Horse Talk

[abigalerose]

I want to talk about something. People keep telling me (regarding training June) that I need to "get her use to the bit" "it's time to introduce her to the bit" "they're easier to control with a bit" "I wouldn't want to ride a horse without a bit" but in the long run I want to ride her tackless, and wouldn't it be silly to get her use to the bit, then switch her to halter, and then eventually neck rope, instead of just starting at halter? It's fine to train her without a bit right?
If you can control a horse without using a bit, wouldn't that make a better trained horse anyways?
I was even told about Phoenix (becuase he rides in a halter or hackamore and won't let you put a bit in his mouth) that "it's a shame he doesn't accept a bit"
So what do you think? I don't need to introduce June to the bit do I?

 

[ChickenLover200]

Anyone have a Horsechannel.com account? For doing stuff, you get points to spend on free horsey stuff!

No do you?

I have an account... I used to log on there all the time, but the website as down for a while and it fell out of my routine

 

[I Love Layers]

Hmm so I had an idea. You know how I said my sister is starting to get interested in horses? Well she really likes June. And I showed her some different horses tonight trying to get an idea of what she likes and she loves blue roans. Well I was thinking, since I'm considering breeding June, I could see if there's any homozygous black, homozygous roan, blue roan studs out there that meet my bloodline/conformation/temperament standards, and then she would have a foal to grow up with. This may not be a good idea, or even a possible idea. But it's an idea I had, and might take into consideration for a while. In the meantime (well once her school lets out) I'll try to start taking her to riding lessons with me so she can learn. And if that doesn't work I could always adopt a blue roan BLM mustang (since you pretty much only have color to go off of on Internet adoptions). Although that doesn't seem like as good as an option, unless I got a yearling so she could get a couple years of riding lessons in and be at an intermediate or better level by the time it was broke. If I let her have June's baby she'd have at least 5 years to take lessons lol, she'd probably be a better rider than me! I suppose it would be ideal to find a good kid broke horse with blue roan as an added bonus. I know you can't ride color, I just want her first horse to be perfect if she gets one, becuase I want her to have it for a life time.
Btw... Can someone post a picture of the difference between a blue roan and smoky blue roan?

Please don't color breed. Usually the horses that are bred for color end up with horrible conformation....

 

[abigalerose]

But my top priority is temperament, health, and conformation. And then bloodlines, then color. And that's only if I decide its worth the risk to breed her.

Im not

 

[chicken19]

I want to talk about something. People keep telling me (regarding training June) that I need to "get her use to the bit" "it's time to introduce her to the bit" "they're easier to control with a bit" "I wouldn't want to ride a horse without a bit" but in the long run I want to ride her tackless, and wouldn't it be silly to get her use to the bit, then switch her to halter, and then eventually neck rope, instead of just starting at halter? It's fine to train her without a bit right?
If you can control a horse without using a bit, wouldn't that make a better trained horse anyways?
I was even told about Phoenix (becuase he rides in a halter or hackamore and won't let you put a bit in his mouth) that "it's a shame he doesn't accept a bit"
So what do you think? I don't need to introduce June to the bit do I?

K, well training for tackless riding is a process that most people do after training to ride with tack.
If I were you I'd choose if I wanted to ride bit-less or with a bit. Bits help control a horse that is hard to control and most people use them because it's 'normal' but unless your horses have issues regarding control I wouldn't put a bit in her mouth.
But at the same time, a lot of trainers like to ride their horses in a halter to start them, teach them the bit, and then start teaching them the neck strap.
I hope this helps

It's really just your decision but it is good for a horse to learn to ride both ways. It may pay off down the road.

 

[chicken19]

About riding bridle-less here is a great link about teaching your horse for that. It also includes the links to the next part of the series.
http://www.horsechannel.com/western-horse-training/go-bridleless-part-1.aspx

 

[Bunnylady]

Puttering around in the pasture without tack is all very well and good, but taking a horse off your property without a saddle and at least a rope halter and reins is incredibly risky. If nothing else, it gives you something to hang onto in the event that the unexpected occurs.

And though you may not intend to ever part with your horses, you can't know what turns life may take. With good care, June could live 30 years or more - who knows what you will be doing 30 years from now? Though you may have the intent of eventually going tackless, learning to work in tack makes the horse more useful and therefore more likely to be appreciated and valued if you have to part with it. Most people think it increases the value of a horse to say, "goes both English and Western; can you imagine trying to sell a horse with this in the ad - "can only be ridden tackless?" Look at it as a necessary part of the horse's education that it accept a bit; it shouldn't be the first lesson, but it should happen at some point.

I know I've posted this video before, but since the subject of tackless riding came up, I couldn't resist posting it again. I have seen earlier versions of this ride with tack on this horse; they got to this point in stages:

 

[abigalerose]

I want to ride bitless. And eventually (way down the road) tackless. I suppose I could spend a month getting her use to the bit so she knows how to use it, but I guess there's nothing saying that I have to use it when I ride. But maybe I'll just skip the bit all together. I don't have any intentions of her ever being anything but my trail hose. And Phoenix is 10 and doesn't take a bit and it's not a problem.

 

[chicken19]

I want to ride bitless. And eventually (way down the road) tackless. I suppose I could spend a month getting her use to the bit so she knows how to use it, but I guess there's nothing saying that I have to use it when I ride. But maybe I'll just skip the bit all together. I don't have any intentions of her ever being anything but my trail hose. And Phoenix is 10 and doesn't take a bit and it's not a problem.

I agree

 

[Bunnylady]

It's not a problem for you, perhaps, but are we forgetting that Phoenix was pulled out of a kill pen? That may be part of what put him there.