A few weeks ago I was honored to be invited back to Trudi Dempsey's "Lead a Horse to Water" podcast, and as I’ve mentioned, we talked about bridleless riding. One of the points we talked about was the opportunity for exploration, on a number of levels. I won’t spoil the podcast for you (do go have a listen!), but some of the opportunities include being able to explore rider balance without the use of reins as “handles” (because we’re wired to use hands that way), the horse exploring balance and posture without the restriction of reins, and I’m not sure we talked specifically about this but there is an opportunity to allow the horse to make choices about direction and even speed, especially when negotiating obstacles. Now, does this mean you should go find the nearest string with which to make a neckrope, and head out on the trails? For the love of all that’s holy, please don’t do that. Bridleless work, just like work with any kind of headgear, takes some training. Please do at least some of that first. However, you can do little bits of it in your regular training, and there are eleventeen million ways to do that. Let me know if you’re interested in giving it a try!
This video is some of a short ride I did outside on my horses’ track, mostly letting Siri go where she wanted and at the speed she wanted, though I asked questions here and there. Like most of my work, it’s not overly exciting, but to be able to trust a horse in an outdoor setting with just a saddle pad and a neckrope is a wonderful thing. Maybe it gives you an idea of what’s possible when you literally let go of the reins.
If nothing else, it gave me a small opportunity to do some video editing, which is something I really enjoy and want to do more of. Though I admit, shooting and riding is something I need more practice at.
Listen to the podcast here:
