Bitless Bridles

In 1986, when Slieve Aughty became an official riding centre recognised by the Association of Irish Riding Establishments, students were coached in developing a relationship with horses through contact with them.  This philosophy pervades instruction today, with games, theory, guidance in groundwork, grooming and general horse handling, and encouragement to understand horses at the heart of everything.

In line with this natural philosophy, when Merel discovered the Nurtural Bitless Bridle it seemed like the perfect fit for the riding centre.  So Slieve Aughty Centre became the first riding centre in Europe to use and distribute Nurtural Bitless Bridles.  Interested in purchasing a bitless bridle? Click here!

Currently 11 of our 33 horses are successfully ridden in bitless bridles for everything, including dressage and jumping lessons, trail rides, and cross country.  And we are not just using them on our old, quiet horses.  In fact, we have found that the Nurtural Bitless Bridle is equally or more effective for our strongest horses like Tessa and Troni, and works extremely well for young, sensitive horses like Sunny, who was the first of our horses to try out the bitless bridle.

Muriel, a guest at the centre in 2009, said "I am sending this email to thank you for four great days of riding in Slieve Aughty Equestrian Centre. Both Pearl and Cookie were great. It was a privilege to ride with a bitless bridle, it made the jumping easier as well as I wasn't as afraid of pulling too much on Pearl's mouth. Thank you for giving me back my jumping confidence...I really did find a difference riding with a bitless bridle. Pearl is a great horse anyway but she was happier than any other horse I have ridden - all had bits."

There are other bitless bridles on the market, but we chose the Nurtural Bitless Bridle because of it's unique design that allows for varying levels of control and a design that prevents the noseband from slipping and keeps equal pressure on the reins, something that has been a problem with bitless bridles of the past.  For more information about the unique, patented design of the nurtural bitless bridle and its effectiveness,  take a look at the Bitless Bridle Consumer Report. Also, the Crossover Bitless Bridle Research Project (courtesy of the Festina Lente Foundation), is an excellent read about the effectiveness of the crossover bitless bridle, a design which the Nurtural Bitless Bridle has greatly improved on, and the problems caused by bitted bridles.

Interested in learning more? Contact us for more information or to purchase a nurtural bitless bridle.