As a starter in answering this concern, we are copying below a section from a user's comment received from Dr. Jessica Jahiel. She quotes in her comment a paragraph that Dr. Cook had written somewhere else on this issue. But her response to his explanation will provide added value.

"At the Horse Gathering, this year (2000), The Bitless Bridle™ was the center of attention wherever it went.  I was interested in your response to some people's doubts as to whether your bridle provided a quick enough 'release'. You wrote: 'Since the time of Xenophon and before, it has been a fundamental of good horsemanship that the rider should give and take (or rather, take and give), pull and release, punish and reward. This is certainly to be desired when using a rod of metal in the mouth to 'whisper' ones wishes. But when this instrument of potential torture is replaced with no more than a benevolent embrace of the whole of the head (as it is with The Bitless Bridle) the principle of punishment and reward is no longer either relevant or required. As the initial whisper of communication is no more than a gentle squeeze, the need for immediate release is no longer paramount. The horse has not been punished and does not look for flattery and coaxing by way of reward. The partnership and trust between horse and rider was never breached.' This was nicely put, and I am glad to read these words, because they were almost exactly the ones I used in explaining why "release" wasn't the horse's desire or the rider's goal when this bridle was being used.

In any case, rider's doubts over whether your bridle provided the correct 'pull and release' response is a little akin to the pot calling the kettle black. Many riders have their horse's bits adjusted so high that no genuine release is possible anyway, as the rein pressure is secondary to the constant pressure created by the cheekpieces."

So much for the opinion of someone without any axe to grind! Yes, some 'contact' might linger after the aid has been achieved but this is no more than is desirable for good horsemanship. The amount of pressure is trivial. But to summarize, although the release is less urgent, there is, nevertheless, a release. If there was no release you might expect a horse to circle indefinitely once an initial request to turn had been signaled. And horses do not do this. As with steering, so with stopping ... the 'brakes' do not get stuck in the stop position. The ideal, as Dr. Jahiel points out in another part of her comment (see our website for her full appraisal), is to 'brake' with your body and breathing rather than with your hands but even when hands are used, the brakes do not get jammed.

You may be thinking that this is happening because you don't see any movement in the crossover pieces after rein pressure has ceased. In fact, there is no significant movement in the first instance. The crossover pieces do not function by sliding on the 'O' rings of the noseband, using the 'O' rings as a pivot. Therefore if, after a cue has been given and finished, the crossover pieces stay in the same position, it does not follow that the same pressure (small though it is) is still being applied.

Alternatively, you may be thinking that there is no 'release' by noting that the cheek pieces bow outwards when rein pressure is applied and that this bowing does not immediately subside when pressure is released. I know this sometimes happens but I do not believe it to be of any functional significance. This is a cosmetic problem rather than a functional one. Rein pressure causes the noseband to ride up the horse's face a fraction, and the noseband does not always drop down again into its original position. However, even if it doesn't, this does not mean that unacceptable pressure continues to be applied. The pressure in the first instance is so slight that even if some fraction of this pressure is maintained it is of no consequence. These pressures have not yet been measured but the 'turn test' as above tells me that even the slight pressure is in fact partially released.

Another factor to be considered, of course, is the amount of rein pressure applied in the first instance. The noseband is more likely to remain in the 'up' position if rein pressure has been excessive. If a dressage rider is primarily using rein pressure to achieve 'collection' rather than seat and legs, then the noseband is more likely to remain in the 'up' position.

When the bridle is first put on, it is important that the noseband is at the correct height on the horse's head (i.e., much lower on the head than with a bitted bridle). With an average sized horse, the bottom edge of the noseband should not be more than one and a half inches above the corner of the horse's mouth. If the noseband is too high, a rider will have to apply greater pressure on the rein in order to achieve a response, as leverage has been lost. So incorrect fitting could be a factor.

The degree of snugness of the noseband in the initial fitting may also be relevant to this concern.. If the noseband is too slack it will move too freely and is more likely to remain in the 'up' position. The chinstrap should be cinched up so that the noseband is a good deal snugger than when a bit is used. You should not be able to get more than one FLAT finger between the back of the chin and the chinstrap.