I would like to see some V. of some of the horses that are being worked bitless?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5XUq56P_I0

Keep in mind, this horse is SCHOOLED with a bit, and it shows.

A horse that is not schooled with a bit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCJQRAHfNDE

And you can tell.

One more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqiKrMGYBBM

I'm not that smooth with videos etc to post some for you, but I imagine if you go to youtube and search 'bitless' you'll find a bunch. Stacy Westfall is one that'll take your breath away - not only bitless, but bridleless and bareback too, and giving an excellent reining performance.

It happens again and again, that horses that previously had problems with tossing their heads, leaning on the rein, balance, bolting, 'napping' (whatever that actually means) and other misbehaviors, suddenly improve once that painful or distracting metal is out of their mouths.

There are some videos comparing bitted and bitless performances with the same horse and rider, within minutes of each other. The bitless performance is almost always calmer and generally superior to the bitted one.

I've done more riding bitless than bitted with my most recent horse. She knew how to respond to a snaffle, but she was happier with a sidepull, bosal, rope halter, or plain old flat halter. When trail riding, she had trouble drinking water with a bit in her mouth, so if I had one on her for 'dressage work', I'd reach forward to drop it out of her mouth when we reached a creek. Then I'd hang it on her neck and use the reins as a cordeo/neck strap, with the halter reins as backup and support if needed.

The better your communication with your horse, the less control you need. Shifting your focus to communication allows the horse to focus on responding to your cues, instead of the distraction of being micro-managed with painful/distracting metal in the mouth.

One safe way to start riding semi-bitless without fearing lack of control is to have two sets of reins, one on a halter and one on your usual bridle. Try using the halter reins instead, or more than, the bridle reins. Keep in mind that the horse still has that bit in its mouth, so will probably improve more after you remove the bit entirely, but it might help your peace of mind at first to still have that illusion of "control" of the bit as an option.

Check it out, you'll be pleasantly surprised!

take a look at this video and possibly some of her others.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=crmas&p...

hossgal bits are only painful if not properly used so the metal is not the problem but the rider.