Dietsji Cross-under Bitless Bridle & Reins

Description

Dietsji (pronounced deet-see) Dr Cook style padded leather bitless bridle with soft polypropylene rope crossover straps

Sizes from Shetland to Full in black and special order pink or blue!
Shire size available in black or havana

Supplied with colour co-ordinated, anti-slip webbing reins with handy clips to attach & detach to / from the bridle

The crossover (cross-under / Dr Cook style) bitless bridle uses indirect pressure; the figure of eight configuration of the crossover straps distributes gentle pressure around the whole of the head – Dr Cook describes it as a ‘whole head hug’ – many horses go very well in this type of bitless bridle, as we found through the many, many years of using Dr Cook Bitless Bridles in our riding school.

The Dietsji leather bitless bridle is available in sizes from Small Pony (Shetland) to Warmblood / Draught (Shire).  All sizes except the largest ‘Shire’ size are available in black leather with padding in either black, pink or blue (synthetic leather).   The Draught / Shire size is available in black or havana with self-coloured leather padding. NB – ‘Shire L’ is the latest version with larger noseband 66 – 79 cm; we only have one left of the Shire with smaller noseband 58 – 69  cm.

All sizes are supplied with non-slip webbing reins to match the padding colour of the bridle.

The crossover (cross-under) straps on the Dietsji bitless bridle are made from soft, but very hardwearing, polypropylene rope to minimise wear in this area where the strap is constantly sliding back and forth through the metal ring every time pressure is applied and released.

We recommend Urad leather products to keep your leather in good condition.

Fitting a cross-under crossover Dr Cook style bitless bridle

Approximate sizes of Dietsji Dr Cook style crossunder bitless bridle

(See image for how measurements are taken)

The question of release

There is a long-standing debate about whether a crossover / crossunder bridle releases…

The question of release is a moot point, with some people seeming to think there is no release with a crossover bridle like the Dr Cook, but all horses seem to think that there is! We have used the Dr Cook Bitless Bridle for over 15 years – on a great variety of horses, our own & clients’ horses & have also used the bridle exclusively for backing horses over the past 15 years.

We have never had a problem with a crossover bridle not releasing  – if the bridle didn’t release, then when a horse had been asked to halt he would refuse to go forward; likewise when asked to turn (right or left) the horse would circle instead of simply turning if the bridle hadn’t released.

I think maybe people don’t think the bridle releases because very little pressure is needed in the first instance, so the release is often imperceptible to the human eye – although of course not to the horse, who is sensitive enough to feel a fly land.