Committee for the Recognition of Bitless Dressage
Contacts:- Guy 082 878 4619 / Corrine 0844888335
Noordhoek, Cape Town
January, 2008
Dear Dressage Committee members,
Further to our request to add a Proposal for Bitless Dressage and/or Classes to be recognised and formalised by SANEF at the annual National Dressage Committee Meeting, we would like to submit the following observations for your consideration and information.
One of the objectives of SANEF is surely to encourage horse riding and participation in competition. Allowing bitless dressage can only have the effect of encouraging bitless riders to enter shows whereas previously they would have not even considered it due to the rules.
For bitless riders to grow and gain experience one would need the support of an already established Federation. For so long these riders have been excluded, to expect a very small minority of riders to embark on this undertaking alone would most likely result in things falling by the wayside. Bitless riders wish to have the opportunity to compete on a similar basis without having to resort to organising independent bitless shows that have no 'recognition' from the controlling bodies.
Interestingly it is noted that there was some trepidation when Intermediate 2 level dressage was introduced in case there were insufficient entries and the 'experiment' would fail but it went ahead and none of these fears were realised. Similarly the 'experiment' of bitless dressage can only be tested by giving 'a fair go' (to use Aussie lingo!). How long SANEF persists with it or how successful it is, only time will tell but if it is successful, what a trailblazer for South African riding – what foresight will be attributed far and wide to those imaginative enough to have backed a ground-breaking idea. We genuinely believe it is an idea whose 'time has come'.
Maybe an initial 'trial period' could be agreed (say two years after which the situation could be re-evaluated)
Motivation
Some riders prefer to ride bitless for numerous (and often varied) reasons. Certainly it has little to do with finding an 'easier way' since it is usually more challenging and 'complex' to successfully ride an unbitted horse.
For many riders, once this interface has established the interesting point arises as to how 'refined' can one make a bitless horse, so competing in dressage becomes a fascinating challenge.
Possible rules for bitless dressage
We would envisage that tests and the rules would be virtually identical to the current dressage rules.
Just as certain bits are sanctioned for use in dressage, a bitless bridle would have to comply to a list of requirements. These could be simple and state that:-
No bit to be used
Reins to be connected to the bridle in any position
No protrusions to 'assist' control allowed on the inside of the bridle in contact with the horse's head – only smooth surfaces permitted.
NO shanks to be permitted (ie Hackamores)
Reins may directly or indirectly apply poll and/or nose/cheek pressure (maybe – or something similar eg a Dr Cook Bitless Bridle)
Judging dressage tests
As the tests would be as usual, all the normal issues could be judged as for a bitted class – harmony between horse and rider, forward active movement, suppleness and straightness, precision, fluidity, etc.
From preliminary discussion we have held with interested parties, one of the issues revolves around the FEI comments in the dressage rules regarding a horse being 'on the bit' during the dressage test. However on closer examination it is clear that this is not really a contentious point. The FEI dressage rules/guidelines state (amongst other comments):-
“• The acceptance of the bridle, with submissiveness throughout and
without any tension or resistance.
6. In all the work even at the halt, the horse must be “on the bit”. A horse is
said to be “on the bit” when the neck is more or less raised and arched
according to the stage of training and the extension or collection of the pace,
accepting the bridle with a light and soft contact and submissiveness
throughout. The head should remain in a steady position, as a rule slightly in
front of the vertical, with a supple poll as the highest point of the neck, and no
resistance should be offered to the rider.”
We would make the following observations:-
Firstly, you will note that the comment about the horse being on the bit has the words 'on the bit' within inverted commas clearly indicating that this is a figurative phrase and not intended to be taken literally.
Secondly, the comment on 'acceptance' is of the bridle, not the bit.,
Indeed the paragraph goes on to explain this figurative phrase without any mention of the bit but only of the bridle – the critical point being the outline of the horse and its carriage.
The FEI’s own definition of the phrase defines it correctly as a certain position of the horse’s head. There is an interesting explanation as to why, when the definition is correct, the name given to the objective is incorrect. It arises from an error in the translation into English of the original French rules on dressage. The translator of the original FEI rules from French to English seems to have recognized the vernacular nature of the phrase because, on every occasion, it is fenced about with quotation marks. They probably recognized, at the time, that the phrase “on the bit” was not a literal (or even an accurate) translation of the original French idiom, “dans la main”, which is more appropriately translated as ‘on the aids.’ (Gahwyler & Drummond 2004) On those four occasions in which the translator used the more accurate phrase ‘acceptance of the bridle’ or ‘accepting the bridle’ no quotation marks are used. It ends up with implying that the contact (through the bridle and bit) should be soft so that 'no resistance should be offered....'
The soft use of the reins for fine control and communication runs throughout classical dressage writings and in modern progressive discussions. The reins and the bit should not be used to 'force' carriage and outline – especially in a young undeveloped horse! Clearly removing the bit from this equation does not alter the fundamental requirements or demands of dressage. Assessment of 'accepting the bridle' by a dressage judge would remain 'unaltered' as head carriage and collection would be judged on the same universal scale. Some minor amendment or addition to the scoring sheets could be made if felt necessary.
Many dressage judges have shown an open-minded interest in the proposal of bitless and although some have been kind enough to judge bitless riders at local practice shows, most are concerned that by being willing to accommodate bitless riders they may in fact be jeopardizing their standing within the dressage fraternity.
Sources of concern
As covered above, there are no insuperable problems administratively or practically.
There would, presumably, be some concern amongst the staunchly 'traditional' or conservative members that bitless dressage is not 'real dressage' and that allowing it would somehow demean the shows. This is a 'chicken and egg' scenario as, up till now, bits have been mandated (for no good reason in our minds) by FEI and National Equestrian bodies so the 'perception' has developed that this is 'proper' dressage overlooking the fact that the bit should play a very minor role in the test compared to all the other important aspects.
All novel ideas have their critics and this attitude is counter-productive to moving horse riding forward by looking at all aspects anew. Certainly we do not feel it is reasonable to turn down this idea on the basis that bitless dressage, however well done, somehow is not 'proper' without a bit. If there is a belief that dressage cannot be done properly without a bit, then let's at least give riders the opportunity to try it.
Interestingly when the FEI flirted with the idea of allowing bitless dressage a few years ago, their intention was to make the bit optional within the standard dressage tests (which, as we argue, is a recipe for unhappiness). As an exercise they got a group of experienced and successful dressage riders to 'test-run' bitless bridles who then reported back that they felt that they could not ride the tests as well bitless so the FEI decided in their wisdom that there was therefore no merit in allowing bitless dressage. The perverse logic in this assessment does not need clarification! Somehow the traditionalist feel quite unnecessarily threatened despite bitless being less 'good' or more difficult.
Interestingly the FEI's attitude seems to be that change should be motivated from below rather than 'imposed' from above so if controlling bodies like SANEF wait for 'guidance' from the FEI, they will merely find themselves in a circular debate!
It would appear to us that another point of concern is the issue of 'collection' as most contemporary dressage riders seem to believe that a bit is an essential ingredient for collection and forms part of the whole 'on the bit' issue.
As bits have been mandated for dressage, all training, teaching and literature have, by definition, revolved around the bit for control and collection. So very few riders seriously interested in dressage bother to explore beyond these boundaries and are encouraged to believe the 'fact' that collection requires a bit.
Yet all over the world, progressive / radical / ground-breaking / alternative / natural (call them what you may) riders and trainers have been proving that collection can be obtained not only without a bit but without even a bridle. But the dressage rules currently preclude any of these riders from showing that this is possible!
Of course this is dependent on what one perceives as 'collection'.....There seem to be about as many understandings of collection as there are people riding. As Teresa Sandin (a 'conventional bitted dressage rider) says on her website – www.sustainabledressage.com :-
“Two Swedes recently made a study regarding whether jumping trainers and dressage trainers had the same ideas regarding collection, what it is and how to achieve it. It turned out that not only the disciplines were different, but that many trainers of the same discipline were contradicting each other and that the concept of collection is full of confusion in general.”
And this opinion amongst the top riders and trainers in Europe! Many contemporary studies in Europe using modern computer techniques, still / slo-mo photography and horse physiology/
biometrics have shown that numerous medal winning dressage horses are not actually collected at all despite impressive displays. As a counterpoint many riders today are obtaining genuine (natural?) collection with bitless bridles, loose reins or even with no bridle at all!
Indeed, in the past the esteemed classical Haute Ecole horseman, the Duke of Newcastle, used to say that he “could dress a horse perfectly well with a scarf around its neck”!
What we are saying is that we believe that a truly collected and exemplary dressage test can be ridden bitless and we would love to have the environment in which to strive for this as a horsemanship challenge. As we quoted before – a chinese proverb - “Would those who say it can't be done, please stop disturbing those already doing it”!
We have attached a few relevant pictures and comments for your interest. We could have put together reams of information including videos, articles and website references but we felt that could have smothered you at this point! We are willing to provide you with any further information which you or others may like, or need, to see.
Please ask if there are any facets that you would particularly like to consider.
Conclusion
We can see no reason why this proposal should present any problems and it looks like a rare win-win situation! - SANEF broadens its horizons and encourages a wider community of riders boosting the standing and appeal of dressage. The result of this will be a very interesting assessment of bitless riding.
As long as the sensible precautions mentioned are taken, we can see no reasons for any friction within the dressage fraternity. Of course there may be the usual initial irritation when something 'new' happens to a rather conservative group of people but we would guess that this will fade away quickly.
Due to the entrenched nature of the current dressage rules, we hope that the National Dressage Committee is inspired and open-minded enough to take a visionary step!
Should there be a feeling that this proposal is 'unacceptable', we would be grateful if the 'stumbling blocks' could be clarified so we can assess how it would be best to address them.
Thank you for your time and interest – it is greatly appreciated.
Kindest regards,
Guy and Corrine
January, 2008
Picture 1: Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling riding 'collected on a loose rein' as described in his seminal book – 'Dancing with Horses'
Picture 2 (below): Hempfling training a horse to collect without even a bridle prior to being ridden
Picture 3:- (Below) Hempfling on his horse, Junque, collected on a loose (from 'Dancing with Horses'). Hempfling trains his horses without bits, and often without bridles, initially believing that a horse should learn to collect before being ridden (Nevzorov states a similar thing). At the end of 'Dancing with Horses' Hempfling writes about eventually introducing a bit for, as he puts it, 'adding final polish' but he adds that if you start to use the bit for control and collection then you have missed the point and should return to the training!
Picture 4: (Below) Russian master horseman, Nevzorov, who trains and rides his horses in a cordeo only (neckstring). He produces beautiful naturally collected horses that are truly magnificent (especially when seen in movement on video). His horses will perform all haute ecole movements including courbettes, caprioles and so on!
Picture 5: (Below) Nevzorov doing piaffe on Kashogi. Interesting to notice that the horse is slightly'overbent' naturally for balance. As the Duke of Newcastle stated, he could 'dress a horse in a scarf'.
Picture 6: Peerage and Cristan Green competing Adult Novice in a bitless bridle in Noordhoek, Cape. Note that this was the first practice dressage show where bitless riders were allowed to compete in the normal dressage classes.
Picture 7: Rex and Corrine Wilson in a bitless bridle – Adult Pre-Novice – Noordhoek show as above. (below)
Pictures 8 & 9: Schooling in the UK in bitless bridles
