Coming out of the shadows
just in case my experience may help someone...
I rode the bitless bridle
and felt that I had great control. I rode with it the arena and out on the road,
and felt very comfortable with it's ability.
I was riding in the woods
behind my house, conditioning, galloping around a bend in the trail that we knew
oh-so-well when we came upon a deer stand that fell out of tree. My daughter's
horse screeched to a halt, popping her little 50# body into the bushes. She was
fine. She reached up to grab her pony and inadvertently popped his mouth with
the bit. He set back and took off trotting down the trail. All this happened
in about 1 second, just as me and my horse were rounding the bend. My horse
freaked on the deer stand, then saw his buddy galloping away and resisted the
"WHOA" that I insisted upon. So... he threw me into a small stand of trees, and
I snapped both of my arms in half, broke my ribs, two fingers and had a very
severe concussion (through my helmet). I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that IF
I had a bit in my horse's mouth, it would have given me just that split
second more control to manage the situation and I would have not spent 12 weeks
of my life on Vicadin. I threw the Bitless Bridle away and now ride with a bit,
always.
No matter how much we love
our horses, and I DO love mine - with all my heart, he's my "one and only"...
they are all just simply ANIMALS who react as animals. My horse didn't mean to
hurt me. I put him in a situation that he could not handle all by himself, and I
displayed bad horsemanship by not using the tools that I needed to help him
control his behavior. He NEVER had a moment like that before our accident, nor
has he ever acted hat way since. It was just a crazy thing. You NEVER know when
your horse is going to go instinctual on you. Better safe than
sorry.
Oh, and the "Head Hug '
thing that someone compared the Bitless Bridle to vs. a bit... all I know is
that if I have a headband on MY head for more than just a little while, it
drives me crazy. My sunglasses on my head give me a headache! A snug fitting
ball cap makes me insane! I can't imaging an all day "head hug".
Yuck.
