Indy Cross-under Padded Leather Bitless Bridle & Reins

Smart padded leather Dr Cook style bitless bridle with reins

Pony / Cob / Full in Black or Havana

I have to say we are very impressed with this leather crossover / cross-under type bitless bridle and Indi, one of our resident liveries, was delighted to try it and model it for us – see the main photo.  He went so well in it and is a very recent convert to bitless.  We feel it represents excellent value for money and is extremely smart looking with lovely padding all round.

This stylish cross-under bitless bridle has flat leather cross straps, reinforced with polypropylene to extend their life (if you are already a user of a Dr Cook or similar you will know that plain leather crossovers need replacing from time to time).  Replacement crossover strap is available.

It has a raised and padded noseband and browband with slight shaping to the browband. Also nicely padded over the poll for all round comfort. Supplied with matching leather reins with standard rein attachment.

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.

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 the Indi padded leather crossover bridle and reins

The question of release

There is a long-standing debate about whether a crossover / cross-under 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 the bridle not releasing (and that applies to all the materials, English leather, Western leather, beta, webbing) – 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 turning if the bridle didn’t release.

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.