Do it Yourself Bitless Bridles

You can temporarily convert a regular bridle with a noseband into a bitless bridle.

Bitless bridles are not allowed in most horse shows, but they are often used on pleasure horses. A bitless bridle may be used on a horse that has tooth or mouth problems that prevent a bit from being used or simply because of rider preference. You can make a simple bitless bridle using a basic English bridle with a noseband, but it may not provide the same level of control as a commercially available one.

Things You'll Need

• English bridle
• Leather hole punch

Instructions

1. Undo and remove the bridles' reins and cheek pieces from the existing bit if there is one attached.

2. Shorten the cheek pieces so that the bottom buckles meet up with the noseband. Because the cheek pieces usually hold a bit, which sits lower on the horse's head than the noseband, you may need to punch extra holes in the headpiece using a leather hole punch to get the cheek pieces high enough. You can lower the noseband slightly if needed, but not so low that it will sit on the horse's delicate nose cartilage.

3. Attach the cheek pieces to the noseband by wrapping them around the leather in the same way they would wrap around the bit. The cheek pieces should be hooked to the underside of the noseband so that they cannot ride up and interfere with the horse's eyes.

4. Place the bridle on the horse's head as normal. Tighten the noseband and throat latch as you would when using a bit.

5. Buckle one rein on either side of the noseband. Attach the reins to the noseband between where the cheek pieces are sitting and the strap portion of the noseband that runs up and behind the horse's ears.

References

• Bitless Bridle; What Is This New Bitless Bridle?; Jessica Jahiel, Ph.D.
• Natural Horse World; The LightRider Bitless Bridle; Cynthia Cooper