R+ Riding Headgear

Choosing headgear for R+ riding is more complicated. Saddles are just for padding, support, and comfort for horse and rider, but our headgear is a communication tool, so we need to consider it carefully.

With R+ we teach every behavior first with shaping, targeting, capturing, etc... no physical contact. Then we put the behavior on cue when its ready. The cue can be anything the horse doesn't find aversive, verbal, visual, situational, or tactile. But if the cue holds aversive value, it will gradually poison the behavior. We don't want that!

So, really we could ride our horse with no headgear, using our visual targets, or verbal or tactile weight shifts, as cues. We do this alot when riding at home, in our fenced areas. These really ensure your horse is responding because they understand and want to.

A neck rope is a mild way to add more potential cues or make them feel more traditional for you, but without adding much risk of aversion.

However, out in the world, there are risks we can't always prepare for. We may need to use some sort of head gear, at least so we can get off and have them on a lead in an emergency. We don't need to change our cues, simply have a backup plan in emergencies. We can use a halter or bitless bridle for these.

There may be times also we need to use a bit, while personally, i won't do things that require a bit, i understand that some people have limited choices. Some competitions and insurance companies still require them. Hopefully times will change as we spread education. Our training is as strong as we have taught the behaviors, no tool is going to change that.

Regardless of which tool you choose, you do want to make sure they are smooth, soft, flexible, and gentle. You want to avoid leverage, which amplifies your tactile stimulus, spikes, knots, pressure points, narrow, rigid, or harshly restraining tools. Allow your horse to do what you ask without fear of pain or discomfort. If you have a problem with a behavior, work on your positive training to clean up this cue and build it's reliability. Fix the holes in the training, don't cover them up with harsher tools.