Gentle Horsemanship with Rhiannon-Amber

You’re quite right. They don’t and for very good reasons. Traditional methods of horse riding can uncomfortable and painful for a horse. There’s also traditional methods of horse keeping which deprive horses from time to interact with a herd properly and can lead to them developing stress related habits such as “weaving” (swaying side to side when in a stable) “crib biting/wind sucking” (horse places his teeth on a fence/gate/door and deeply sucks in air. This can cause all kinds of issues in the digestive tract)

So yes! It’s completely understandable why vegans would be against this! That’s why I myself no longer ride. I have however spent my entire adult life in vain attempt to improve the welfare of horses lives and educate riders and owners on kinder methods and change some of the common practices.

So far I’ve worked with over 200 horses (including rescuing many myself) and helped their owners understand the psychology of equines, how to make their lives more enriched.

I teach people that horsemanship can be achieved without painful metal bits in the mouth, without whips, without spurs.

My work is slowly paying off. Many competitions now accept bitless bridles, and many owners are starting to better understand how horses think.

Arguably, I do a lot more for equine welfare than merely standing at the side lines and saying “Thats not vegan that” people will not give up owning and riding horses any time soon and fall off their chairs laughing at vegans with no equine knowledge who say riding is cruel. I’m doing everything I can to improve the world for horses and make their lives better and pain free. If this means you don’t agree I’m “vegan” then so be it. My mission to help horses means far more to me than any label means to you.

Growing up I was always taught some rather interesting methods of riding. Constant alternating kicks to keep horses walking, that if a horse doesn’t listen we kick harder or use a whip, and that if a pony bucks, bolts or is generally a bit quick around a jump course to grip with my knees.

And today I’m here to explain why that is an absolutely awful idea.

#1 your deep seat is now void. When a horse spooks/bolts it’s best to keep a deep seat and stay planted nice & still than to bounce about and lose your balance. Gripping with the knee causes to lower leg to stop “hugging” the horse and 99% of the time causes the lower leg to swing back and the heel to come up. Try it now off a horse. In order to “grip with the knee” your feet and lower leg come outwards.

#2 You’ll tip towards What happens when your lower leg flys backwards? You compensate the lack of balance by tipping your upper body forwards. With your legs now on a 90 degree angle you’ll probably find yourself on the deck.

Best course of action? Hug the horse with your tigh and calf keeping your heals nice and level/down. Why? When you grip with the knee you have one small point of contact. When you use your whole thigh and whole calf you have two strong points of contact. By wrapping your lower leg around the horse you’re pulling yourself deep into the saddle instead of pushing away with your knees.

One of the biggest lies we tell none equestrians and those who disagree with the methods/training aid we might be using.

we’ve all seen it on Facebook. Someone saying horses should be free and not ridden and some traditional equestrian claiming that if their horse didn't like something it would throw them off. 

But we know damn well this isn't true. Look at the horse in these pictures. there’s a link to the video here (warning - contains harsh riding and may be distressing to some viewers)

The horse makes absolutely no effort what so ever to unseat this wretched rider, but we can tell he’s clearly not enjoying himself. 

We’ve all seen incidents like this, at shows or competitions with a pony refusing to move, fashioning a dull, lifeless look in his eye while the parents of his rider shout “Give Him a whack with the whip! Show him who’s boss” he then has his mouth yanked and is kicked into small circles until he jumps the fence. - and I know we’ve all seen an event similar to what I’ve just described. 

So we know that if the horse is upset or unhappy they won't throw us off. It’s just a sentence we use to make ourselves feel better. Horses are incredibly tolerant of all the crap we put them through and its time to stop lying to ourselves about them not being unhappy. 

One of the saddest but most commonly heard statements in the equestrian world.

The horse has no interest in battling us. All the horse knows is he has a problem and that problem needs addressing. 

I’ve seen it mainly while hacking, We will reach a certain landmark such as a gate, field ect. The horse refuses to walk past this point. Napping, circling, mini rears, walking backwards generally refusing to walk forwards. 

Now if the rider dismounts, the horse will happily walk past this land mark without a great deal of fuss but for some unknown reason this means we are losing the battle! We’re told that the horse will “Learn exactly what he needs to do to make us get off his back”

 So out comes the whipping, the shouting and ferocious kicking for a good 3-5 minutes, Which happens every time we ride this particular route.

Give it maybe 6 weeks or so of this behaviour, (in fact, less than that. I’d say even 2 weeks.) and this has become a learned behaviour. The horse has probably forgotten their original reason for not wanting to pass this certain point but what they do know is that this point is associated with being shouted at, kicked and beaten with a whip. 

Think of a child having a nightmare. They cry for your help. Is the child crying just to annoy you to interrupt the film you’re watching, or are they wanting you to help them feel safe and secure? In the same way the horse doesn't want to ruin your afternoon ride to get on your nerves he is telling you he is scared/nervous and wanting your help. I will repeat myself one more time. A horses brain does not have the capacity to maliciously want to get on your nerves. That is not how they think.

The solution? Dismount before the horse has chance to stress out about the scary land mark, reassure the horse and talk gently, pass the ‘scary’ point and remount. Repeat this several times. Your horse will learn they are safe, and have no need to feel threatened and also learn that if they are scared they can count on you and trust you to reassure them. A trusting horse is a less spooky horse.

You have not lost any battle by dismounting. You have defused a battle. You’ve created an alliance and work together instead of starting an unnecessary battle against each other. 

Some of the research conducted by the Nevzorov Haute Ecole research centre. 

I can’t stress enough that I do not use opinion in my work. I use only facts and science.

The experiments carried out used the same technology that is commonly used by forensic scientists in crime scene investigations. Worth a watch.

I speak to people almost daily about bitless. Some want to try it, some want to shun it. Either way, the one thing they both have in common is they both think their horse will bugger off with them (me included when I first tried!) even if their horse has never bolted before.

So my advice? Just try it.

I know, I know, I can hear you shouting “THATS THE WORST ADVICE EVER” But it’s not.

If you’re worried keep the bit in, and attach a spare set of reins or lead ropes to the noseband. Your safety net is there if you need it. If a horse bolts, do you really think a bit will help? Bitted or bitless, if they want to bolt there's little you can do to stop that 1200lb animal.

Now, off you go. Try it. You’ll probably pap yourself but I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised. You’ll probably have the most boring schooling session/hack.

Why does it work on stopping spookiness/bolting?

- if you tense up and anticipate a spook in a bit, the horse will feel it, however tiny. Bitless your horse is much less likely to feel you go all tense through the reins.

- how does it stop bolters? That’s pretty simple. Horses are flight animals. They run from pain. Remove the pressure on the soft gum tissue with a gentle, understandable cue from a side cue? Ta da.

Hello first question asker!

I’m not so sure if you mean type of bridle or brand? 

so I’ll cover both :D

 my favourite type of bridle, is the side pull as it is commonly known or side cue as I prefer to call it. These types of bridle work exactly like a headcollar with reins attached to the sides. They often have more padding than a rope halter and a wider surface area so are a little softer. But all horses have their own preference. Some prefer crossunders like the Dr Cook some prefer Scrawbrigs like the Lightrider.

my personal favourite brand of bridle is the Matrix which I recommend to anyone wanting to start out bitless, and here’s why! 

The matrix is a multifunctional bitless bridle and can be any kind of bitless bridle. You can simply buy the noseband to fit to your existing bridle, and it comes with an extra chin strap to make it into a Bosal, Indian Bosal, Side cue, Cross under, Hackamore, Double bridle, Scrawbrig or a double scrawbrig.

for more information on all these kinds of bitless bridles, photos of how they work and more information on the matrix you can visit Susan Duckworth’s website HERE

My website is currently being written, but thought I’d kick start with my social media as it’s a bit easier to set up than the lines of code required to write a website! (With big thanks to my partner Nat, owner of NK Web Creation for all his assistance.)

Those of you who know me will know I’ve recently taken a horsey break to concentrate on being a new Mum and looking after my own mare, Panda.

Now I can walk again without my back giving up on me after 10 strides, I’ve decided to actually use my qualifications and knowledge, and maybe even sit a few more exams. 

I’d love for you to follow me on my adventures and studies, and thanks to all of you for putting up with my irritating Facebook Like invitations.

Let’s see if we can break some myths and traditions “By droppin’ science son” (please excuse the shameless The Big Bang Theory quote)

Bye for now! 

Rhiannon & Panda xx