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Post by Dawn Perkins on Aug 2, 2013 11:54:05 GMT 1
Please ignore the non-smiley face in the above post . I don't use the faces at all but, somehow or another, the unsmiley one slips in now and again. I have no idea how!
Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Aug 3, 2013 19:07:24 GMT 1
Another update on Mark Smith from the Performance Barefoot Facebook page. It is interesting to note once again that, although he prefers to ride bitless (and feels he should be allowed to do so in competition), he insists that he is advocating "soft hands", whether riding bitless or bitted, echoing Avril's method of producing a gentle system of signals and cues:- en-gb.facebook.com/performancebarefoothorse/posts/495832830492089The links to Sarah Braithwaite's Facebook page don't seem to work by clicking onto them. I think you have to copy and paste into a search engine. Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Jan 20, 2014 11:57:08 GMT 1
I'm not on Facebook so am commenting on Avril's Facebook message today. I completely agree with her and she is a real inspiration in the art of horsemanship, particularly where soft hands are concerned. I posted this video quite a while ago and it shows that this horse din't even require a bit or a saddle to perform the most amazing dressage:- www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwyHqmsAXRsEvery time I see photos or videos of poor horses with overbent necks (often in "For Sale" ads) or the ghastly Rollkur, I think of this video and of Avril's methods, which prove that using a bit to "collect" a horse is not just cruel but totally unnecessary. Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Jan 20, 2014 18:42:32 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Mar 25, 2014 9:21:05 GMT 1
I received Cynthia Cooper's most recent blog this morning and there are some items which may be of interest, even if not practicable in the vastly reduced acreage of the UK. There is an update on how she is arranging her land, with the house and barn at the centre, an item on driving bitless, an update on the latest improvement to her bitless bridles (which were always designed so that no damaging pressure could be exerted on the horse - unlike the Hackamore, for example):- naturalhorseworld.com/blog/im-still-here/Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Apr 24, 2014 19:23:23 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Jul 25, 2014 12:19:15 GMT 1
I was not surprised to read that British Dressage rules are less enlightened than those of other countries, in that bitless dressage is still not permitted! Avril's link to the beautiful Mistral and the links I have myself pasted to him in training in an outdoor school prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a bit is not necessary for the performance of dressage. In the hands of some competitors, a bit can be -and has been - an instrument of torture but, even though used more sensitively by most riders, a rider who can produce a performance from a horse without the use of a bit at all should surely be allowed to do so? As a relative outsider, I am constantly astonished at the resistance of the British riding establishment to the questioning of methods and equipment which have been in place for so long. In every other aspect of modern life, conventional practices are routinely evaluated to see whether improvements can be made but this just does not seem to happen in the world of equestrianism. I came across this online petition today:- www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/british-dressage-british-horse-society-british-riding-clubs-british-eventing-british-equestrian-federation-f-e-i-british-show-jumping-allow-the-rider-choice-allow-bitless-bridles-in-all-horse-sportAnd this is a link to an article by Dawn Westcott, who rides her Exmoor pony stallion in one of Cynthia Cooper's bitless bridles. She, too, is campaigning for the right to compete bitless in dressage:- www.equinetourism.com/why-cant-we-compete-in-bitless-bridles/Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Jul 25, 2014 16:53:19 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 11, 2014 16:20:05 GMT 1
This is from Cynthia Cooper's LightRider Facebook page. It is a shared link to the first Polish bitless championships and certainly provides food for thought:- Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 13, 2014 9:22:26 GMT 1
Referring to my post above, I should perhaps make it clear that, although I am a fan of bitless riding, I am not, and never have been, a Parelli fan. I think Horse Agility is a much kinder and gentler way of teaching control at liberty, which can build the foundations for riding bitless.
Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Nov 9, 2014 9:20:30 GMT 1
I think I have posted a link to this American competition somewhere before but I can't remember where. The link to this particular competitor is lovely because the horse is not just bitless but bridleless, too:- www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-Fe4dryTC8The competition is not just brilliant for gently teaching fine control of the horse but is also weather-proof! Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Jan 2, 2015 15:18:54 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Apr 20, 2015 11:51:51 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Apr 24, 2015 16:05:26 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Apr 26, 2015 10:14:53 GMT 1
Riding bitless seems to be more popular in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania (of course!) and America, presumably because there are larger areas in which to practise away from traffic and because there is less emphasis on the military traditions of riding which influenced, amongst other things, the early riding schools. The links in the post above are to an Australian website called Bitless Inc. For those who are interested in finding out more about riding bitless, there is some very helpful information and a long list of research on the website. There is also step-by-step advice on helping your horse convert to being ridden bitless. Of course, we live in a much smaller country with fewer opportunities to practise away from traffic initially but the advice is helpful, nonetheless. As I posted a while ago, Vanessa Bee, who introduced Horse Agility to the UK, came to an arrangement in 2010 with an insurance company in Exeter to cover bitless riding on the highway, as well as (on private property only) riding with just a string around the neck. I do not know if other insurance companies now offer the same cover or not:- www.bitlessinc.org.au/why-go-bitless.phpwww.fidelius.co.uk/insurance-services/personal-solutions/equine-insurance/horse-and-rider/Dawn Perkins
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