How to Make and Use Inexpensive Bit-Free Bridles
by Lisa Preston
Create a variety of inexpensive, reliable, custom-fit bitless bridles in the colors you choose. This 104 page manual includes step-by-step instructions for more than a dozen bridles, halters, and other handmade tack. Available from Alpine Publications for $24.95, alpinepub.com or lisapreston.com. Foreword by Robert M. Miller, DVM.
Editor’s Note: Ever hear of a chin-slip, cross-jaw, or Indian hackamore? Me neither. Lisa Preston’s book on making bitless bridles was an education, in more ways than one. It includes information about going bit-free as well as research into horse anatomy. However, Lisa doesn’t make you feel like a jerk if you do use bits. The book focuses on how to construct bitless bridles: equipment needed, knots to learn, and how to measure your horse. I am quite directionally impaired, but was able to construct a chin-slip for my newly started 3-year-old mustang Mateo with only a couple of hiccups. I felt like the 80’s TV star MacGyver—look what I can do with two rings and some kernmantle rope! Next up? Making a “hackalea.” Highly recommend this book.
Published November 2013 Issue
The Colorado Horse Source is an independently owned and operated print and online magazine for horse owners and enthusiasts of all breeds and disciplines in Colorado and surrounding area. Our contemporary editorial columns are predominantly written by experts in the region, covering the care, training, keeping and enjoyment of horses, with an eye to the specific concerns in our region.