Hey Guys!
I'm back, as promised! And I am soo excited because my natural horsemanship tack arrived a wee while ago and it is fabulous!
I love, my horse loves it! Everyone is happy.
Before I start talking why my new tack and gear is so amazing I am going to talk a little bit about the company.
Natural Horse NZ
So Natural Horse NZ is a New Zealand horse rescue centre. The are un-funded so they make amazing tack and gear and sell it as a way to raise profits to support their organization.
I have always been highly interested in Natural Horsemanship and it was a great opportunity for me to help a cause that is close to my heart and get some cool gear.
What Natural Horse NZ does is truly amazing, they rescue neglected and abused horses and train them and bring them back to their former glory and then re-home them to carefully chosen homes.
Without the support of the public they wouldn't be able to do what they are doing today.
If you live in NZ it would be really great if you could sign their petition to the NZ government to ensure that there are more centers like Natural Horse NZ made available to neglected and abused horses, but it goes wider than NZ too, there are many neglected animals not only horses in the world, but not enough centres available to them, by signing this petition hopefully we can speak for the animals that can't and start a chain reaction to other countries.
Help them get the second chance that they deserve.
If you did take a minute to sign the petition THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Now you guys are probably wondering what the title "To Tackless or Not to Tackless" has got to do with any of this.
So as I said I bought some gear from NHNZ, a Aqua and Black fleck rope halter and clip on rope rein set and a cordeo. The quality is amazing like I'm not even kidding and the price is actually not too expensive and it is towards a great cause. I was very happy with my order and Specs loves it too!
I bought the rope halter and clip on rope reins to use as a bitless bridle and also an easy bridle for when I'm too lazy for putting on a bridle, it's great in winter when you just clip the reins on to your horses halter, jump on and off you go!
I personally am I HUGE fan of rope halters, I feel like my horses are more comfortable wearing them and I have seen the results. If you have read about my mare Specs you probably know by now she is notorious for breaking bridles and halters, the amount of halters I've gone through with her is shocking. When I first got her I didn't realize that she had never been taught to tie up, and need I say more. Web halters I find she will break within a couple of days, and this isn't even tying up, she can be quite hard to catch at times so I leave a halter on and she always manages to lose the web ones, but then I tried a rope halter and it works like a charm. She use to have bald patches from the web halters rubbing (Yes they were the correct size) but with the rope halters I find that they are amazing, they don't rub or break easily. Yes, people will be saying "Your horse could get caught on a fence of tree, then what would you do". I have been using rope halters for 4 years now, on various different horses I have had, and I have never encountered this issue. If I do, then I'll let you know.
Don't get me wrong, I still use Web halters but you will find the only time I will use one is A. at a show or B. travelling or C. I can't find my rope halters.
Now onto my rope reins, I LOVE EM!
My first introduction to rope reins was 2 years ago and my friend used them on her pony. At that stage, I didn't wear horse riding gloves so the web or leather reins were the worst. But the rope reins are so nice to hold and you really feel like you have a great grip.
Now onto the cordeo. If you don't know what a cordeo is, it is a round rope that goes around your horses neck and is used in tackless riding,
It is used as a guide, quite like reins to help your horse understand which way you want to turn, they also help assist your horse to stop.
I would be very surprised if you have not heard of tackless riding, as it is the current rave in the Equestrian world. Our very own NZ star, Alicia Burton has brought it to the spotlight as she rides her horse Classic Goldrush over high jumps with only a cordeo to guide him.
To ride with a Cordeo your horse must have very good trust in you, and you in him\her.
Also your horse must be sensitive to simple commands such as clicking to speed up and woah or whatever word you use to slow down.
I do not advise riding your horse in a cordeo until you have mastered those simple key commands.
So the other day I decided to take Specs for a spin with the cordeo.
I have never used one on her before, but she is very sensitive to bridles and bitless bridles. I have ridden her around the paddock with no reins at all before, but I haven't been able to turn her.
I started off in the safety of my paddock.
She took to it like a duck to water. The key to tackless riding is to use the cordeo as reins.
If I wanted her to turn left I would apply the pressure of the cordeo on the right and open up the left and shift my weight to the right. I also found from using the cordeo that you get a much more responsive stop than with the bridle.
After a few days I took Specs out into a large paddock, I was putting my complete trust in her.
But I had nothing to fear, she loved it, she was so happy.
No halter or anything, just the rope.
I really enjoy tackless riding as I feel like my horse is happier because of it and our trust is getting stronger in each other.
If you do choose to use a cordeo and try tackless riding, I would recommend starting off in a small yard, don't try anything too extreme until you and your horse are comfortable.
Well I hope you guys enjoyed this!
Cya
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