09/10/2025
Very well written and digestible piece in the conversation of to bit or not to bit. And to also add to this, that the rider should have enough of an education to understand the importance of self carriage and collection and have enough of a base line understanding so that they can continue to help and maintain their horse under saddle regardless of the tools they use
Bitted, vs Bitless, vs Bridle-less
Just yesterday, I was thinking about interesting horse-related topics to write about. Then today, as if I’d pre-ordered something in the mail via express post, the answer stared me straight in the face! I came across a video today of someone who claimed bitless and bridle-less riding was rubbish. I thought to myself, What an interesting topic for conversation.
I’m not anti-bits; I feel they can have their benefits. However, my preference with my own horses is bitless and bridle-less. What I wanted to talk about today is collection- what collection means to me and why I feel there is no black and white answer in terms of: to bit, not to bit, or bridle-less. The truth is, most things in life are not black or white, but instead all shades of grey.
So what is collection? To answer this, I need to rewind a little further, so just bare with me.
Did you know horses aren’t designed to be ridden? …
In which case, I believe it’s our responsibility as horse owners to work our horses in such a way that not only maintains the soundness they would have had if left to their own devices in the paddock, but also that we can improve on their soundness and make their lives as our partners in dance, one that is positive and beneficial for their bodies.
To do this, we need at least a basic understanding of what's going on beneath a horse’s skin.
Typically, a horse has 7 cervical vertebrae, 18 thoracic, 6 lumbar, and 5 sacral, on average 18 coccygeal (tail). There can be variations; however, I’m not going to go into this right now.
Now is the time to use your imagination…
Imagine each one of these vertebrae is a carriage on a train track.
What we are looking for is what is called Spinal Alignment….
I’m sure at some point, each of you have been on a horse, and you're trying to turn right- the horse bends its neck to the right but falls through the outside shoulder like a derailed train falling off its tracks. This feeling is the horse losing alignment through the spinal column.
It feels messy, and biomechanically, the body's muscle chains have entirely lost their ability to work in harmony with each other. It’s like a train crash within the skeletal system, which has a knock-on effect to all the tendons, ligaments, muscles, fascia, and organs.
This train crash in the body is what many people refer to as a “hollow horse”.
Why does it matter if your horse is hollow?
It matters because a horse does not have a collarbone, which is both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing, because it gives them their incredible ability for movement and speed.
A curse because it means that in place of a collarbone, muscles suspend the sternum portion of the ribcage between the two front legs.
When a horse is using their body functionally and sustainably, the ribcage is suspended between the two front legs rather than collapsed between the two front legs. When the suspension system is working, the skeletal structure has space between the vertebrae, just like carriages on a train track, allowing the spinal column to bend laterally, make rotations, and lift dorsally more easily.
Good range of motion and functionality go hand in hand…. BUT… when the horse is not correctly using their body, the muscles lack strength and functionality, meaning the ribcage sits lower in the chest and the vertebrae of the spinal column are compressed together like a train that just became all sorts of crashed and de-railed.
When there is no space in the spinal column, the body’s ability to move well and sustainably becomes diminished, and as a result, compensation patterns form. Compensation patterns mean that some parts of the musculoskeletal system are not doing their job, while other parts work over time to try to create stability in the body.
The spinal column is the housing for the spinal cord, and off the spinal cord are nerves that feed into various other places in the body. The spinal cord and the nerves are responsible for delivering information to the body from the brain, and back to the brain from the body. Together, the brain, spinal cord, and nerves form pathways of communication known as neural pathways. These neural pathways make all movements possible, both voluntary and involuntary.
So what do you think happens when there is a train crash in the body??
Well… These pathways become restricted or even blocked. Meaning that just because a message is leaving the brain, there is no guarantee the message will reach its desired destination… or vice versa for a message travelling back to the brain. In a nutshell, this also means that poor posture can and does affect the entire nervous system.
Way back when, the purpose of dressage was to help produce a sound, balanced, and willing horse capable of being a brave and reliable partner in war. Dressage was like Pilates for a horse. Every different movement helps to increase the horse's range of motion and strength, which in turn allows them to carry their own bodies at ease, as well as a rider.
On average, 60% of a horse's weight is carried by its front legs and 40% by their hind legs. Collection to me means shifting a horse's center of gravity further back in the body so that they take more weight on the hind end. This can only be done when a horse is able to maintain balance, posture, and rhythm without the rider constantly needing to ‘help’ the horse. This ability of a horse to maintain balance, posture and rhythm is called self-carriage. To ride it will feel effortless and rhythmic.
Once self-carriage is achieved, you can then ask for more collection.
Think back to the train for a minute, say for instance the horse's body is the train- travelling at 60km an hour in self carriage. Each carriage is at an even distance from the next, and each carriage travels at the same speed. When I ask the horse for more collection, I am asking for the entire body to collect, which will require tensegrity of the suspension system, more lift of the front end, and more loading on the hind end. As a result, the center of gravity is moved further back. In terms of train carriages, this would be comparable to all carriages slowing to 40km and maintaining the same distance and harmony between them. Of course, the train is not capable of moving its center of gravity towards its hind end! In this way, the two are not comparable haha.
In my opinion, many people ask for collection too soon. Meaning that the neck contracts, slowing the carriages (vertebrae) in the neck to a speed of 40km, but if the body is not yet capable of achieving or maintaining collection, the carriages (vertebrae) of the thoracic, lumbar, and sacrum will keep the original speed of 60km, causing a train crash in the body. The horse will start to become hollow over the back, step short behind, and paddle with its front legs because there is not enough lift or strength of the suspension system to allow for the lift of the thoracic to allow straight movement of the front legs.
Now the next layer. Bit vs Bitless vs Bridle-less.
Just as you wouldn’t go and buy your entire family a size 12 kids' shirt, there is no one-size-fits-all when deciding whether to ride bitted, bitless or bridle-less.
Some people will find bitless more effective for their horse, some will find bitless less effective for their horse.
There are so many questions you can ask yourself when deciding what's right for the individual horse.
Are there anatomical factors that are influencing your decision?
Maybe someone has a horse with arthritic changes to the TMJ, damage to the hyoid, damage to the cervical spine, and is better able to find functional posture with small movements of the bit, stimulating small corrections of alignment.
Or maybe for some horses, having a bit encourages just enough movement of the tongue, which helps to encourage a release of brace through the ventral line (muscle chain which connects the tongue to the hind leg).
BUT!..
Maybe for another horse, the bit is the cause of anxiety or the cause of contact issues. Perhaps the horse is sensitive and easily overstimulated. Maybe there are teeth, hyoid, or TMJ issues that make carrying a bit uncomfortable for the horse.
Any of the above factors can be the cause of a ‘train crash’ within a horse's body. As a result, the neural pathways become blocked or restricted, the horse becoming unregulated in the nervous system. A horse that is not free and open through the musculoskeletal system can't have self-carriage. If there is no self-carriage, then there is no possibility for shifting the centre of gravity further toward the hind end – meaning no possibility for “collection”.
To me, whether you have a bit, bitless bridle, or ride bridle-less is entirely beside the point.
My now-retired gelding, whom I rode for 7 years, was always bridle-less on each and every ride, whereas my other horses are mostly ridden bitless.
Two years ago, I was given a palomino mare as a rehabilitation horse; all of the work I have done with her has been without a bit. I tried a bit on her for four weeks as I thought it may help to make releasing the restriction in her TMJ and C6 C7 easier; however, carrying a bit only caused her anxiety.
Every horse is different; it is not a question of whether to bit or not to bit. It’s knowledge of healthy function and an open mind that is key.
