Diary all about a Dr Cook bitless bridle and a TBx

M

MinnieMoo<3

New Member
Aug 28, 2010
507
0
0
Cambridgshire
Hi, thought id start a diary to tell you all about how we get along with the bitless bridle which i have just ordered :D i went onto the dr cook website and if it does what it says on the tin its going to work wounders on annie (3 of the many things it says it helps with is difficult to slow or stop, bolting and headshaking, which are the problems we have with Annie

so after speaking with yard owner yesterday we ordered from the bitlessbridleuk on ebay (worked out slightly slightly cheaper) but had to email then about sizing as she is large in length of head, but medium noseband, they were fine with that

so paid for it today

but first, about the horse

Annie is a 16.1 13 year old Tb X mare who is near enough to perfect on the ground its just when you get on her, when you step up a gear from walk she wants to step up another one!, unless you are on roads then she is fine

back in February my confidence on her went completely after she ran away with me on the meadow, for about 10 /15 minutes we were going round the meadow at i dread to think what speed with about 2 dozen people watching, the meadow is very popular with dog walkers and family on walks as it joins up 2 vilages, she only stopped when i had lost my stirrups and was on the floor

after a couple months of my confidence getting so low that i would be in tears after 10 minutes in the school as i felt so out of control we decided that it would be best to find a new home for annie, it was an extremely hard decision but it was for the best.

months went by of people coming to view annie but they all said the same, either that 'she walks funny' (she does walk odd, but the vet isnt bothered by it) or that she is too forward, (mostly after she has started cantering with then whilst trotting :redface:)

after months of no luck selling her we looked at the option of loaning her out, many emails from time wasters - advert states can be forward going, experienced rider needed and happy to move yard but local(were in cambridgeshire) - "hi, me and my friend are looking for a share horse, we are 13 and have been riding for 2 years" (polite reply sent but first line im screming no in my head) "would you consider loaning to south wales!" "fife, scotland" "manchester"

we then thought we found the perfect home, a local lady who lives litterally 10 mins away, keep her at a yard 20 mins away, she is a dressage teacher and is looking for a project, however annies odd walking was to odd for dressage she found after having her on loan for a week, so she came home about a week and a half ago

when i was bored the other day i was searching on here the point of nosebands! then flash's and saw a post saying flash's can help slow down horses, so i asked a question about it on her and popularfurball suggested considering going bitless (THANK YOU!!! :biggrin: )

sooo, tomorrow is going to be interesting!!!, if this does work out we might not have to find a new home for Annie which would be the best thing in the world!!!:bounce: but we will have to wait and see how it goes

woah ive written alot lol

any experiece of the Dr Cook bitless bridle concering forward going, hard to stop horses (or ponies) would be much appreciated

and have a cookie for getting to the end :D
 
I used a Dr Cook on my TB ex racer. Was fabulous for her at first and it allowed me to ride her and out a bridle on her, we did eventually get out of her silly ways and jogging everywhere. We went hunting in it, hacked a lot, and did some endurance in it, but after a while she learnt she could lean into it and no listen to me so I swapped her to an LG/happywheel and she did really well in it, we did more endurance and hacked in that till I retired her. :happy:
 
I bought one a few years ago for my cob, who liked it a lot, and decided to try it out on my new Tb who is roughly the same size for everything. I thought I was possibly being a bit mad as she's quick and keen and can get very strong sometimes. It was actually a bit of a revelation, there simply wasn't any point bitting her up as she'd just tuck her head onto her chest and ignore you if she felt like it. With the Dr Cook her head stayed up and she kept listening in those situations. She's still a speedy girl but she does everything outside the school in hers now including endurance rides, brake failure has been very rare indeed and I don't have to worry about her mouth getting sore if she gets strong or wound up.

I would be careful though, and start riding with it in a safe enclosed area. The sales pitch is a bit OTT IMHO and some horses will run through them or object to the pressure. Hopefully it will help you and your mare, look forward to hearing how you get on with it.
 
Good luck!!!!!!

For some reason, Tb/ex racer types that I have come across are fussy in the mouth/head and object to the pressure of a bit badly. Hackamore is another option too :)

Let us know how you go - My girl is much more relaxed through her neck bitless, but doesn't respect it - though not tried a dr cooks. That said she doesnt respect much - shes tried to walk through a shed and a hedge to take a short cut home :giggle:. I made the decision to try after riding her in a headcollar and having distinctly less arguments with her.
 
thanks for the replies, they offer a 30 day money back on it so if it doesnt work all we have lost is the cost of postage :happy:

we have a small arena on our yard which isnt anything grand but it is an enclosed space, ill probably wait till the weekend to try it out (its meant to arrive tomorrow as it was next day delivery) and then the following weekend or a weekday evening after then we might hire out a local (15 / 20 mins road hacking and annie is fine on the roads) olympic sized arena to be able to put it through its paces! theres not really space in our arena for her to be able to get up some speed on a long side before she is turning the corner! that doesnt stop her trying though!

im really hoping its gunna work as it really is a case of, if it works and i can get my confidence back then she will be staying which would be the best thing in the world :biggrin:!!! if not, back on the hunt for the perfect home for her!
 
i think its gunna work!!!

it arrived yesterday but didnt get a chance to ride yesterday but just got back from riding now and im feeling really positive

this is the first time i have ridden in the school since before february (other than times i have ridden her round before people looking at her have ridden her) that the ride hasnt ended with me in tears - from frustration and up set that ive been ran away with or cant control her, makes me feel like a failure :(

but anyway, today was different

today was better!

started of just walking her round, doing lots of walk halt walk halt... just for her to get the idea pressure means stop / slow i then had a trot, it used to be in trot she would try and rush of, with many times us ending up cantering at the speed she set, normally fast!

but today we had a nice medium paced steady trot.

i then did something which i havent done for about 6 months!!! i ASKED for canter! but then she sped up, thinking she could control the speed, i asked for canter at the begining of the short side at the top of the school, started slowing her down about 1/4 of the way down the long side (out school is 20 x 30 m 'ish') by the end of the short side at the bottom of the school we were walking!!! i was so pleased, this is the first time i have stopped her in canter before going the whole way round the school quite a few times!

she seemed a bit un happy about the fact that i had stopped her fun! i then did some more walking had another trot, which went fine, then thought we would have another canter, this time she decided she wanted to go sideways which was interesting! but i managed to get her to go straight and let her go on for a bit more and then slowed her down. she did keep on trying to stop at the gate and turn into the corner of the gate (this was after i had stopped her in the canter the first time so i think she wasnt too happy about me being boss of the speed! i know i was though :biggrin:

ill ride her again tomorrow and hopefully she will be a bit more cooperative. the aim is for her to learn that she cant rush of in canter as now i can slow her down

i just need to text my friend who i go on a road hack with every sunday that i wont be able to go out tomorrow as annie is no where near ready to go on roads in it and i dont want to put the bit back in again now if i can help it!

overall the ride today ended in one :biggrin:!!!
 
OwnedbyChanter said:
I am so pleased for you. I read your threads all the time and I am excited for you both as this means a lot to you.
Click to expand...

aww thankyou that really does mean alot and yes your right today has meant soooo much, i really am on :cloud9: ! i just hope it works out in the long run

a couple of people down the yard who i text about today have both been really pleased (one is the yard owner who is a qualified instructor and the other is a really good friend), these are first bit of the text i got back when i told them "fantastic news! well done you :) hopefully this will be the cure..." and "OMG it sounds like you may of found a way to control her" so i hope they are right about it being the cure!
 
rode her again today, she was still trying to rush of in trot (suceeding getting a few steps of canter in on a couple of occasions, but no more than just longer than the short side of the school which i was pleased about :biggrin:) but i managed to keep her under control 'ish'. she was being a but silly and kept wanting to rush in one of the corners, but the corner at the gate she kept on walking and stopping, so id manage to get her to calm down a bit coming down the long side from her being silly but then she would go into walk or just stop in the next corner :banghead: but i am going to ask the yard owner if she would be kind enough to give me a lesson

but now for some piccys! sorry they are in attachment form (the grey on her nose has been there since we got her, we think she might of had a ill fitting headcollar left on her for a long time, poor thing)
 

Attachments

  • 05092010408.jpg
    05092010408.jpg
    24.2 KB · Views: 35
  • 05092010392.jpg
    05092010392.jpg
    19.3 KB · Views: 35
  • 05092010407.jpg
    05092010407.jpg
    20.8 KB · Views: 35
rode her again today (didnt ride yesterday as wasnt in a not very good mood) but was back to normal today so rode, it was about half past 6, all her friends had been in for over an hour so we tacked her up in the arena so we didnt bring her onto yard

i had spoken to the yard owner the other day about her rushing of in one corner so she said just keep circling her in that corner until she stops so today i was walking her around and she as being a good girl i took her into trot, and she kept on speeding up on that corner so i was continuously circling her for about 5 minutes in that corner! we did LOTS of trotting today, mostly in that corner! but she soon got the message, i then asked for canter as i thought she would be to tired to rush of, but she wasnt! so i let her go for a bit but it was getting quite bouncy and i was struggling to sit to it going round corners so i started bring her back to trot and she came back fine! we were near the end of long side and we were trotting again before end of short side!!! now just need to work on slowing her to a nice canter rather than back to trot but that will come...
 
Really enjoyed your thread, please keep updating!

I too have a dr cooks bridle, used it because my cob was very unhappy with the bit, I was terrified but it worked great for us! I have her back in the bit now but still keep the bitless!

Looking forward to further updates!
 
I swapped my 15yo 16.2 ex-P2P TB to a Dr Cook back in Feb and he is a MUCH happier boy. We have brakes too and I can trot him on washing-line reins without having to keep him restrained any more. It's worked for us :)
 
juliecwuk said:
Really enjoyed your thread, please keep updating!

I too have a dr cooks bridle, used it because my cob was very unhappy with the bit, I was terrified but it worked great for us! I have her back in the bit now but still keep the bitless!

Looking forward to further updates!
Click to expand...

thank you, and yes i will keep updating, the goal is to get to the meadow and be under control! i dont think her joints are good enough to do much more than just hacking so im not aiming for jumping, about to start her on codlivine supple joint supplement (ordered from feed shop today so should have it by next thursday) so that will help hopefully as she walks abit oddly (which has put people off buying her, well between that and her running away with them!)

domane said:
I swapped my 15yo 16.2 ex-P2P TB to a Dr Cook back in Feb and he is a MUCH happier boy. We have brakes too and I can trot him on washing-line reins without having to keep him restrained any more. It's worked for us :)
Click to expand...

Yay! i really hope it works that well for us! :biggrin:


so an update for today!

today was dentist and farrier today, dont know if anyone saw my post about today being an expensive day, it wasnt tooo bad, still £90 but anyway, she saw the dentist last year and we were told about her having scaring, also wavy teeth and something else is written on sheet about float? i dunno but anyway. as it was the yard owner sorting out everything today she had spoken to the dentist and putting lots of little things together about annie we think she might of been abused in the past :cry: , :redcarded: to whoever could to that cruel to such a loving gentle horse. but we think the scaring is from her being yanked about in the mouth by the bit, annie also has a patch of no hair on her nose which we think is from and ill fitting headcollar being left on, also annie is petrified of some men and wary of others, she will go right to the back of her stable if the YO eldest son (early 20's quite well built) if he even just walks past her stable, he had never even stroked her i dont think! she is also very wary of my dad if he talks to her over the stable door, poor thing :( she was a really good girl for the dentist (female) and she trusts the farrier (male) who had been doing her feet since we got her april last year, also when we got her her feet were overgrown slightly, not to badly, just needed a couple of trims before she could have shoes on

but i rode her today and she was a VERY good girl she was in a lazy mood and i wasnt going to try and wake her up! we had a nice sleepy walk around before i asked for trot, we had a very nice steady trot around the arena a few times, even through in a circle, which with my steering round circles is more like a octagon (another thing on the "work on this" list!) and we then went back to walk, (no speeding up on THE corner either :biggrin: ) tried to change the rein but stupid me steered her to carry in going round the way we were before!:redface: but then managed to do a correct change of rein and had another trot and again she was a good girl so i thought i would quite while ahead today and left it there as the had a busy day

im going to ride her a few more times and then i think some deleting of adverts is needed!!!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 
the signiture is gone!!!! Annie is staying!!! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

can you tell im a wee bit happy :bounce::giggle:

rode her again today and she was a good girl, after being a tincy incy bit naughty (more on that in a bit - no pun intended honest :happy:)

she was abit more awake today but id put it as a standard to lazy (but closer to standard :giggle:) rather than a lazy like yesterday. so we walked for a bit, changed the rein with out me forgetting to actually change direction! a bit more walk, then had a trot, including a few circles (well circle'ish' shapes) and a change of rein in trot, and then it felt like it was going to start raining so i left it there as she has been a good girl and she then followed me to the gate (after i had got off at the other end of school, trying to avoid stopping by the gate as she tries to do that herself) with out me leading, stopped when i said stand, i opened gate, asked her to walk through, she went through and then turned round waiting for me to shut gate, walked beside me going though the field, waited for gate to open and went through, turned around again to shut, walked through another small paddock which had 3 other ponies in and then i led her through next gate as it was onto yard and her stable door was open and she would of walked straight into her stable, she then stood quietly (rope through the twine but not tied up) waiting for us to sort her stable out!!!

i think she was feeling guilty as she did something she has never done since we got her last april, i was doing up her girth, tacked up in the arena as didnt want to take her onto yard as it was going in time, and she decided she was going to bite my mum who was standing by her head, just in case she decided to walk off and she bent her head round and bit my mum which was a massive shock, not like her at all, were used to Minnie trying to bite us but not annie. so i dont know if the saddle was hurting her, she sometimes has her ears rested back when being tacked up but has never gone to bite (i always thought it was just she wasnt looking forward to working as she never shows and signs of discomfort when being ridden - sometimes she even looks like she is enjoying her self! :giggle:). a friend on yard is having the saddler out at some point as she is really struggling to get her roly poly cob's saddle to fit so might get him to have a look at annie's saddle just to check its all ok

so i think thats all thats happend today...

but annie is staying!!! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 
I would check the saddle too... :D

But Im so pleased your getting somewhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Crossing fingers this continues - but Im sure if you can get your confidence up (you two together) slowly and steadily, then you can manage everything together!!!!!!
 
Only just caught up and managed to read this!

What a lovley ending, really glad your keeping her :biggrin:

I had a similar accident on my boy just over a year ago, he did the same as your girl and didnt stop till i had come off. I totally see where your coming from with the confidance thing, its the most scariest thing in the world isnt it!
But a year later and we are doing brill, my confidance is back and we trust each other 100%!

And it sounds like the way your going you'll be back to normal soon too :biggrin: well done for perservering :happy:
 
Congratulations - what a wonderful story :dance: I am so glad that you are keeping her. She looks/sounds like a really sweet mare.

I ride Frayne in a bitless - a cheapy leather cross-under (a Dr Cooks copy) at the moment, which is absolutely fine for us (also ridden in various synthetic scrawbrigs and just rope halters as well). She hated her bit when she came to me. I restarted her using Parelli and never felt the need to put her back in a bit. Most of the time I can ride with a loose rein (I use a lot of verbal commands), but now she is fitter she can get keener in trot - but with the bitless I can easily stop her, mainly with just one rein.

Ali xx
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back