The two most popular according to the "blogs" out there is Dr. Cook's whom pioneered the side-pull and Nurtural. Both are excellent bridles. Nurtural has come out with a really sturdy durable nylon one that is priced at a very reasonable $89CDN,plus shipping. What we have found though, is that if you can find a local seller the price (so far) has been exactly the same, without, of course having to pay the additional costs. We use the Nurtural as it seems to "return" just a wee bit easier.
Good for you, for putting your horses welfare and comfort first.

Thinking the same way Abi so thanks Paul for this input!!

Something else interesting and out of the box to seriously consider is doing away completely with any kind of headgear, riding without a halter, bridle, or reigns. That is the direction I have chosen to go.

Thankyou for you advice I will look into those brands. And I'm really open minded in learning anything new. I just wouldn't know where to start in training for riding with no headgear, or where to learn the skills from!

I've just started with signs for the horses to connect what I want them to do. At the moment they're in head collar, dually when training. A few signals I've taught them so far is when to move - when my feet move. When to stop when my feet stop. To turn left when leading on the left side I say 'turn' and move my body to turn and for the right I raise my left arm across their face (not in their face) and say 'turn' they both go without any prompting from the head collar. We practice daily on this, especially when I take them into an open field for a bit of extra grazing, always greener on the other side of the fence :D To make them walk on without any connection to the head collar I raise my hand in front of me very much like holding a picture up to show someone, but to the side of their heads and ask walk on, then keep my hand there until I say 'ok graze' and I drop my hands down. When they graze, as it's open field, they have to stay near me one on each side, so the lead rope is set so they can't walk ahead of me and I keep in front of their shoulder. My feet stay still until I take them to another bit of pasture and immediately they mimic my leg movement and it's as if they start walking as soon as I do. Coming back to our field we do several quick walk on's with my hands raised as before, then as my hands drop the go straight down to graze again, their final graze just opposite our gate. At that point I say 'times up' 'walk on' and they lift their heads and come with me. Only a couple of times have I had to give a gentle tug on BamBam when he's said no I want more grass, he's 3 next month :D Just be clear at what you're trying to tell the horse and don't add too many words to it. Hope it helps.. x

Very good advice, Mel. Another place to start is look up the thread MUST SEE here on the Uni, watch the Youtube link, and I think the rest will just make sense...

Thanks, I've just been through the lessons on INTRINSIC HORSE TRAINING WITH FLORIAN OBERPARLEITER very good for understanding our body language to communicate with the horse. x

Hi Abi, if you have a chance look at the lightrider bitless, it is similar to the dually. I'd like to try it out

Thankyou very much for all your comments. Certainly learning a lot! I watched the link - it was truly amazing. Parts where they show people at shows was such an eye opener.
I have ridden in the dually a few more times now and he's very responsive and happy. The other day I was riding and he started to lick and chew and lowered his head letting out a sigh. And I thought to myself the poor horses with all the tight nose and flash bands. He just seemed to be saying "Ahh this is better I can relax!"
I have also tried just walking around with him with nothing on his head - it's certainly more a psychological thing for the human! He seemed to be more than happy to follow me over tarpaulin without being led!
Thankyou for recommending the website I found the articles really useful. And the Bitless noseband that you can put on your bridle looks like a good transition!
Happy riding and training everyone x

I am glad that you appreciate it. You are right, though, it is more psychological for the human than for the horse. As far as what is going through a horse's mind, I think that things, like following you with no lead, at times just feel like the right thing to do.
As far as for going bitless, maybe try attaching your reigns to the leading ring on a halter. I have used this at times in the distant past and it seemed to work rather well.

I tried riding it just a head collar today. It was amazing actually, he went so much better in it than in a bridle! And once I had got over the initial 'I'm riding in a HEAD COLLAR!' I found that I hardly had to use any pressure when asking him to stop, I just go whoa and he stands/ slows down. Steering was surprising good as well. I would ask for him to bend his neck round when stood and as soon as he moved his head around I would release and give him a rub and that made me more responsive when turning. (Gradually trying to refine my cues so that I can ride him with less on his head!)
Also I encountered a perfect example. When people say that a bit is only harmful because of the hands that use it. I was going over a trotting pole and he lowered his head right down to the ground, quite quickly and I was slow to release the reins. If I had had a bit in it would have caught him in the mouth teaching him not to lower his head - whereas I would like him to lower his head! Even if hands have the intentions of being kind sometimes we are caught unaware and it would on take one mistake of not releasing to jab them in the mouth.

Great story and an inspiring example Abi - keep going and don't let anyone tell you you're wrong to do it! :-)

Thank you! :) It's such a great feeling when you are learning new things and discover things that work!

I've just recently brought a Dr cook bitless bridle, my pony ollie goes really nicely in it. Only been doing monty's method for 3years with him. My friend rides her horse in a snaffle, dropped noseband so he can't open his mouth. She says she couldn't trust a horse unless its got metal in its mouth. Her horse looks really unhappy. Ollie came to me ridden in a bit but just didn't like it now he is a happy pony. I wish people could look beyond the 'normal'

Good stuff Jane, be patient, your friend may yet come round :-)

I am thinking of going bit less with my highland as she doesn't like the bit and rears up when I try to fit it tried all sorts on the bit but she won't except it

I think round where i live people think i'm weird. The first thing they say is he's not got a bit in his mouth. Then they say he's good because of his breed (he's a connie) I say i've taken the time and effort it takes to make him happy. Don't think people want to hear that.

I have Arabians and they are bitless - work just in a rope halter. Any breed will work without a bit if you have good communication with your horse - that is the key. It is ingrained in people that they must have that piece of metal in a horses mouth for control but if you have done the groundwork you don't ever need to ride bitted again - your horses will thank you. Cheers Jan

So true Jan, one day the penny will drop and there will be a worldwide revolution but until then we keep plodding away.... :-)

I used to ride a friends horse in the dually, he was really good, he was 17 thought, my new boy is very green and may take a little longer to adapt to it, I really want to try the light rider bit less. The video was amazing, but I wouldn't know where to start to teach my boy that.

Silphy some come with an instructional dvd to help you train bitless or the company may have a dvd you can purchase with the bridle. It is all about teaching them to do everything from the ground then you will find they generally adapt very well to bitless. Also important that your mindset is right and you don't get anxious riding without a bit - they will know and react to your feelings by being anxious also. I ride mine in just a rope halter and they work very well indeed and the horses are relaxed an happy. All the best. Cheers Jan

Hi everyone,
Thank you for all your comments, it's been very helpful and eye-opening.
I'm happy to say that I started riding him bitless in the dually. I think I trusted it more because I knew he responded to it when doing groundwork! I started slowly - just at walk and concentrating on using my body and trying not to use my hands. We practiced stopping, turning and baking up. When I felt happy with that we did some work throughout the paces. He responded well in all of them and I didn't once not feel out of control.
I decided that perhaps I could try riding him in his head collar as it's not as 'bulky' as the dually. Again we started slowly. Eventually I found that I rarely had to use my hands at all, even to back-up.
I looked into the light-rider bitless. And thought that it would really suit him as it works via pressure and release on the nose. I could also use it generally as it looks like a normal bridle. I bought the bridle and the postage was really quick! I'm very happy to say that he gets on well with it! I felt so hopeless at the beginning - thinking how am I going to do this, will I feel out of control, what if he spooks, people think I'm being silly. And now I can say that I will never look back into putting a bit in his mouth. He is happier and so am I. I'm so glad that I didn't give up just because it was 'different'. I really hope that more people try bitless, because that's the first step - just giving it a go! Thankyou for all your help.

Happy Riding! Abi xx

So glad its going well Abi :-)

Hi Abi,
I've also recently gone back to riding my mare in a Dually, she's just had her 13th Birthday & although i used the Dually to ride her when i started her, i went the traditional route of gradually taking over with the bit, however, she's always hated the bit & i have got pretty good hands; after my knee operation a few weeks ago, i decided i'd ride her in the Dually as i was only riding for about 10 mins to start with - i was amazed at how much better she rode in it than the bit!!!

After much research re bitless bridles, i decided to make a LightRider for her, she doesn't like it nearly so much as it works on the sharp jaw bones not the nose, i have made it more comfortable for her by putting a rubber curb chain guard on it - she liked it much better yesterday.

I am currently working on designing one of my own that you might be interested in once I've made & tested it - obviously at this stage, i don't want to say any more.

Tried my design today but in practice, it's just another sidepull bridle so there's no point in me pursuing the design any further as there's loads of them about anyway, so it's back to the LightRider for me.

I am a Bridle maker by the way.

I've been riding in a sidepull for a couple of years and will never go back to a bit. I have a happy horse & have complete control. I ordered the dually for ground work but am planning to use it riding as well. Thanks for all your comments very interesting.