Bitless
Oh, awesome horse gurus, I ask another question:
I'm interested in switching Cracker to a bitless bridle from a jointed O-ring (though she has gone in a french link full cheek but doesn't seem thrilled). I've ridden her in a halter/lead, but I've been too nervous to canter on her; mostly because I'm bareback and she has a little engine when she decides to go and tends to go unbalanced as she picks up speed - I feel I wouldn't be able to bring her back or balance before slipping off myself! Otherwise, she does fine.
Since we don't really compete (fun shows or trail paces), I'm interested in seeing how she'd handle a bitless. How do you go about switching a horse to a bitless bridle? What experiences have people had - there are tons of different types of bitless from hackamores to Dr. Cook's and I have no idea where to start. I think I'll be the one who needs to most help transitioning, but I want to make sure I do it right by her.
I apologize if this has been asked; I browsed the bridle and bit tags but didn't find quite what I was looking for.
I'm interested in switching Cracker to a bitless bridle from a jointed O-ring (though she has gone in a french link full cheek but doesn't seem thrilled). I've ridden her in a halter/lead, but I've been too nervous to canter on her; mostly because I'm bareback and she has a little engine when she decides to go and tends to go unbalanced as she picks up speed - I feel I wouldn't be able to bring her back or balance before slipping off myself! Otherwise, she does fine.
Since we don't really compete (fun shows or trail paces), I'm interested in seeing how she'd handle a bitless. How do you go about switching a horse to a bitless bridle? What experiences have people had - there are tons of different types of bitless from hackamores to Dr. Cook's and I have no idea where to start. I think I'll be the one who needs to most help transitioning, but I want to make sure I do it right by her.
I apologize if this has been asked; I browsed the bridle and bit tags but didn't find quite what I was looking for.