08/06/2026
I just read a comment where someone was responding to a prompt about bitless riding being legalized in dressage.
They said:
“Bitless bridles can do as much harm in the wrong hands. Suffocation, extreme pressure points around the head and nose. I've seen horses heads rubbed raw with bitless bridles.”
I think this is so interesting because this is not the first time that I have seen someone say something like this, it is honestly a very common response to any discussion that seeks to allow bitless riders equal access to competition.
So, let’s break it down.
Can Bitless be harmful in the wrong hands? Yes absolutely.
Is it likely that a dressage legal type of theoretical bitless bridle would be more harmful than bit if in the wrong hands?
In my opinion, no. Because it wouldn’t be a leverage option. Causing the same amount of damage that someone can with a bit while using a side pull bitless would require extensively more pressure than what you would need to apply to the mouth. The hard palate of the face is broader and has more surface area than the bars of the mouth and the tongue. The bars of the mouth are sharp and don’t have much padding to protect the sharp points. It takes a lot less pressure to cause oral lesions.
Now, they mention suffocation.
Ironically, I think this concern is much more applicable to nosebands, specifically flash or drop nosebands.
In order to even remotely get close to suffocating a horse with a bitless bridle, it would have to be so poorly fitted that it is sitting way far down their nose on top of the nostrils where the nasal bones are thin and flimsy.
In which case, yes, it could do far more damage.
But, it would be absurdly poorly fitted. Not even just a little bit low, fitted as low as what you would a drop noseband.
Which, in a competition setting, hopefully this would be caught by stewards if it ever happened because equipment that is this poorly fitted should be noticed in adjusted. Whether it is bitless or bitted.
A correctly fitted bitless bridle could not suffocate the horse. It would sit on the hard bone of the face, far above the nasal passage ways. You would quite literally have to break bone before it would impact breathing.
Because, where the Noseband sits higher up on the face is all seated on hard bone. This is not the part of the face where you see the breathing passageways expand to take in air. There is no movement because it is bone.
So, as far as I’m concerned, this part of the statement is rooted in fear mongering and trying to find issues with bitless.
“Extreme pressure points around the head and nose.”
Again, with a direct action bitless option this shouldn’t happen. Without any leverage action, there shouldn’t be extreme pressure being placed at all, unless someone is pulling violently hard.
Side pulls also are direct action options like snaffles. They don’t increase the pressure applied by the rider. So, to create extreme pressure, extreme pressure would already have to be applied.
And, in such case, with a bit it would cause discomfort as well. Likely much more discomfort because the mouth is more sensitive.
“I’ve seen horses heads rubbed raw with bitless.”
If this is true, it would describe very poorly fitted equipment. A properly fitted bitless bridle should not be able to do this. Additionally, even in the event the rider makes a mistake, if they are checking tack frequently, this should be caught and adjusted.
If we are being honest, there are a lot more issues with horses being rubbed by bits.
In studies that have observed horses following competition, anywhere from 40-88% of horses had oral lesions.
That is a huge number.
Obviously, more research is needed, but currently the empirical evidence shows a lot more of an ethical concern with bits. More research would paint a more vivid picture, but I do suspect that there is a certain level of resistance to do it out of fear of what it might show.
On the flipside, the studies we do have that compare bitless and bitted tend to show trends of reduced stressed response bitless when compared to bitted.
So, currently the research that we do have shows more reason to allow bitless in competition than not.
Any ethical concern that people can come up with for bitless riding is equally, if not more, applicable to bitted riding.
I find it so disheartening to see people trying to make excuses to justify continuing to disable people from riding bitless in competition.
It shows that they’re willing to be critical of equipment, just not when it actually matters. Only when it upholds tradition.
Because, critique of equipment should exist even more so with the current allowable tack and equipment and the problems that we are seeing with it.
There are so many examples of horses showing stress behaviours in competition. Often directly related to the equipment attached to their face.
There are so many examples of riders being way too hard on the mouths of the horse, too much pulling.
There are so many examples of breathing being impacted by tight nosebands.
And, yet, none of those things are being banned or at least not appropriately enforced, because they still continue to happen.
The science is very clear.
There quite literally is no ethical reason to continue justifying a ban on bitless.
In fact, the science would validate that it would be a good choice for horse welfare to give riders the option to choose.
So, if we are going to have these discussions, it is only fair that the excuses that are made to exclude Bitless from competition on a welfare basis or being equally applied to what we are currently seeing in competition with bits.
Otherwise, it is a very biased and unfair application of supposed welfare concern.
Pictured is my OTTB mare.
She was galloped in an elevator bit at the racetrack and sustained some pretty extensive poll damage and soreness.
I initially restarted her in a bit and she had a lot of trauma associated with it.
She would hollow out, avoid any contact and was very reactive to the bit.
Overtime, she did get better, but she remained noticeably more anxious with a bit vs bitless.
She was also a head shaker at a time, the bit exacerbated this.
So, and more recent years, she’s gone pretty much entirely bitless because the difference in her level of stress is apparent, even if she is doing exactly what people ask without resistance.
There are many horses like her that are put in situations where people feel obligated to use a bit even when it is not in the best interest of the Horse.
