Which bitless bridle is the best?

Hi! I'm deciding to get a bitless bridle. I have a warmblood horse and I will start to compete in showjumping this year. He is very obedient and I don't have to use much hand on him So, I need a bitless bridle that provides full contact and doesen't cause any pain I was thinking about getting Dr. Cook or Nutural bitless bridle... which is best in your oppinion?
Do you recomend any other bitless bridle?
P.S: I alredy saw comments about this two bridles on Dr. Cook's and Nutural bridles site and they each say opposite thing.
Thank you for your help and I'm sorry for my english

Hi Tea,
That's great that your going to get a Bitless Bridle! I've been riding Bitless for 2yrs. I ride in a LightRider Bitless Bridle for all my horse, and it's cured my pony who used to bolt in a halter! HA!
The LightRider works by using a chinstrap design that instantly releases and pressure when the reins are slightly loosened. Even with firm pressure, your horse cannot be harmed! I also use it on my lazy QH gelding. All my horses are so easy to steer in the LightRider and their stop is incredible! I didn't have to do any groundwork before using the LightRider for the first time and I had instant control of my pony who was bolting on me! You can get any size- from mini to draught, and great colours! Available in Biothane, Leather or Rope! I use the Rope ones, they have great padding and NEVER have rubbed any of my horses!
Visit: www.naturalhorseworld.com for more info!www.naturalhorseworld.com

Since this topic is already started, I thought I'd pose a question in here.

Is there a way to guage what type of bitless bridle would suit a particular horse? Or is it a matter of trying different types?

I am happy with our Nurtural, and Fan seems to be responsive to it, but something's niggling at the back of my mind, wondering if we could get an even better match for her. I say this because when Fan is at liberty and I apply pressure to her poll to get her to drop her head, she almost always doesn't respond. Even the slightest movement on her part, in a downward motion, will have me releasing the pressure on her, yet she doesn't seem to "get it". She has always been like this. Maybe it's because her nose is so much more sensitive, but if she's in my space and I block her, even the gentlest of pressure with my fingertips on her nose will cause her to move her head down/away from me.

Fan is the kind of horse who doesn't really like her face being touched, but I have seen improvements in that in the past couple of months. Might the 'cradling' of her bridle bother her? The last time I was on her and she did so well, I was holding onto the pommel so I was more or less unable to do much in regards to the reins, so they were loose. Although my hands are gentle, sometimes when I pick up the reins to guide her, she will go into her little panic mode and seems nervous. If I let her do her own thing, she's fine, but as soon as I ask her to do something, like go in a certain direction, that's when she starts to act nervous. Could it be the bridle? Are the reins maybe too heavy and not releasing properly? Sometimes I wonder if a bridle that mainly affected her nose would be less for her to think about than having her whole face loosely cradled, with poll and nose pressure added to it. Am I crazy for thinking this way?

You just have to try different types and find out what suits you and your horse together. I ride Kitty now with a very lightweight mane hair mecate on her halter but other people find they can't get a response from her with it and they need the heavier nylon rope.

I agree with FlorayG, it needs to suit both horse and rider. You may even find you get best results using different bridles for different disciplines. Bohohorse has several for her horse, she used a sidepull on our riding holiday, has showjumped in a Nurtural and is currently trying a version of an LG, I think. I started with a Dr. Cooks but my pony tended to brace against it and lean. I then tried a Light Rider which she loved and I've since tried other horses in it too. I agree with the BitlessHorse that the rope version has never rubbed, and I also like the padding very much.

Cyndi I think some horses just don't like the whole-head-hug thing, and in my judgement also the Dr. Cooks just doesn't release as well it should. Its possible I wasn't adjusting it correctly, or was using wrong somehow, but that was my experience. I'd recommend the Light Rider to you Cyndi, if you want action only on the nose. Cynthia's now selling a leather or beta (I think) attachment to fit to a normal bridle so you could test it reasonably cheaply.

Good luck everyone!

Thanks for your input, ladies!

I'd like to some day try the rope Light Rider. I only do leisure riding, so I would think the rope bridle is all I'd need. I'll add it to my wish list

*imagines Cyndi's husband looking at huge wish list and sighing*

Sheldon was sitting right beside me when I saw your message, so I showed it to him. He laughed, of course

Lightertouch, is it the regular rope Light Rider that you used, or the "performer" rope one? In the description, they say that the performer bridle has padding on the nose, but they don't say that about the regular one...but it does appear to have some padding to it.

I can't take apart my Nurtural to replace the nosepiece, so I'd have to just order a whole new bridle, and I can't do that right now. I've been spending too much money on horse stuff lately

Mine's the Performer I think, big soft squashy padding on nose