Reviews: Bitless 101: How to select and fit bitless bridles
This is a thin book, less than 70 pages and is self-published. I have a first edition of the digital version and was a bit disappointed because it didn't even cover bosals. The bitless assessment was useful,but the rest of it seemed like she yanked the fitting guides from various bridles and pasted them into her book. I actually contacted two people about it because it looked so suspicious. One definitely had permission, the second one did not, but she vaguely remembered being contacted.
I acquired the physical copy with her package deal with the DVD she released December 2019. I will review the DVD later when I am finished watching it (halfway through).
She did update the book since I acquired the digital copy, which was good. The book is spiral bound and about 8.5x11 so the illustations are pretty large, another bonus point. The downside of ganking other's images instead of providing all of your own is that the image quality varies. Some are noticably blurred or grainy and the format does not match the rest of the book, which makes it a little jarring and interrupts the flow both in text and visually.
The book also comes off as a bit of an advertisement since the front pages direct to her website and facebook group and the back pages advertise for her bridle trials and other services.
Part one goes over bridle fit and considerations working around facial nerves and other structures as well as ensuring that nosebands aren't too tight. It also briefly mentiones issues caused by poor bridle fit.
The next part goes over bridle designs, which, to me, just brushes the surface. It talks about function in a very cursory manner, but doesn't really go in-depth on the mechanics of each type. Of course the bridles that she is an "approved trainer" for get more detailed explainations on.
The bosal got it's own page, half text half picture. The Vosal was something I hadn't seen before and the the Paso Fino Bosal and a leather "bosal" rounded it out before brief information about cross-unders, the Transcend, and Matrix. The latter two being UK made bridles (author is based in Ireland).
The next section talks about how to assess a horse's preferences for different areas of contact bitless bridles might operate on. This is probably the most valuable part of the book. Not all horses like all types of contact and this can help eliminate some choices so you're not throwing money out the window on bridles your horse doesn't like.
She uses a halter to do the cheek test, which I don't think is 100% accurate as the pull on a halter comes from below the chin and has a different action than a sidepull does.
She does also have a list of bridles and their corresponding "score" recommendations for each one which can be useful.
The next sections are about measuring, sizing, and fitting. This section was the most awkward because the majority of the pages are pulled from their respective manufacturers or other sources instead of being original content, which is diappointing.
I think overall it can be useful and the €10-20 (digital-physical) might be worth it in the savings of not buying bridles that are unsuitable for your horse(s). It doesn't detail the functioning as thoroughly as one might hope, but it is a short book.
Not to sound snide, but I am pretty sure my book-in-progress is going to be better once it is finished (in another year or three).
I acquired the physical copy with her package deal with the DVD she released December 2019. I will review the DVD later when I am finished watching it (halfway through).
She did update the book since I acquired the digital copy, which was good. The book is spiral bound and about 8.5x11 so the illustations are pretty large, another bonus point. The downside of ganking other's images instead of providing all of your own is that the image quality varies. Some are noticably blurred or grainy and the format does not match the rest of the book, which makes it a little jarring and interrupts the flow both in text and visually.
The book also comes off as a bit of an advertisement since the front pages direct to her website and facebook group and the back pages advertise for her bridle trials and other services.
Part one goes over bridle fit and considerations working around facial nerves and other structures as well as ensuring that nosebands aren't too tight. It also briefly mentiones issues caused by poor bridle fit.
The next part goes over bridle designs, which, to me, just brushes the surface. It talks about function in a very cursory manner, but doesn't really go in-depth on the mechanics of each type. Of course the bridles that she is an "approved trainer" for get more detailed explainations on.
The bosal got it's own page, half text half picture. The Vosal was something I hadn't seen before and the the Paso Fino Bosal and a leather "bosal" rounded it out before brief information about cross-unders, the Transcend, and Matrix. The latter two being UK made bridles (author is based in Ireland).
The next section talks about how to assess a horse's preferences for different areas of contact bitless bridles might operate on. This is probably the most valuable part of the book. Not all horses like all types of contact and this can help eliminate some choices so you're not throwing money out the window on bridles your horse doesn't like.
She uses a halter to do the cheek test, which I don't think is 100% accurate as the pull on a halter comes from below the chin and has a different action than a sidepull does.
She does also have a list of bridles and their corresponding "score" recommendations for each one which can be useful.
The next sections are about measuring, sizing, and fitting. This section was the most awkward because the majority of the pages are pulled from their respective manufacturers or other sources instead of being original content, which is diappointing.
I think overall it can be useful and the €10-20 (digital-physical) might be worth it in the savings of not buying bridles that are unsuitable for your horse(s). It doesn't detail the functioning as thoroughly as one might hope, but it is a short book.
Not to sound snide, but I am pretty sure my book-in-progress is going to be better once it is finished (in another year or three).