Dr. Cook's English Padded Leather Bitless Headstalls
Bitless Bridles by Dr. Cook with Padded Leather is our
top-of-the-line headstall. It has a soft leather padding under the
browband and noseband, which makes it softer on your horse's face. The
noseband and browband on the padded headstalls are slightly wider than
on the Standard English Leather headstalls. All padded English leather
headstalls are made of Sedgwicks of England's English bridle
leather with top-quality workmanship. As with all high quality
leather, the English Leather bridles are relatively stiff when new, but
with proper care and break-in, will quickly become soft and extremely
supple, conforming perfectly to your horse's head.
Dr. Cook's Bitless Bridles work on an entirely
new concept compared with other bridles, including all other bitless bridles;
i.e., the Hackamores, bosals and sidepulls.
The Bitless Bridle is special
because of the way it works. It provides control by applying gentle and painless
pressure, distributed to the whole of the head. There is pressure across the
poll, behind the ears, down the side of the face, behind the chin and across the
nose. It does not depend for its control primarily on poll flexion.
Whereas the
bit exerts focal pressure on the mouth, The Bitless Bridle distributes its
pressure over a wide area (one or both sides of the head, depending on whether
you are steering or stopping) and over less sensitive tissues (skin and mainly
underlying muscle). It does this through two loops, one over the poll and one
over the nose. Essentially, it gives the rider an inoffensive and benevolent
headlock, as compared with the bit's potentially offensive and painful control
of the mouth.
The Bitless Bridle, because it spreads the pressure and applies it
to less sensitive tissue, is more humane than a bit. At no one region of the
head does the degree of pressure amount to anything more than a squeeze. In this
way, the bridle promotes improved performance without inflicting pain, without
interfering with breathing or striding, and without disturbing that sense of
partnership and harmony between horse and rider that is a fundamental of good
horsemanship.
The Bitless Bridle provides better steering than
a bit or hackamore, and more reliable brakes than a bit or sidepull. Being
painless it doesn't precipitate the one hundred or more behavioral aberrations
in the horse that are bit-induced. Freedom from fear favors calmness.
A calm horse spooks less readily and recovers more rapidly. No longer
distracted by pain, a horse is able to pay attention and becomes more obedient,
compliant and manageable. Injuries to the rider arising from a horse
rearing, bucking, bolting or having a panic attack are less likely.
Choose color: Black, Havana brown, Newmarket (hazelnut)