About Bitless Inc

Our Mission

Bitless Inc is a non-profit, national equestrian association established in 2013 to promote higher horse welfare and safety standards in equestrian sports, training and displays.

Higher horse welfare is achieved through following proven, research into horse behaviour, horse handling, training and gear. 

We do this by:

• influencing equestrian organisations and governments in Australia

• raising the profile of kinder horsemanship 

• supporting and educating our members to lead by good example.

Bitless Inc participates actively in:

• bitless advocacy through other equestrian associations and events

• helping equestrians transition to bitless riding and driving safely and sensibly

• advancing our Members on their own equine journey

Follow the links below for more information

Bitless Inc was founded in 2013 by a group of passionate bitless riders and drivers in NSW, Australia. 

The group saw a clear need for a national association that supported the bitless, bridle-less and liberty equestrian community and quickly turned those ideas into a reality. Since its inception, Bitless Inc has made huge strides towards normalising bitless horses in competition in Australia, by supporting members and creating opportunities to increase the visibility of bitless and bridleless equestrians.  

By 2015, Bitless Inc quickly grew into an international organisation, hosting popular Online Shows, and with its own Australian clubs and groups around the country - helping more people to safely transition to bitless riding and driving.

By 2021, Bitless Inc had accomplished all ten of its original organisations goals (below) - much quicker than anyone expected!  Our model has now been emulated in various forms around the world, and bitless riding in particular is becoming mainstream and more widely accepted in Australia. While there is still a ways to go, particularly in competitive events and carriage driving, Bitless Inc will continue to advocate for, and promote the safety and higher welfare benefits that come with bitless bridles.

Bitless Inc must acknowledge our Executive Committee Members over the past 10 years, who have contributed countless hours of unpaid and uncredited work and effort to make Bitless Inc such an influential and international success:  Sue Lewis, Karri Nadazdy, Noeline Cassettari, Gill Shepherd, Neil Shepherd, Nicholas Virtue and Amie Johnstone - thank you!

Social Licence to Operate is becoming a serious issue for the equestrian world to address. Despite the most vocal anti equestrian groups being a small minority of the population, the general public are no longer familiar with horses, rarely have any interactions with horses, and cannot discern between anthropomorphism and genuine welfare concerns.  To ensure that horse keeping has a future, it is up to all of us in the horse industry to raise the bar, and educate the public on what positive welfare outcomes look like for equestrian sports and horse husbandry.

Bitless Inc now has an opportunity to set new Objectives for the future, and we aim to continue to help equestrians learn about the benefits of bitless, help them to transition safely, and advocate for acceptance of bitless in mainstream equestrian events and activities. For this to happen, bitless equestrians need to participate and lead by example, and Bitless Inc will continue to help them do this.

We hope you will continue to support Bitless Inc, as a Member, and by being a positive example of bitless and bridleless equestrians for others to look up to. 

Bitless Inc Executive Committee:

2022 - Present

Want to join the Committee?  Contact us below!