ANSWER:
One of the reasons why we started this website and our Classical Dressage Discussion Group years ago is to provide accurate information about Classical Dressage for those who are interested in the subject. A part of that mission is also to expose misconceptions and false information.
One of those misconceptions is that bits are cruel or rein aids are unnecessary to train horses. The old masters would consider this an absurd notion. Other similarly false opinions include that the whip or spurs are cruel or unnecessary, or that nosebands are cruel or unnecessary.
These are all tools that the old masters found unanimously useful, even indispensable, for the practical training of horses. It is arrogant and shows ignorance of the subject matter, if somebody summarily dismisses the findings of the last 500 years of practical horsemanship and thinks they can do a better job than the old masters using different methods.
Trying to train a horse without a bit or any of the other tools that the old masters found necessary is unclassical and ineffective. People who falsely promote methods like that as classical give true classical dressage a bad reputation. They are largely responsible for the widespread notion that classical riders cannot ride and that classical dressage cannot be successful in the showring.
- Thomas Ritter
Question & Answer Forum
Last Update: February 24, 2007