Take it outside the court

This past weekend a great group of women and and even greater group of horses had the distinct opportunity to ride and train with Dale Partee in the arts of Cowboy Dressage.  We met at Canaan Guest Ranch in Tonasket Washington.  The setting was perfect for a weekend get-a-way and offered unique opportunities for us to work with our horses.


Now, I'm sure that most folks that signed up for a Cowboy Dressage clinic would be expecting to arrive at the destination and find a nice soft arena to work in.  Not these cowgirls!  Dale is so great about embracing the "cowboy" in Cowboy Dressage and instead of setting up our CD court in an arena she used a natural plateau that was a short but pleasant ride from the ranch down into a valley, over a creek and through the trees.  Not only did this provide a great way to warm our horses up each day but the terrain allowed for us to all spread out through the woods to head to the court each taking the route that best suited our horses.  No nose to tail riding for this group!

It was so peaceful and beautiful on that plateau.  We broke into 2 small groups for excellent instruction.  For half of the participants this was their first introduction to Cowboy Dressage so we had a informative session prior to mounting that explained the geometry of the court and the purpose of Cowboy Dressage and the partnership we are striving for with our horses.  Then we hit the court to begin riding our 10 and 20 m circles.  Our plateau court had a special feature at F.  It was a small tree that was just about in the middle of our circle.

After our day on the court we took what he had learned about bending, softness and impulsion out to the rest of the ranch.  There is so much training and learning that goes on just riding to and from the ranch.  Every tree was an opportunity to bend.  Every hill was an opportunity to collect the hind quarters underneath your horse.  A long slopping hill was a great area to work on your free jog.

On Saturday we headed out for a long trail ride and found a herd of cattle.  We spread out and gathered the cattle then pushed them to a small flattish area to hold as a rodear. Pushing the cattle made us ride with purpose and direction in a straight line.  We had to quickly transition to a free walk then back to a working walk then back to a free walk or free jog while rating our pace to keep the cattle moving without scattering.  Then while holding the rodear the horses had to learn to stand patiently waiting but alert and ready to move should one of the cows make a break for the hills.

Then we worked our horses individually around the rodear.The cows just happened to be a perfect center for a 20 m circle.  The draw of the cattle kept the horse's attention and all the horses were looking in and bending through the circle watching the herd.  We did a free jog and then a free lope around the cattle.  Then we stopped, shaped our horses and did a turn on the haunches moving our horse's heads toward the cattle to use the cows for the draw and help to open our shoulders to move through the turn.  Many of the horses that had struggled slightly on the court the day before with opening the shoulders did so freely when asked to do it on the rodear.

We also had a great time in the aspen grove.  Besides being a beautiful setting it was full of obstacles to bend and serpentine around and through.  We also created a cowgirl jump course that aside from being a hoot was great for asking your horse to move forward and gather himself.  These horses were not jumping horses for the most part, but any horse can learn to pick himself up and correctly jump a log in a grove.  It gave both horse and rider confidence in each other.

Gaining confidence in your self and your horse was a big theme for this group of riders.  While this was a fairly experienced group of women, there were a few greener horses and about half of the group that hadn't experienced Cowboy Dressage before.  The court and tests were a little intimidating to them at first.  Once they were able to ride the court and master the geometry and move their horses freely with soft feel on a court without rails, taking it to the trail was a small step.  When it came time to rodear the cattle and lope around them many of the girls were nervous that their horses weren't ready or they weren't ready without the security of a nice arena.  Every one of them did it without incident and did it well.

Cowboy Dressage is not just an arena exercise.  We use the court to help us train ourselves and our horses but the training shouldn't stop there.  These are Western Performance horses that we are developing.  Part of Cowboy Dressage is embracing our Cowboy heritage.  That doesn't all happen in an arena.  That happens on a hill side as a herd of loose horses gallop up to great you.  It happens walking down a trail with logs and creeks and things that help you teach your horse to pick up his feet and place them when and where you tell him too.  Riding your horse with purpose shouldn't end when you ride out the arena past A.  Carry the lessons from the court with you everywhere and suddenly the world is your court.

Rhythm of the Ride

Students of horsemanship will be familiar with the three tenants of what is commonly referred to today as Natural Horsemanship.  Much like the Christian Holy Trinity, Feel, Timing and Balance are as difficult to really grasp as they are to explain and are best taken with a good deal of faith.  Those three little words that seem so simple on first glance could each be the subject of a large book themselves, with Feel being the mystery novel with shady characters all speaking in different languages.  I am a believer in these three tenants of horsemanship and believe that everything that we strive to do with horses can be improved or understood more fully in the context of either Feel, Timing or Balance and as aspects of the same circle of horsemanship 'guruness' they are difficult to separate for individual consideration.  There is considerable overlap and it is difficult to discuss one without the others.  

While it is easy to lose the forest for the trees I find that sometimes looking at the individual trees makes the forest easier to understand, so I like to break things down to ruminate and explore on a more minuscule level before taking it back to the big picture.  With that in mind, I would like to turn your attention to a piece of just one of the big three today and discuss a tool that we can use to come closer to developing and understanding Timing.

One of the trees in the forest of timing is Rhythm.  Today's blog is all about rhythm and I would like to invite you and your bongo to sit in on our drum circle and explore Rhythm and it's implication in horsemanship and advancing your horsemanship through the application of Rhythm in your riding.

Music is such a basic part of being human.  All cultures have some form of music unique to their indigenous rhythms and traditions.  Whether it's the basic drum beat rhythms of an African tribe, the overlapping beats of a Native American drum circle, the droning cross rhythms of the Aborigines or the high stepping fiddle and banjo beats of the Appalachians;  all cultures that I am aware of have music.  Dancing and moving to the rhythm happens in children sometimes before walking.  We all strive to move to that same rhythm.  While we aren't all dancers, I believe we can all feel the basic rhythms of music.  If you have ever experienced a techno Rave with the hard pounding bass beating so loud that it seems to control your own heart beat you have felt how your body can be consumed by music.

I don't believe this to be a solely human trait either.  There have been many studies on animal behavior documenting animal's responses to music.  Interestingly enough, many animals seem to have better taste than we do often preferring the classics and masters that rely on complicated musical melodies and beats rather than much of contemporary music that is more lyrically driven.  Of course animals will respond to the music itself and not the lyrics that we often respond to.

Dairy cows will produce more milk when certain soothing music is played in the parlor (that should obviously be called MOOsic).  If you would like to get the most out of your dairy cow there are playlists available on the internet.  Elephants in captivity seem to develop less bad habits when classical music is played in their environment.  Cats and dogs in shelters seem less stressed when there is music playing and you can even buy CD's designed to leave on for your pets when you aren't home.

What about horses and music? Like the dairy industry, most barns seem to feel that some music left on in the breezeway soothes the horses in their stalls.  We play music in our barn overnight and it does seems to quiet restless horses.  I don't think this is just "white noise" to the horse.  Not all music seems to have the same effect on the horse.

Riding to music is nothing new.  In many different disciplines, preforming to music is a common thing.  If you haven't tried playing music while you ride, I recommend you try it out.  I don't think head phones are the right approach as I believe the horse should be able to hear the music as well.  I think if you and the horse each reach for the same rhythm in your riding you will soon be riding towards each other's rhythm which will improve your timing in your cues and the performance of your horse.

I used to ride in a drill team.  We would practice our routine first on foot, then on horseback at a walk and trot long before ever bringing the music in.  Obviously when you have multiple horses moving towards each other at high speeds, getting the timing just right was a matter of safety.  I will always remember that feeling when after weeks of practice we first performed our drill to the accompaniment of music.  Invariably it improved our overall timing as a group.  While preforming the drill over and over again to the same music can become somewhat tiresome depending on the song choice, that very first time your movements were put to music was magical for both horse and rider.

Playing music while schooling your horse in cadence at walk, jog and lope can help you feel the foot falls of your horse.  As your body moves to the rhythm your horse will move with you and soon you are moving as one.  From that instance of joined rhythm you can move forward in perfect cadence. We speak of the movement and cadence of the horse already as if it were a musical piece.  The walk is a 4 beat gait, perfect for music in slow even 4 count rhythm.  The trot is a two beat gait perfectly ridden to an even  2 or 4 count rhythm at a faster pace.  The lope, is a 3 beat gait that is perfectly ridden to a waltz.  If you have ever had the distinct pleasure of watching a large Morgan horse show with the music being played at the center of the arena you can see how changing the rhythm of the music seems to get the horses all in time in the arena.  I love watching how the horses will each be on a slightly different rhythm when the change of gait is announced and as the music plays they are soon all moving as one.

The classical dressage folks have made it a science, of course, and there is endless information on the internet explaining how to choose music for proper timing of your freestyle and how to discover what timing your horse has.  This is cowboy dressage and we don't need to be quite that complicated!  I urge you to ride your horse to music that has a cadence.  It doesn't matter if it's Ricky Scaggs or Eminem.  If you can feel the rhythm your horse will too.  Find a song with a nice steady even cadence that fits the feel of your horse and how you want your horse to move.  Experiment with Rhythm and moving in time with your horse.

I believe that if you and your horse seek the rhythm rather than attempt to confine yourselves to it you will find more success.  Think outside of the box and try several different styles until you and your horse find the style that suits you best.  It's a great way to teach you how to match a rhythm and teach your horse to rate to your seat and energy. Seek a rhythm with your horse, then time your cues to that rhythm with the proper feel and balance and you are well on your way to dancing through that forest.

Horsemanship is art, and when you allow the art to consume you, oh what beautiful music you can make.

Building your Cowboy Dressage court

Dan and I have been busy putting together our Cowboy Dressage court for the upcoming season of Lucky Duck Ranch's CD ride nights.  We began hosting Thursday night ride nights a few years ago and they have grown into a summer Thursday evening tradition that we all look forward to.

Last summer we started playing with the Cowboy Dressage challenge court pattern.  We didn't work on any set tests but worked on different elements using the Cowboy Dressage challenge court as our play ground.  It was so much fun to have a play ground to play with. We would take turns making up different patterns to challenge each other with.  This year we will have a new and better court set up so that we can ride both regular tests as well as challenge tests.

I thought it might be helpful to talk about how we went about setting up our court so that we might save a step or two for other folks out there getting their CD court all set up.

Last year we used ground poles and cones for our court.  This year we are using  PVC pipe.  We had a little bit of trouble finding the right kind of PVC when we went to Home Depot.  For the plumbing uninitiated the pipe that you are after is the light weight drain pipe in either the 3 or 4 inch.  We decided to go with the 3 inch in order to save just a little bit of money and because the fittings that we needed in 4 inch were low in stock.

In order to put together the CD challenge court you will need 10 5' sections.  Conveniently they come in 10 foot lengths, so you will need 10 of those.  For the ground poles I recommend end caps on each end so they are more stable and don't fill with dirt and water.  12 of those 5 foot sections will be ground poles so you need 24 end caps.  To build the octagon you need 8 5 foot sections and 8 45 degree elbows as connectors.

We cut our 10 foot sections with just a chop saw.  They are easy to cut through and I imagine a hand saw would work just as easily if you are opposed to power tools.  The lengths of drain pipe have a plastic adaptor at one end.  We cut those off and then cut the lengths in half.  It ends up being slightly less than 5 feet, but that won't matter in the long run.

After cutting all our pipe sections it was time to get our letters ready to go.  We purchased the large set of Cowboy Dressage vinyl letters from Cowboy Dressage World.  We searched and searched for the most economical way to make markers.  You can purchase large cones that the markers can be added too.  What we found was that most of the markers that are made for dressage already have the letters on them.  So, we chose to use 5 gallon buckets.  They are economical and hardy and sturdy and the letters fit on them well.  We had to search a little to find the buckets that didn't have the logo of the large hardware store already on them.  Our local hardware store had plain white buckets.  We were going to buy the orange ones from home depot and paint them but were lucky to track down the plain white ones.

If you buy your letters from Cowboy Dressage and are going to be putting them on 5 gallon buckets, be sure they will fit!  I had to trim down all of our letters to make them fit on the buckets we were able to find.  It won't matter in the long run, but a few of my brands are missing the points at the top and bottom.

Next come laying out the court.  We use our arena for various other activities besides Cowboy Dressage and want to be able to quickly and accurately set up our court.  We have decided to use a marking system similiar to what the PRCA uses for placing the markers for barrel racing.  They hammer a large stake with flagging into the arena.  It is driven down below the surface so there is no risk of metal causing an injury to the horse, the flagging is the only part that rests on the surface of the arena.  You can work your arena right over the markers without trouble. We used bailing twine and horse shoes buried at the corners, middle, and mid points on all 4 sides.

Obviously there are other ways to go about setting up your CD court.  Last year we had just ground poles cleared from our property and letters stapled in the approximate areas around the arena.  Our arena was "eye-balled" and not exact.  We are excited this year to upgrade to a more dimensionally correct arena and easy to move arena pieces.  I can tell you that the tighter court is much more of a challenge! Below are the diagrams of the measurements both in feet and meters to help you set up your own court.

Lateral Movements in Cowboy Dressage

Lateral Movements

While there are many lateral movements in western riding, they are not traditionally performed to the level that you will see in the dressage arena.  Adding these basic dressage movements to the training of our western horses in Cowboy Dressage makes for a more complete and balanced equine athlete. 

You can think of lateral movements as the Pilates of equestrian training.  It teaches your horse independent control of the parts of the body creating bend and suppleness through the entire spine.  It also helps convey soft feel by gathering the horse’s legs under the body and redirecting the feet laterally one quarter at a time.  Like Pilates in people it also helps to develop elasticity and strength in the muscle groups and when performed correctly can even help a horse that is very one-sided naturally to better be able to use both sides of his body equally.  Do you have a horse that is stiff to one side, or reluctant to take up one lead?  Lateral movement exercises can help your horse to better learn how to balance and use his body for better athletic control. 

The basic lateral movements are:

1.       Shoulder in

2.       Shoulder out

3.       Haunches in

4.       Haunches out

5.       Leg Yield

6.       Half Pass

If you think of a horse walking down a dirt track, you can see two lines of tracks.  One of each side of the body.  In the simplest terms, the lateral movements change the way the front half of the horse and the back half of the horse are tracking, ultimately changing how many lines of tracks there are in the dirt.  Visualization of these maneuvers is so important when teaching your horse.  Developing the feel to understand where each foot is falling can be difficult and so having a clear picture in your mind really helps to create the proper feel for you and your horse. 

The best method for clearly visualizing these maneuvers is to pair up with a friend.  You don’t have to put the horse costume on, but imagine you are two people in a horse costume.   When you are walking united the forequarter person and the hindquarter person are each stepping in the same lateral tracks, left and right. 

In the picture below you can see Eitan and Katrina traveling as the forequarters and hindquarters of the horse.  They are traveling united and both of their feet are in the same left and right track. 

With a Shoulder in maneuver, the hindquarters stay traveling straight in the same original tracks while the forequarters step in one track.  This creates three tracks in the dirt.  The inside hind foot and outside front foot are traveling on the same track while the outside hind foot and inside front foot are on their own separate tracks.   This creates an arc through the body of the horse that begins at the nose and travels to the pelvis. 

You can see an excellent shoulder in performed by Eitan and his lovely assistant Katrina in this picture

Eitan is the forequarters.  His body is offset by one “track” from the rear quarters, which is Katrina.  The forequarters are looking in the direction of the bend creating a slight arc through the body. 

The same basic principle applies to a Haunches in and Haunches out maneuver, except the forequarters will stay on the same original track the hindquarters are asked to move over one set of tracks in the dirt.  In order to create the bend, the head and neck need to be looking in the same direction that the hindquarters are traveling. 

 

The leg yield is a much more common maneuver in western disciplines because it is a relatively straight maneuver.  This maneuver is often used to initiate teaching of some of the other more complex maneuvers.  Generally performed along the fence line, the leg yield asks the horse to move on three tracks in a straight frame with the head bent just slightly towards the fence.  The inside hind leg is on one track, the inside foreleg and outside hind leg is on the middle track and the outside front leg is on the other track.  The purpose of this exercise is to teach the horse to move off of the rider’s leg. 

In a half pass, all the feet are on a separate track in the dirt.  Unlike the commonly performed side pass where there is only lateral movement and no foreword movement, the half pass is diagonal movement.  Properly performed, the horse should move equally forward and sideways creating a perfect blend.  When performed correctly, the feet create 4 tracks in the dirt that could be labeled from top to bottom as outside front foot, inside front foot, outside hind foot and inside hind foot.  The direction of the slight bend in the horse’s body is towards the direction of travel so the head and neck look just slightly towards the inside front foot track. 

A good athlete should have superior control over his entire body.  A good coach helps to build that athlete’s potential through strengthening exercises.  These maneuvers are strengthening exercises for your horse.  Shoulder’s in/out creates reach and freedom through the shoulders improving your turns, rollbacks, and spins.  Haunches in/out increases your horse’s strength in the hindquarters by asking him to bear more weight on one hind leg on the other through the movement.  This aids in collection and propulsion from the hindquarters.  The half pass creates balanced movement through the entire body of the horse to decrease one-sidedness in our horses.   Lateral movements are not just fancy moves meant for the dressage arena; these are athletic maneuvers that can aid in the training and suppleness of any horse and especially the athletes that are our western performance and cowboy dressage horses! 

The two handed bit

One of the very appealing things about Cowboy Dressage for many riders is the ability to ride with two hands on the reins.  While many English riders may wonder what the big deal is, for Western riders, this is a revolutionary concept.

Traditionally in most Western disciplines, only the very green horses that are being ridden in either the snaffle or the hackamore may be ridden with two hands.  The reasons for this are many including the need for the Western rider to be one handed and able to rope or open gates or swat belligerent cattle.  For the most part, the bits that were used in the majority of western disciplines once the horse was out of the snaffle were solid mouth pieces in various configurations and the horse was expected to neck rein, moving off of light pressure on the neck with minimal pressure on the bit.

With a solid mouth piece, no matter the configuration, isolation of cues to the individual sides of the horse's mouth are minimal at best.  Add any length of shank to that solid mouth piece and isolation of cues to a single side become even less.  Solid bars with long shanks are bits designed to be used with one hand on the reins and are most effective used in that fashion.

In order to effectively ride with two hands and give independent signals to the horse's lips, bars or tongue for independent control of the head, neck and shoulders, a broken mouth piece is required.  In the past, the most common option for riding in a shanked bit with a broken independent mouth piece was the Tom Thumb snafffle.  This is basically a regular snaffle bit with long shanks allowing for some action as a leverage bit as well.  The problem with this bit is that it really works best if the hands are used completely independently.  Any dual pressure on the reins caused a nut cracker effect on the bars and lower jaw of the mouth often resulting in a resentful and uncomfortable horse that would soon brace or root against the bit.

Today we have many more effective bits to choose from.  There are several different styles of bits with western shanks and broken mouth pieces that have barrel attachments changing the nature of the bending of the center piece of the bit.  These bits are very movable and allow for isolated cues to the lips, tongue, bar, and because they are shanked leverage bits to the chin and poll as well.

With one of these bits a horseman is better able to give subtle, yet easily determined signal to the horse effecting change in the head, neck, jaw, shoulders and front legs of the horse.

Here is one example of such a bit.  This is a low port 3 piece barrel bit with cavalry cheek pieces made by Myler Bits.

Because this bit is hinged and moves in three independent places, lifting on just one rein can send a signal to the lips and bars of just one side of the horse's mouth as seen in the picture below. 

When applying pressure to both reins simultaneously the bit will function similar to a standard leverage bit without collapsing like a Tom Thumb shanked snaffle.  The three pieces and barrel in the middle of the bit prevent it from collapsing on the horse.  This bit functions quite well with both two hands and one making it an effective transition bit for a horse and allowing the rider to give precise cues for advanced maneuvers. 

 

Cowboy Dressage calls for both lightness and precision in communication with your horse.  Using tack that aids in that communication while remaining true to the Western traditions is important.  In order to attain higher levels of horsemanship it is necessary to move to higher functioning equipment.

While all of the maneuvers in Cowboy Dressage can and should be taught to a horse in the snaffle bit or other simple two handed piece of tack, as the horse progresses and improves in his understanding he can move into a bit that allows for more subtle cues.  

Deciding which of these bits is best for your horse takes a certain amount of trial and error.  Because these bits have much more independent moving pieces than a regular snaffle they can offer a lot of cues to a horse.  A horse unprepared for that much movement in his bit may interpret those cues as noise.   Always make transitions to new bits slowly allowing the horse some time to wear the bit without interference before offering soft cues.  If you are in the habit of always offering cues with the softest feel you will quickly feel the response in your horse before making too much movement in the bit and intimidating a horse that is new to the sensation.  

Intimate control of the body parts, including head, neck and shoulders, rib cage and back and hind quarters requires the use of all of the independent aids.  Two hands on the bit aid in isolation and signal for better control of those body parts.  The difference between a broken mouth piece and solid mouth piece is immense when isolating those signals.  

Youth Partnership and Cowboy Dressage

One of the neatest things that I got to watch this past weekend at the Northwest Equine Expo in Albany, Oregon was the demonstration of the youth partnership program in Cowboy Dressage.  This is a program designed to incorporate the youth through pattern work on the ground.  It involves having a kid and a horse demonstrate their connection and communication on the ground as they maneuver through a series of patterns including circles, turns on the hind quarters and leading from both sides of the horse at the walk and jog.

On the surface it sounds like it is the same thing as any showmanship class for youth in open and 4-H shows.  I had thought the same thing until I got to watch it in person. How many of you 4-H parents and leaders have watched the long and often boring showmanship classes and wished for something better for the kids?  Watching showmanship classes is a lot like watching paint dry without all the exciting fumes to help pass the time.

For those of you that may not have had the opportunity to stand around an arena on an early Saturday morning watching an hour long showmanship class for 8-12 year olds, let me enlighten you.  It consists of a pack of kids all scrubbed up and wearing very sparkley and very expensive showmanship outfits that act as saran wrap on a hot day.  They are leading a very clean and polished and fake tail toting horse with a very expensive halter and lead shank often with a chain.  They move like robots into the arena and line up to wait their turn in front of the judge.  They then walk out of line individually in their little robot mode and present their horse to the judge.  This is where the showmanship two step occurs as the judge walks around the horse and the kid has to move smartly from side to side based on a quartering system.  The crisper, more robotic movements are considered high form.  Then the kid turns the horse and trots back into line and their 15 minutes of fame come to an end.

Except that the Cowboy Dressage youth partnership features a kid and a horse on the ground it looked nothing like your typical showmanship class.  There was no blingy expensive shirt or silver halter and chain shank.  The young girl we had the distinct pleasure of observing was turned out in clean, serviceable and appropriate clothing.  Her only “bling” was a nicely knotted silk wild rag around her neck.  She was leading her horse with a plain, clean, rope halter.  She calmly lead her horse into the dressage court in front of a crowd of at least 1,000 people and performed a series of maneuvers requiring her to follow instructions, walk, jog and stop her horse, turn on the haunches and repeat the pattern leading the horse from the right side.  It was poetry in motion between a young girl and her horse.    

I find myself having difficulty conveying what was so special about this exhibition.  It was almost like watching a first year 4-H showmanship class but without all the innocent mistakes that first year 4-Hers make.  Remember your first year in 4-H when you really didn't care what kind of ribbon you got>  You were much more interested in just being there having fun with your horse.  You may have forgot your pattern, or turned the wrong way, but as long as you and your pony entered and exited the class together without having a fracus in the middle it was a blast! 

Watching the Cowboy Dressage youth partnership class feels like watching a partnership.  Seeing those young people connect to their horses and watching a horse connect to a young rider with no need for a chain shank is a beautiful thing.  Just a kid and a horse and harmony.  It’s what every parent wants for their kid and the horse they spend all their money feeding.

What cowboy dressage has done with their partnership program is exactly what our youth programs in horses need to be reminded of.  It’s not about winning or losing or how fancy your horse and your tack are.  It’s about how you communicate with your horse. It seems to me like 4-H has moved away from what it was when I was a kid.  I see more fancy outfits and fake tails and chain shanks on leather halters in the showmanship classes than I ever saw during my years in 4-H.   Cowboy dressage has just blessed the 4-H program with a way to get back to what 4-H was supposed to be teaching our kids to begin with. 

Training our kids and building that next generation of horseman is so important for the equine industry.  We need to do it right.  It’s every bit as important to start a young kid off properly in their horsemanship journey as it is to build a foundation in a horse.  They need to start on the ground learning the basics of communication with their horse just like we do when we start a young horse’s training.  Good communication skills and learning how to build a connection start on the ground and carry through into the saddle.  This is the purpose of showmanship that somewhere became lost when it became fashionable to move around your horse like a robot. 

The Cowboy Dressage youth partnership program is a gift to 4-H and youth leaders everywhere.  This is the program that you have been looking for to build your kid’s interest in proper handling of their horses.   This is how you get them to work on ground work and not just jump right in the saddle.  It’s fun and challenging and it’s making better horsemen out of our kids.  That’s what it’s all about.  

Bit less Bridles and Cowboy Dressage

There is a growing popularity in the movement towards bit less bridles.  It is wonderful to see so many people wanting to embrace a softer, kinder method of communication with their horses.  Cowboy Dressage is all about being kind to your horse and finding a better way to communicate. I am a big fan of being kind to your horse.  Huge fan.  I want to be as kind to my horses as is possible. Being kind and going bit less may not always fall into the same category.  There are forms of bit less bridles, that can be as harsh and painful for a horse as a bit. 

Allow me help you to understand the bit less bridle movement and help you to make an informed decision about what type of head gear you may want to try on your horse and why there are only a few bit less options available in a discipline who's bi-word is being kind to your horse. Not all bit less bridles are kind and gentle.  Aside from being harsher and more abrasive than might first be expected they can also be an ineffective tool of communication.   There are times when, as a veterinarian, it is necessary to recommend a bit less option for a rider.  This may be due to damage to the mouth or as a rest period for a mouth that has undergone extensive dental work.  Bit less bridles can be good and useful tools in the right application, but like any tool have their limitations as well.  

First of all, let’s establish a definition of what a good bridle, be it bit less or bitted, really is.  The bridle is an elemental piece of communication meant to take the signal from your hands to your horse’s face and ultimately to the horse’s feet.  It is part of a whole that includes your seat, legs, balance and perhaps voice and energy.  It is neither the most important nor the most effective piece of that whole. As a matter of fact, it is the one part of the whole that is expendable and why bridleless demonstrations are so popular.   It is  the easiest piece of the puzzle to change, the most common one to blame and the one that is often used to the greatest disadvantage to the horse.  The bridle needs to be a comfortable and concise tool of communication that does not cause anxiety or pain to the horse.  It needs to have both a clear signal and a very clear release.  If any part of the bridle causes a distraction to the horse it no longer serves its purpose in communication. 

The Bosal

I’m going to begin with the bosal because it is the oldest form of bit less bridle. It is simply a braided piece of rawhide on a simple leather hanger with a rope style rein. This tool has been in use for as long as humans have been riding horses. There is archeological evidence that a form of braided bosal was used 4,000 years ago.  It is the traditional tool of the vaquero horseman and was used on the horse from the time it was started under saddle until it was introduced to the bit often years and years down the road.  It is a simple and effective piece of equipment that has a very clear signal and very clear release.  While being a simple tool, it is not the simplest for the novice to use.  Of all the bit less bridle options, the bosal requires the most application of feel and timing in my opinion.   While I believe that all horseman can improve their feel and timing by learning how to properly ride in a bosal, I don’t believe the bosal is the tool that a new rider should be using.  The reason it is not a great tool for a novice rider is that it is easy to over use a bosal without feel so that you completely erase the effectiveness of the tool.  This is one of the reasons the bosal has, over the years, developed a reputation for having “no stop”.  Many people believe that you have no control over a horse in a bosal if that horse decides to bolt.  I can tell you that a horse properly started and trained in the bosal has plenty of stop.  But, in the wrong hands, pulling on a bosal will be ineffective to stop a panicked horse.  The other complaint you hear about bosals is that they cause sores and rub marks.  This is true of poorly fitted or cheap gear.  Well fitted, well made bosals will not cause rub marks even worn for 10 hours or more on the trail.  The bosal is welcomed in Cowboy Dressage for any age of horse.  It can be ridden in one or two hands but is probably more effective as a two handed tool.  Obtaining good collection and bend in the bosal is possible but much more difficult than in the snaffle.

Loping hackamore

The loping hackamore is a type of traditional cowboy piece of equipment that has it’s root in the Texan cowboy.  While the Vaqueros of the California and Mexican areas were using rawhide hackamores, the Texan cowboys were using a rope set up to start their horses.  This was meant to be a fairly temporary piece of equipment used for the first week or so before transition into another piece of equipment, usually a bit of some kind.  This is a very simple tool, much like the rawhide bosal but softer with less chance of startling a colt with a quick pull.  Cowboy Dressage offers a soft loping hackamore as a bit less option that has the added benefit of allowing for an indirect pull due to the way the soft main hair reins are attached at the base of the braided nose piece.  Because this is a soft piece of equipment the signal and release is not as correct as in the traditional bosal.  This a good choice for a horse that is uncomfortable in a bit but understands cues well.  It is also a good choice for a rider working to develop soft hands and soft feel that has trouble doing so with a bit.  This should be a transitional tool that helps prepare for another form of bridle or serves as a “break” to a broke bridle horse.  Over time, it will hinder softness as the horse can become dull to the cues offered. 

Mechanical Hackamore

A Western style mechanical hackamore is on the left on the Palomino and an English style mechanical hackamore is on the right.

The mechanical hackamore is another popular “bit-less” choice, though it still has plenty of iron.  This  is a leather band hooked to large shanks that have a spoon attached to them with a curb chain.  This device works by creating a squeeze on the jaw of the horse.  When you pull back on the shank the entire device cranks down on the horse’s nose and jaw.  With a long enough shank you can place a lot of pressure on that horse. It is definitely a leverage piece of equipment.  I rode in a mechanical hackamore for a lot of years because  I had a horse that didn't like bits.  It didn't matter which bit I used he would never settle and relax in the bit.  When I quit showing him I started trail riding in the mechanical hackamore.  We got along splendidly in it.  I would say that the mechanical hackamore can be very comfortable for a horse with a rider with light hands.  A hard handed rider can do a lot of damage with a mechanical hackamore.  The benefit is that a hard headed horse will be hard pressed to run through a mechanical hackamore due to the amount of pressure you can apply with this device.  The signal and release with a mechanical hackamore is slightly muddled by the amount of movement in the device.  There is a lot of room for the device to swing and clatter with the natural movement of the horse masking subtler cues. Therefore higher levels of horsemanship and subtlety are lost with this tool.  This tool is best for the recreational trail rider that spends most of the time with the reins draped over the saddle horn.  I recommend it for horses with damaged mouths and riders that do not need a tool for higher levels of communication.   This is not a good tool for Cowboy Dressage because it does not allow for lift or creation of bend and it is not a particularly kind bitting choice if you are intending to ride with even light contact.  Any pull on the mechanical hackamore acts to cinch down the device on the horse’s head.  This device creates good poll flexion and has a lot of stopping power but not much finesse.  It is also not considered a traditional piece of western tack.

Side pulls

A side pull is device often used on young horses early in their training and is sometimes favored as a bit less choice for recreational riders.  It is a fairly simple device that uses a ring on either side of a cavasson type piece of tack that is interlocked with rope or leather in a crossing fashion.  Like the name implies you literally direct the horse by pulling out to the side.  This device is most effective when used with two hands spread wide apart.  It is great for establishing direction and teaching the horse to follow his nose.  It has poor release in the device itself relying on the mere cessation of pressure as the release.   This is a fairly gentle piece of equipment, not likely to damage a horse but it sure can dull one up.  Because it works just like it says it does and pulls the horse from side to side and has a poor release mechanism the horse ends up getting dragged around.  Because the horse can learn to ignore the pressure of this device it does not tend to stop very well either.  This is  not a bad choice for a broke horse on a trail ride but you will probably need to use another tool to get that horse broke enough to trust on the trail with a side pull alone.  I should also mention that with a side pull particularly you will want the horse’s teeth to be in good shape.  Because this device relies on direct pressure to the side of the horse’s face, points on the buccal surface of the upper molars will be particularly painful.   The side pull is a tool developed for starting horses and creating direction.  It is not an advanced means of communicating with your horse.  It is like trying to write a symphony with a crayon and is inappropriate for Cowboy Dressage.  This device, though kind offers a poor means of communication. 

Dr. Cook’s Bit less Bridle

Dr. Cook has probably the most popular of the bit less options.  This a system that creates pressure across the jaw on the opposite side of the pulling rein by crossing straps that go from the poll to the opposite side of the horse’s face.  It is billed to have better stopping power than either a bosal or a side pull by creating a submit response, without pain, to the entire head of the horse.  They call it a whole head hug.   Because it creates pressure on the opposite side of the horse, similar to the side pull it works similarly only directing the pressure instead of to just the side of the jaw to the entire length of the opposite jaw and poll.   It is a more effective tool of communication than the side pull without quite the same tendency to dull the horse due to the pressure along the entire length of the horse’s head.  The signal and release in this device would be similar to the side pull without great release because you are relying on those leather straps to slide through the rings as your release.  This tool would be a better choice for a bit less option for a trained horse rather than for completing a horse’s training.  Because the pressure on the rein affects the off side of the horse, movement of the shoulders through rein aids would be muddled and it is therefore not an appropriate choice for Cowboy Dressage.  For a recreational rider with a trained horse, this is probably a good choice of bit less bridle. 

I’m not even going to disgrace the topic by including halters as a bit less bridle option.  Halters are meant for leading and groundwork communication and are as inappropriate for good riding as underpants are for a board meeting.  Don’t disgrace yourself or your horse by riding around in your underwear. 

Because proper communication is part of being kind to your horse, bit less bridles are not always a very kind option. You can say very nice things to someone underwater and it won’t mean anything because they can’t hear you.  Using some of the tools above is like talking underwater to your horse. When creating a partnership with your horse it is essential to establish clear and concise communication as well as stay true to the tradition of the Cowboy lifestyle that we are honoring.  We do this by choosing equipment that helps us to do that.  Ultimately it is not the equipment that determines whether it is kind or harsh anyway,  it’s the hands of the rider.  Cowboy Dressage is here to help you develop soft feel and good communication with your horse through proper use of traditional Western tack.  While there are good and varied reasons to choose a bit less option, Cowboy Dressage will ask for more communication than is typically offered by these tack choices. Just remember,  it takes a far superior horseman to ride in a bridle than it does to ride without one.