Megan McIntyre is a trainer and instructor from regional South Australia who runs the only completely bitless facility in her state. Rusty’s Riding Retreat opened in 2013 as a place people could come and learn in bitless bridles, get assistance with getting their own horses going kindly and try a variety of bitless options in a safe and encouraging environment.
Megan’s training is a minimally aversive method that encourages thinking, choices and uses rewards to create a calm and fun environment for the horses in her care. She has a passion for sharing her knowledge of equine communication and teaching people peaceful and science based ways to communicate with horses.
Liberty play and fun are a big focus of Megan’s program and she believes that engaging horses through play without restraint is an important part of getting the best relationships between horses and humans. She has developed an agility playground on her property to encourage others to play more and work together.
Regular clinics run at RRR also add opportunities for local horse people to participate without the necessity of riding in a bit and larger competitions are planned in the future to further increase the availability of bitless competition and to increase awareness of bitless options for all riders.