Riding at liberty is the ultimate goal for most people who become interested in liberty training. It involves piloting the horse with no bridle to control him. Instead, to communicate with the horse, the rider uses their previous in-hand liberty training, which they adapt for bridle-less riding, as well as their voice, seat and leg aids. “Bridle-less riding really improves people’s riding in general because once the bridle is removed, they become hyper aware of their other aids and it sharpens them up,” says liberty trainer Ben Atkinson. “It’s also a brilliant tool for having fun with a horse without the pressure of him being ridden on a contact. You will find that you have a horse who is more confident, more sure-footed and able to make his own decisions because he’s not waiting for you to hold his hand all the time.”
Ben always begins his ridden liberty work with a bridle on, however.
“Before attempting any form of bridle-less riding, you need to train all of your signals and cues with the bridle on, so that if anything goes wrong during the learning process you still have some control,” advises Ben. “I always train my horses in tack first and then transition to bridle-less eventually.”
Ben uses simple
