The Painting Horses and Dr. Cook's BitlessBridle 
by Cheryl Ward
© 2008

A pupil takes instruction, lying down

A Lesson Mare Teaches Me a Lesson

History repeats itself many times in my experience with the Dr. Cook BitlessBridle. My first experience was in 2001 when I was riding a lovely intelligent mare who had been used in a lesson program. Whenever she decided the rider had too much contact on her mouth, she'd thrash her head sideways and rip the reins right out of their hands.

Clearly this mare had something to say. Rather than accepting heavy hands, she let me know it bothered her. I was saddened that she felt she had to protect herself from me. I was an adult rider re-entering the horse arena after twenty horseless years. I was used to the close relationship I had with the ponies of my past. They were my best friends with four legs. They would often follow me up a flight of carpeted stairs into my living room, or swim across deep saltwater canals with me on their backs on our long trail rides through the Florida woods. I felt like this intelligent lesson horse viewed me as something unpleasant.

Rather than make her experience something more unpleasant by reprimanding her with more force, I wanted to show her I could listen. I had just read an article about the BitlessBridle and decided immediately to order one.

Dr. Cook’s BitlessBridle to the Rescue
As soon as her black beta BitlessBridle arrived, I adjusted it to give her a perfect fit. Then I saddled up. After a few strides, her head lowered, her back relaxed and she exhaled. I asked for a walk, trot, canter and halt. Not once did she feel the need to protect herself. The reins stayed softly in my hands and she was a different, happy horse.

After seeing how using the BitlessBridle gave this horse a new positive opinion of humans, I began paying close attention to other areas where horses may be crying out, but no one hears. I began asking questions.

Why do horses need bits at all?
Why do horses need shoes?
Why do saddles have to have rigid trees?
Why are horses chased, stomped at and whacked so much?

I was volunteering time working with horses at a variety of barns with a variety of disciplines ranging from western pleasure to dressage. My questions did not make me popular!

In the meantime, I decided to venture into horse ownership as an adult. I had fallen in love with a steely gray Paso Fino named Romeo who was headed for auction. He had had about seven owners in eight years. After he became mine, I found out why. Just as the lesson horse would rip the reins out of my hands to protect her mouth, Romeo's every move was a calculated action to protect himself from contact with humans.

Dr. Cook’s BitlessBridle to the Rescue Again
Evasion was his specialty. He knew just when to rear, buck, bolt, bounce, spook, shy, and charge. He came with a fancy Paso Fino bit. I was told a Paso can't gait without a Paso Bit. But with this bit in his mouth, he did more rearing than gaiting so I promptly ordered another BitlessBridle.

Again, the BitlessBridle started a new line of communication, telling him I could hear that the bit caused him problems. So I removed one of his problems. The rearing immediately stopped and I went to work on all of his other issues.

I saw that he was a horse that was essentially a victim of excessive force in all areas. He could not be pressured into a behavior, regardless of how slight the pressure. I decided to see what could happen if I trained him with the opposite of force, where I give him a choice and attracted him into a behavior.

Focus on What I Want, Not on What I Don't Want
I began to use clicker training, where the correct behavior is marked by a sound and then rewarded by (in my case) a few alfalfa pellets. The incorrect behavior was essentially ignored. So instead of punishing him for leaping and dancing when he should be standing still, I'd wait, then click the moment all four feet were on the ground. Soon I had a horse that loved to stand still because good things happened when he stood still.

I quickly saw that Romeo was a horse that had been forced into behaviors before he had a chance to understand what was expected of him. Force of any kind caused him to revert to a protective stance and brought out his aggression, as in the case of any pressure on the bit causing him to rear. The more I created situations where he could move toward what he wanted, rather than away from what he didn't want, the more I could see a very intelligent, willing, curious soul emerging.

Object Training
Although he could be classified as a dominant-aggressive horse, beneath his tough exterior, he was simply insecure and afraid. He had a fear of anything that moved. I found that when he was allowed to touch a frightening object, such as the 'Trash can lid of death,' it wasn't so scary. I'd encourage him to touch these objects with both his mouth and hooves. Soon he began picking these things up in his mouth and handing them to me. Anytime he would target an object, or pick it up, it created that situation where he could move toward what he wanted, namely, no pressure.

Again the Dr. Cook BitlessBridle was an invaluable tool. While under saddle, Romeo began to pick my helmet up off the ground and hand it back to me. This would have been a difficult feat with a bit in his mouth.  (See the video Romeo plays fetch at paintinghorse.com)

Eating Naturally
The BitlessBridle allowed me train using food under saddle which was an important realization in my quest for pressure free, force free, attraction based training. Since horses spend about 90% of their day in their quest for food, why should they be denied food when they're with me? I feel training with food emulates what happens naturally with horses at liberty. Some action on their part, such as using their mouth or hooves to dig up a juicy root, earns them something they want. It is one of the most natural things for a horse to do. They use their abilities in their biological need to graze to keep their digestive system functioning.

When I train with food rewards, I believe they recognize that I can hear what is important to them. They need to eat. To me, giving a food reward is not a "treat" or a bribe; it's meeting a biological need. This I believe helps my horses feel very safe with me and rarely do I have a horse try to assert its dominance over me, as it has no reason to. I address its big concern, to keep its digestive tract moving. The BitlessBridle allows me to continue this communication under saddle. The horse can pick up objects in its mouth as well as receive its food reward without interference.

Painting a New Life
As I began to explore this type of communication, eventually Romeo became so adept at wielding objects in his mouth, I decided (a frustrated artist at the time) to see what he could do with a paint brush. I gathered my old sketch pad, a few flat-handled brushes and headed out to the barn. I offered Romeo the brush, knowing he'd hold it, but I had no idea how to communicate to him how to run the brush along the pad. I held out the pad and, as though he knew exactly what to do, he began running the brush up and down the surface of the paper. The next day I added paint and he's still painting today.

 
Romeo painting

The next horse to follow Romeo was a pinto Paso Fino mare named Juliet, who before bringing her home, had her own matching BitlessBridle. She was only four and I don't know if she had ever had a bit in her mouth. She quickly followed Romeo's footsteps and began painting. The two began painting at festivals and horse expos.

 
Romeo and Juliet in their BitlessBridles

They seemed to enjoy doing this type of work so my husband and I decided to write and photograph a children's book starring Romeo and Juliet.. Soon Home Sweet Home with Romeo & Juliet was born, a story about two horses that move into a house and eat cake with a Chihuahua. The pair of Pasos even autograph their books with markers in their mouths.

We found that the horses loved to pose, stand on their marks, make faces and in general enjoy using their mouth and hooves. I found that this type of object training gives the horses something to focus on, something to move towards with anticipation, rather than something to move away from such as a whip or other painful pressure. This training method worked so well that we decided to find a horse that would be the least likely candidate to paint, or do anything for that matter, and see if the same methods would work for a damaged horse.

The Diary of DaVinci
It wasn't hard to find a horse in need of a second chance. We found a gangly, grade, sabino pinto who had every symptom of post traumatic stress disorder. For this poor horse, life was scaring him to death. He was sick. His immune system was compromised. No one could touch any part of his body. Perfect!

I began introducing the concept of object training. Within two weeks he was painting, but we still couldn't touch his body. Painting became the foundation of his recovery. The BitlessBridle also became key in helping him overcome his head shyness. We began keeping an online diary of his recovery in The Diary of DaVinci. (see the video Head Games at http://paintinghorse.com)

Then, of all things, we were given a 15-month-old, PMU Clydesdale gelding named Raleigh. His personality was the polar opposite of DaVinci's. Raleigh, a young, large horse, is calm, trusting, and curious. I decided to see what object training could do with a mind that was a clean slate. Within a month he began painting and performing all the things Romeo and Juliet can do.

 
Raleigh painting


A few short months later, all four of my painters were featured on the CBS Early Show in a story called Art Therapy for Horses.

Raleigh seems to have a calming influence on DaVinci, so I began to train them side-by-side. DaVinci is now learning to drive in his BitlessBridle and Raleigh has to make do with his halter until he we get a BitlessBridle big enough for his growing draft head! (photo of DaVinci driving)

I truly feel that the innovation of Dr. Cook’s BitlessBridle does so much more than create happy horses under saddle. For me, it started a revolution of thought. How can I create a world for my horse where my horse has a voice?  How many ways can I say to my horse, 'I hear you?' For me the BitlessBridle stands as a symbol of a new era of horsemanship, where the art is not in the whispering, but in the listening.

 
Roman pose (Romeo and Juliet)