I just joined the forum recently, but I've been on Barnmice for about a year. I'm a 15 (sigh) year old. 2 months til 16, wooh license, I can drive myself to the barn!
Everyone's horse story is usually complicated, so I'll do my best to shorten mine. I have a 10 year old Thoroughbred mare, Senza Rimpianti, who is unfortunately quite green. We can walk and trot under saddle. I'll attach a photo. She is an amazingly sweet mare, it helps that I'm training her after her unpredictable years. I ride with Dr. Cook's bitless bridle, and Senza loves it! What are your opinions on bitless?
She is on my grandmother's farm unfortunately, which is a few hours away. So I don't see her as often as I would like. However I do ride in the city (suburb, really) and take lessons there. I am currently on a waiting list to board her near my home, but the wait is 2 to 3 years.
I have a question for everyone, I'm just curious how everyone else enjoys their horses. What do you enjoy most about horses? Is it the competitiveness? The time spent with horses? Learning new things and challenging yourself? My favourite part is making a connection with my horse. For that reason I don't enjoy lessons as much as I enjoy training my horse. When I'm with my own horse, I have time to spend watching my horse, learning her body language.
I love the riding, of course! And I also love the grooming beforehand. It is almost impossible to feel stressed while you are brushing your horse. I find that I am really in the moment and not worried about anything, which is probably why it takes me 45 minutes just to brush and tack up my horse!
Welcome VV! I don't know much about bitless, never have used one or seen it used. I'm like Barbara, when I groom my horse everything else goes away. He is just 1 1/2yrs old so working with him is limited. Quality quiet time with him is the best! I never felt competitive when I rode. At shows, I did the best I could and ''they'' would rate a score on the performance. The opinion of the judges never mattered to me. I remembre placing 5th and being the most satisfied with that ride, placing first and thinking ''How in the world do they judge this??'' LOL
I have been using Barefoot's 'Syringa and Walnut' bitless bridles (partial to this one as I sell them) and LOVE them. The principle is the same as the one you use and I can use mine also just as a sidepull. I love the concept of bitless as i am not pulling on the sensitive parts of their mouth and find that horses previously trained in a bit respond great to any bitless - it's almost as if they have a new 'awareness' without a bit in their mouth and listen to aids very nicely right from the beginning. My own youngsters are always started in a rope halter first anyways and are pretty used to going bitless.