The New LightRider Dressage Bridle

Is ideal for dressage, shows, pony club, jumping, dark coloured horses or just because you like a great looking bridle!

Made from quality english leather with a white padded and raised patent leather (shiny) browband/noseband, and a shaped, white padded headpiece.

Stainless hardware for no rust.

Removeable browband to change size or add your own.

The LightRider Dressage bridle features a second cheekpiece buckle to allow for replacement options, or for a bit to be used  for competitions or to assist your transition to bitless.

$155 – Available in black full and cob size, with warmblood size coming soon.

Click here for more info and to buy.

In case you are wondering where you can compete at dressage in a bitless bridle, there are now two online competition options.

www.interdressage.com welcomes bitless riders alongside bitted, whileE-Dressage has bitless classes. There is also a Western Dressage Association of America that allows Western bitless bridles in theirequipment guide.

Various other organisations will also allow bitless bridles in their dressage events and some of these such as the Netherlands (KNHS) are listed along with others on the Bitless Resources page here. If you have any suggestions for adding to this growing list please contact Cynthia using the form on this page.  

New Diamante Browband

Highlight your horse’s head with this beautiful diamante browband.

Ideal for shows, dressage and for those who love bling!

Made from quality English leather with a patent leather overlay under the silver diamantes.

Fits the LightRider English, Euro and Dressage leather bridles.

$49 in black cob and full sizes with warmblood coming soon.

Click here for more info and to buy.

LightRider bridles are a sidepull style of bitless, either with chinstrap action or no chinstrap action.

So what’s the difference and how do you use it either way?

With the chinstrap in action, the reins are clipped only onto the chinstrap rings so it moves through the noseband rings. This allows the noseband to be adjusted looser for more comfort. When the reins are used, the chinstrap takes up contact to stop the noseband and cheek pieces from moving, and to give a more refined signal, so you can use less rein pressure.

The advantage of the unique design (locking effect) and material of the chinstrap stops it from going beyond snug, so there is no over-tightening or leverage at all. Continual tightening will occur with sliding chinstraps made from rope or leather (or any other stiff material), because they don’t bend enough around the noseband ring to ‘lock’ and stop the tightening.

No Chinstrap action is useful for young horses being started, and horses who are not familiar with the feel of a chinstrap, or are sensitive to close contact. By clipping the reins to both the chinstrap and noseband rings so they are held together, there is not as much contact under the jaw, but enough to get them used to it gradually.

If you have the newer version of the traditional styles of LightRider bridle (the English, Western,Stockhorse or Bitless Noseband - which have slots in the noseband rather than being sewn on), or a biothane older version, you can remove the chinstrap and just clip the reins to the noseband rings.  However, you may need to have the noseband a little firmer (still be able to fit 2 fingers under it) so it doesn’t slide around and cause the cheek pieces to come too close to the eyes. The trade-off for doing this, is the noseband may not allow the jaw to open as widely for chewing or yawning, and some horses may find that firmness uncomfortable.

Removing the chinstrap is not recommended for the rope style bitless bridles (Natural and Performer) as their nosebands can’t be adjusted, and the chinstrap is still needed for noseband stability, and for keeping the cheek pieces away from the eye when using one rein.

The versatility of the LightRider bitless bridle is loved by many horses and people – it’s gentle, easily understood, effective, and a great place to start your bitless journey.

See all the LightRider Bridle styles here: www.naturalhorseworldstore.com/categories/Bitless-Bridles/ where you can also read customer’s reviews under the product description. 

The bridle design has recently been changed to strengthen the noseband/cheekpiece join so it can cope with more pressure.
Originally, the traditional styled bridles (English, Euro and Stockhorse) were designed to be used for well educated horses who respond to light rein pressure.
But with more people changing to bitless, a wider variety of  horses are being educated with these styles so a more robust bridle is required.
We actually recommend the rope Natural LightRider as a better choice for education, but we can't dictate a customer's preference for a certain look!
The new English, Euro and Stockhorse style LightRider bridles now look the same as the bitless noseband on a regular bridle that has lower cheek piece buckles for holding the bit.
This offers the choice of being able to use a bit (for the transition phase or competition) making the bridle more versatile, and enables parts of the bridle to be easily replaced.

We will always have the stitched on nosebands available for the biothane range in the custom (Tasmanian made) version for those that prefer not having the additional cheek buckles. Beta Biothane is a much stronger material, so stitching holds better than with leather. Custom biothane bridles are available by pre-ordering with a 2-3 week manufacturing time.

Please check the description of each bridle in the online store, to see which combinations are available in the new style as new stock arrives.


March Specials
LightRider Stockhorse Bridle in English Leather with stainless steel fittings.
The LightRider Stockhorse bitless bridles in English leather are on sale now at 20% off. Were $149 - now $119.
These are the original style with a stitched noseband and only recommended for educated horses that respond to light rein pressure. Save $30 on this beautiful leather bridle that looks and feels great, and is one of the most comfortable traditionally styled bitless bridles. Available here in black and brown, cob, full and warmblood size (black only).

Best bridle I've ever owned
"My pony has a dropped palette so can't have a bit in his mouth. He is really happy in this bridle. All the things you can do with a normal bridle you can do in a LightRider bridle. The quality of the leather is excellent. I wouldn't swap this bridle for anything else. The sizing is perfect for my pony. I'm in the UK and the bridle arrived within five days. Also thought the price was good too." Review Posted by Jane on 24th Jul 2014.

Equitana Melbourne is on again from Thursday 20th to Sunday the 23rd of November, 2014 at the Melbourne showgrounds. Over 40,000 people will gather to see what's new in the equine industry, shop till you drop, get some education, and be entertained by demonstrations and competitions. 
LightRider Bitless Bridles will once again feature on the Natural Horse World booth - no. 460 in the Epsom Pavillion. 
Come and see/feel the full range, ask questions, delve into the 'bargain bin' and give your horse the gift of 'bitless'. 
You'll also find many other great products at the booth including Slowfeed Haysaver nets, Best bareback pads, Supersoft rope halters/leads/strings and much more from the Natural Horse World Store. 
Cynthia, Marian and Grace are all looking forward to seeing you there so drop by and say hi. 

LightRider Bitless bridle improvements include a new noseband to cheekpiece attachment and new chinstrap keepers shown here on the Western bridle.

A new shipment of stock has just arrived so we now have most of theLightRider Bitless Nosebands, English Bitless Bridles, Euro Bitless Bridlesand Stockhorse Bitless bridles people were waiting for.

Cynthia Cooper, designer of the LightRider Bitless Bridle is always making improvements to the bridles. The new stock now has better chinstrap keepers made from the same soft, flexible material as the chinstrap, and the buckle has returned as the favourite form of adjustment.

All new bridles coming into stock now have an updated noseband to cheekpiece attachment the same as the Bitless Noseband design which has proven to be stronger.
The cheek pieces also have additional keepers to hold any excess length tidy when the higher holes are used, except for biothane bridles as the biothane material sits flatter. If anyone needs keepers for cheekpieces or chinstraps please contact us and we will send some free of charge.