...they just try to make it sound if your horse is well trained then a bit doesn't matter.
Well, what is "well-trained"? IMO, there are a lot of minis (and other driving horses) out there whose owners
think they are "well-trained" who haven't a clue what that means, because the drivers are not "well-trained" themselves. That would have included me a few years ago before I
really understood what it meant to
work your horse. I know that I
still don't know
near as much as some of our driving friends who have driven at carriage world levels. Ignorance is bliss!
Most of the drivers who want to use bitless bridles want to do so recreationally (because you sure can't drive them that way in a show), and have this idea that it is more "humane" and still as effective as using a bit. If that was the case, the top drivers in the world would be doing it. But those drivers have enough experience to know that to drive without a bit reduces your communication and control.
Good drivers know that in order to communicate with your horse, you need to have contact. Not heavy contact, but contact nevertheless. Hardy Zantke says that to drive without contact is like hanging up the phone with your horse. Drivers that drive with a slack rein are not good drivers. This isn't western pleasure. So can you imagine holding your horse's nose with contact because you don't have a bit?
If I was a horse, that would drive me crazy! I would rather have a very light pressure (some horses like more contact.) in my mouth than someone constantly holding my nose. Go ahead, try it. Lightly put your little finger in the corner of your mouth for a while. Now do the same thing on end of your nose. Makes you want to shake your head away, doesn't it? If you had a slack rein with a bitless driving bridle, there is absolutely no communication other than your voice with that horse.
A few years ago, my sister was in a hurry to get to an obstacle class, and managed to not get the bit in the mini's mouth. Absolutely nobody noticed until she went back to the barn and took the bridle off. She did the entire obstacle course with the bit hanging behind the horse's chin. My mom has a professional photo to prove it. I asked my sister if she noticed a difference in the control and she said that he seemed a little "stiff" and heavy, but he knew his job so well (he had been driving competitively for about 10 yrs. at that point) that he had a completely clean run which was probably the fastest of all the competitors (he was typically the fastest, bit or not). We don't know this for sure because she was [not quite] "bragging" (not the right word, moreso like "impressed" and telling people) about not having a bit to the TD and was eliminated for not having proper equipment. (Kids....
)
(Written for the masses)
Myrna
