Has anyone on YA! got experience of the Dr Cook bitless bridle?

I've used one of these, and also several other styles of bitless bridle.

the reason that i started using one of these was due to one of my mares having a very hard mouth, and fear of the bit from abuse from previous owners. She would start shaking when acceping the bit into her mouth, and when taking the bit out, would shake, and grab hold of the bit in her teeth, and raise her head up sky high, and generally do what horses do when they freak out. initially i tried riding in a halter, and bingo, she was perfectly behaved, but i upgraded to a bitless (obviously cant do shows riding in a halter.) I have a dr cook, (for showing) and a hybrid bidless bridle which is an imitation dr cook (for everyday)

hybrid meaning that the straps have g-clips not buckel's and can be attached anywhere on the bridle for different contact and preassure options, and not just crossed under the horses head.

having said that, back to the dr cook.

I find that theyre much more usefull in controlling a 'fizzy horse' the best example i have from experience is this comparison of a normal and bitless bridle with a 3yo thoroughbred straight off the track:

have you every ridden a horse in a bit, who just had his mind set to not listening.... if he chooses to ignore the bit, theres not much you can do to stop a horse (especially if its bolted) that little bit of metal in the mouth doesnt actually do much if the horse isnt listening. but with a bitless, or especially a dr cook, if your horse bolts, then you actually have the power in the reins to physically turn his head and pull him up. and he can feel the tiniest bit of pressure or change. the dr cook has helped me numerous times in controling very strong willed fizzy thoroughbreds when very poor response to a bit.

having said all that, I also use these bridles on my lesson horses when I have extremely uncoordinated students learning to ride. because it means that the horses respond quickly to easy instructions (from riders who insist on pulling their hands up to their chin to halt) I find these bridles to be fantastic for learners, meaning i can take my time teaching students without having to worry about sensitive mouths being yanked on!

for yourself, i would suggest starting out slowly in an arena with some drums, and doing lots of turning, just getting used to how responsive the horse is, as i know from my horses they all require completely different pressures, and have different responses, and just learning how the horse responds. this is what i did when starting out my horses in these bridles.

hope i helped

I've used an easytrek bridle, which is the same action and idea as the dr cook's bridle (just much cheaper ;) ). I originally bought it for use out hacking, I was taking my horse out for lots of long rides during the summer - and during a lot of them I'd get off and have a picnic or just sit and rest. Having a bitless bridle meant I could get off and let her eat without getting green gunk all over her bit! I also tried it to see what all the fuss is about and whether it'd help us.

Control wise, I honestly don't think I have any less control than in a bit. But then saying that my horse is also good and obedient, she has her silly days but for the most part lack of brakes isn't something we've ever struggled with. The other day I went hacking out with my current yard owner, who is a bit of a speed merchant and has an equally speed merchant horse - I could quite happily let my horse follow suit and pelt it up the tracks and know I wouldn't have to worry about stopping at the end. I only have to sit up and possibly take a feel on my reins for her to go 'right it's time to stop now!'.

I also think using the bridle has helped me to rely less on my hands, I often only have to shift my weight back before touching the bridle for her to know what I want, something I have found easier to get to grips with on my horse than with a bit.

Schooling wise (and I know I'm going to get a big load of thumbs downs here for remotely suggesting the use of a bit might be a better alternative) though I have often found using a bit can be easier. The thing about a cross under, at least for me, was that it seemed to cause a bit of confusion when needing to take up a half decent contact to work into. It's fine if you just want to pull their head to the left/right or whatever - but I often found for things like half halting, and more subtle things like teaching some basic lateral work the cross under effect left thereto be a foggy area for what I actually wanted from my horse. My horse was very green when I got her, and also a bit unfortunately built with a short neck making it hard to balance - so any confusion in aids usually meant she wound up leaning and all downhill! When trying to school her initially, and teach her things I found it easier on the pair of us to have her in an eggbutt snaffle where I could be more direct in what I wanted (I don't mean I had to be harsher, but I could be more clear) - and I found she would work with me more with that.

I also wonder whether riding her in a different bitless, like a mild hackamore or a side pull might have made those initial schooling sessions easier for her to understand.

That said, after a summer of schooling her bitted last year when she was very green, we had our first session of the year schooling this year in her bitless bridle and she seemed to go a lot better in it - I think possibly introducing things with a bit first and then crossing to bitless later when the basics were understood made that whole side of life easier.

So as a basic sum up, I do really like these sorts of bridles - and my cross under has become a very regularly used thing, but as stated above there are aspects I wasn't so keen on.

If this horse is used to being ridden in this, and the owner is happy with you riding in it then I'm sure you will be fine - I really didn't find it tricky to convert over from riding in a bit than riding in a bitless, and as I stated above brakes wise I don't think there was that much of an issue. I have ridden my horse quite happily on days where she's decided to have a minor screw loose and never thought to myself 'I need a bit'.

I prefer the english hackamore style, it has a more direct feeling to it. Some horses resent the dr cook style. However if this horse is used to it and goes well in it, it should be fine.