she is the one who is famous for bareback and bridleless 

Westfall Horsemanship

check out videos, interviews.. just listen to everything you can hear about her methods =)


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I did the same. Hopped on bundy with a neck rope to see what we could do.Turns out we can do everything - w/t/c/g, stops, rollbacks, walk-canter, back up. 

Just a by product of good training.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

I can ride Artie bridleless, with a neck rope, but he was taught so that leg cues only mean forward, which sucks, because he never understands how to move laterally off of leg pressure, and he doesn't understand seat cues either. So basically, slow down = whoa and tug on reins, and speed up = nudge with heals and a click. THAT's why I need a neck rope with him; because the only way he knows to stop is by the tugging motion on his chest.

I didn't _teach_ him, per se, I just got on him without a bridle in the round pen over the summer, tied a rope around his neck, and we went for a ride.


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## nrhareiner (Jan 11, 2009)

I drop bridle on my horses quite often. I find it is a good way to work on keeping out of the horses way when performing maneuvers and such. There is no trick to it. It is all comes down to good training like has been stated. It is not something you train for it is the end results of that training.


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## Tasia (Aug 17, 2009)

With my little reining\cutting whatever you wanna call him gelding, I just lay the reins down and let him go. He rates his speed and works off my seat its really very handy. I need to make his stop from my seat a little more cutting like though. 
I say give it a try in a small enclosed area.


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

I'm teaching my mare to bridle without a bridle. All I'm doing is making sure I have gait transitions purely off voice/seat and teaching her to neck rein/turn off leg pressure. I simply ride on a lose-ish rein, give her the leg cue/voice cue/seat cue first, then back it up with rein if she doesn't listen. Eventually, she'll respond first my non-rein cues. :wink:


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

Where I learned the bulk of my riding and horse care the barn manager taught bareback and bridleless riding. She was a force of nature! 
Really wonderful place to get my basics.

Basically the horses (nearly exclusively Arabians, a lot of them with rocky pasts) were brought to the barn and worked with in the round pen first and then ridden always and only with a halter and and a chain running from each square to clip the game reins to. As the horses progressed, they were trained and expected to perform with less and less cues. First direct reining and leg cues until they could be ridden, collected, reliably, with just seat and voice cues. Then, the halter comes off. Anything you wanted she could teach that horse to do bitless, bridleless and bareback. Flying lead changes, lead changes down the vertical, cantering laterally... 

Its unique though, and I think the reason it worked so well was simply the sheer amount of quality flight time she and others could devote to each horse. Their mileage is just mind blowing!
Also, for these horses, that was their job: deluxe pleasure horse and sometimes drill team competitor.
 Pretty cool stuff.
I wanna ride my boy bridleless someday... But a previous poster is right. It is also the result of proper training.

Btw- congrats to you, that's really cool.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Thanks guys, I appreciate your replies 

Like I say, it's always good to make sure you're not doing something wrong or if theres a better way ^_^


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