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I have some experience with the Dr. Cook's style of bitless bridles. I have mixed feelings about them. I do not think they are necessarily more kind or humane to the horse than a bitted bridle -- it all really depends on the horse and the rider.
A bitless bridle would probably be good for a horse ridden by heavy-handed or beginning riders or for a horse that has physical or emotional issues with a bit in its mouth.
I would not use a Dr. Cook's bitless bridle on a horse that has serious training problems. There is no real throatlatch on this style of bridle, so it can be rubbed off fairly easily. A resistant or scared horse may also learn that it is easy to raise his nose high and "run through the bit", so to speak, with this type of bridle. So if you have a horse that is not responsive or likes to bolt and run, I'd go back to the basics of training the horse to be soft and obedient before trying a Dr. Cook's bridle.
I make a bitless bridle that acts in much the same way that the Dr. Cook's bridle does. The man who ordered one of my bitless bridles likes it a lot for trail riding. He tends to be a heavy handed rider, and the bitless softens the effects of his hands. (I personally think he would be better served if he learned to lighten his hands, but I don't think he's likely to change his ways.)
A neighbor rode her horse in an official Dr. Cook bitless bridle for awhile. Booker (the horse) had a mouth injury that makes a bit uncomfortable. He went well on the trails for her in the bitless. Jan later told me that she sold the Dr. Cook bridle and went back to using just a rope halter to ride Booker. It's cheaper and just as effective with this particular horse.
In case someone may be considering using a bitless for driving: I tried my bitless bridle one day when ground driving my mare Sissel. I worked with her first much as a rider would to teach her to respond to the bitless cues correctly to bend and turn. That worked pretty well. But when I put the lines through the terrets and asked her to bend and turn again, she acted confused and frustrated. I went back to a bitted bridle and she responded well again.
I saw another horse who is normally ridden in a Dr. Cook's bitless bridle also act confused when ground driven in harness with the Dr. Cook's bridle by an experienced driver. He thought when the driver gave a release on the lines, the pressure on the bridle wasn't lightening quickly enough -- the rein signals were being muddled and slowed. Based on these experiences, I am skeptical how useful the Dr. Cook's style of bitless is to the driving world.
Some folks, including Nahman Korem of the Crown Jewel Resort Ranch in Nova Scotia, use a rope halter on their well-trained horses when hitched for trail driving, logging and farm work. The horses seem to go well. A rope halter acts differently on the horse's head than the Dr. Cook's bridle.
I don't think the bitless bridle is a magical thing that will instantly make every horse happier, but I think it can work well for some horses and riders. There are a variety of bitless bridles to consider -- the bosal, an English jumping hackamore, a sidepull, a rope halter, as well as the Dr. Cook's style. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages.
DeeAnna Kristie Strange wrote:
Does anyone here use a Dr. Cook Bitless Bridle riding your Fjord? If so, how do you like it and how does your horse go in it?
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