About Bitless Bridles

A bridle is a type of headgear for a horse that is generally worn to control the horse's movements. Some types of bridles are bitless, meaning they don't have a part that fits into the horse's mouth. Bitless bridles have specific uses and are generally less common than bridles with a bit.

History

Horses were first domesticated as early as 6,500 years ago, while the use of bits is no more than 5,500 years old. The use of bitless bridles predates that of bitted bridles by up to 1,000 years.The Mesopotamians were the first civilization known to have used bitless bridles. The Persians made significant advances to the design by 500 BC. The design of modern bitless bridles has changed little in the past century.

Use

A bitless bridle must control a horse by applying pressure to parts of the head such as the face, nose and jaw. It is often used to train young horses or horses with mouth injuries. The most common use of bitless bridles in competition is in endurance riding where the bit is more likely to cause injury.

Types

The hackamore family is the most familiar form of bitless bridles in modern horse riding. This type of headgear is characterized by a band around the nose that exerts pressure to control the horse. The side pull is a variation of this design that has reins attached to the cheek pieces, which provide greater lateral control. A cavesson has reins that attach further back at the jaw, which provides greater control over speed.