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The Gear |
Bridles |
Virtually Horses |
      
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What difference does a
Bridle Make?
Much is made of the
almost infinite variety of bits available and their various actions.
The bridle may sometimes be overlooked as simply the leather by which a
bit is hung on a horse but it is more than that and we shall look at
some of the different types of bridle, in particular nosebands, and
their uses
Of course, the choice of a bridle often comes down to personal preference. The difference between two bridles of similar type will be the look and quality of workmanship. The size and shape of a horse's head can be complimented by a bridle which flatters the horse's features. Bridle's can be as much fashionable as functional and often were ornately adorned to reflect the riders wealth and status. Fitting a Bridle Correctly - Browband, Throatlash and Cheek piecesThe three main pieces of any bridle that must fit a horse are the browband, which stops the bridle from slipping down the horse's neck, the throatlash (or throat latch) which stops the bridle from being pulled forward over the ears and the cheek pieces, which attach to the head piece and the bit. The noseband (cavesson) is discussed below as this is the main difference between the various bridle types. The browband must fit
without pinching and causing discomfort. This can be of particular
importance for warmblood types or horses with wider foreheads, and you may
need to ask your saddler if the browband from a new bridle may be swapped
for another if it doesn't fit properly. The throatlash should allow at
least several fingers to pass between it and the horse. In particuar
make sure that the horse is able to flex without throttling itself, if in
doubt, allow this to be a little loose. |
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| On This Page | ||
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Fitting The Snaffle Bridle The Double Bridle The Hackamore |
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| Related Pages | ||
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Trivia Gear Links Dental Care |
Types of Bridle | |
| When discussing types of bridle we will in fact be mainly talking about different types of noseband, used with a plain snaffle bridle. | ||
The Snaffle BridleThe snaffle bridle is a simple bridle for
a snaffle bit. In its most simplistic form it has no
The dropped noseband
(shown on the right) is also fairly common. It is most often used
to keep the horse's mouth shut on those horse's who try to evade the bit
by opening their mouths. Be aware that shutting a horse's mouth when
using a large jointed bit can cause your horse considerable discomfort
in the palate and you should determine whether your horse really is
evading the bit or simply opening his mouth to allow for the bit to fit
in his mouth! (remember nature only allowed enough room for a tongue in
there).
The noseband is done
up more tightly than a normal cavesson and the bottom strap is passed in
front of (below) the bit. Other nosebands used for a similar
purpose are the 'flash', (also called a Hanoverian) which is a
normal cavesson which has a small loop in the centre through which a
second dropped noseband is attached.
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The Endurance 2-in-1 (shown left) on the other hand is designed to act as both halter and bridle. This provides maximum functionality without wasting time changing tack during a race. 
The double bridle's only real
difference from a snaffle is, of course, to allow for the additional
bits. The only noseband accepted on a double bridle is a cavesson.
The double bridle's bits consist of a bridoon (or
bradoon) and a curb.
The bridoon is essentially a thin snaffle, thinner in
order to cut down the amount of room required in the horse's mouth - and
also because the horse and rider should both be of advanced levels and
therefore more refined in the use of the bit.
The curb bit is the large bit that looks somewhat like a
"H". This bit is also fitted with a curb chain which is fitted
under the horse's jaw. The bit has quite long shanks and the total
action of bit, shanks and curb chain act on the horse's poll as well as
mouth.
The combination gives incredible control and finesse to
the riders aids (or in the wrong hands a lot of power!)
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The Hackamore (or Bitless Bridle)
The hackamore bridle
exerts pressure on on the poll, curb groove and nose. It should be
remembered that the horse cannot breath through its mouth so it is
important to use gentle hands when using a hackamore.
The hackamore is often
used in western riding prior to training a horse with specialist western
style bits and is also popular in endurance riding where contact is not
required as in other sports such as dressage. The long side pieces
to which the reins are attached are called shanks. The longer the
shanks on a hackamore, the more leverage is applied and therefore the
more severe the action. This also applies to western bits which
often also have shanks and use some of the principles of a hackamore.
Bosals are also a type of hackmore but are simpler and don't tend to put
much pressure on the poll.
Hackamore used for show jumping. The fleecy noseband additionally acts as a 'shadowroll', causing the horse drop its head slightly to see over it and reduces the nose pressure. You can see from this close up of a fairly simple hackamore that when the reins are pulled, pressure will be applied to both the nose and poll. This photo shows a reasonably short shank. Other Bitless bridles There are numerous other types of
bitless bridle available. Most apply pressure to the face - either
the nose and or the poll but can also put pressure onto the side of the
face depending on the configuration of the bridle. Examples of
bitless bridles include the scrawbridge, sidepull and Dr Cook bitless
bridles.
Virtually Horses www.virtuallyhorses.com |
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noseband at all. The
cavesson
noseband is commonly fitted although it is largely there for appearance's
sake since it does not perform any function (with the exception of
lunging) and is fitted loosely around the horses nose midway between cheek
and jaw.
And
the Grackle noseband (shown left) is a forerunner of the flash
noseband. The grackle noseband crosses the horses nose quite high
and then crosses again under the horse's jaw. These two nosebands
are used on horse's with a habit of opening their mouths and\or crossing
their jaws to evade the bit. The Grackle is also called the Figure
Eight noseband.
Some
nosebands can also be rather harsh, the Kineton Noseband has
metal half rings which pass under the bit so that when a contact is
taken up strong pressure is brought to bear on both the nose and the
poll encouraging the horse to lower his head.
