My little Hanoverian/TB mare has huge eyes and they are fairly wideset. The bridle I have now (BR dressage bridle) as well as a hunger bridle comes very close to the edge of her eyes. Anyone else have this problem and what bridle worked?
I have had to go out and buy a Warm Blood size brow-band for a 14.3 hand Arabian to fix this problem.
He was MUCH HAPPIER with his wide, wide, wide brow-band (side-to side).
If a WB size brow-band is not wide enough research brow-bands for draft horses. Or, if you are near a saddler take good measurements and get one made.
In the past 20 years I have seen so many horses whose brow-bands were too small. This can really irritate a horse!
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Have you tried a larger browband?
I think that could help. Would be easy enough to try.
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A wider browband can help, but I think you might have the same problem I have, which is that even though my Welsh Cob pony has a cob-sized muzzle (in terms of diameter), it’s actually the place the manufacturers sew the straps onto the noseband that’s the problem, and there’s no easy way to solve that. They sew them too far forward on the noseband for him, which puts the straps up by his eyes no matter what I do with the browband.
I attended a bridle fitting clinic and the clinician told me I should really have him in full-size nosebands, even though they’re too big around and I need to use a sheepskin pad underneath it, because that’s the only way the straps would sit at the right place on his cheeks. It’s maddening, but I have no good solution aside from that.
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It doesn’t unfortunately. The best fit I’ve found on him so far was actually a horse-sized Micklem, which of course he doesn’t like 
Horses. Aside from that, I have to piecemeal all his bridles together from different sizes just to get an okay fit, and have never really been able to find a good resolution to this problem OP has too.
Definitely try a wider browband. One of my mares takes a pony bridle and a full size browband.
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Mine uses a horse sized browband and noseband on a cob crownpiece/ cob cheekpieces.
My horse has wide-set eyes and I use a standard thin “u-shaped” browband because it has some “give” to the design. A standard, straight browband doesn’t fit him. I purchased all of my browbands “horse-sized” from vendors over the years (without fitting to horse) and the “U” shaped ones are the only ones that fit this horse. I’ve come to love how they look on his very refined WB face. That said, I’m so bummed that my standard favorite rock and black crystal browband doesn’t fit him.
ETA: My “U” shaped browbands are thin. I purchased both from a show in the Netherlands, one was from a local maker but the other was a standard brand (I can’t remember, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it advertised in Dover or Dressage Extensions) swarovski grey crystal one (consensus in the booth said my gelding needed grey, not clear crystals). Both were thinner than the average browband and so could more easily adapt to his wide forehead. If both fell apart tomorrow, I’d buy replacements because they work so well.
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There so many browbands out there. So many. From plain, to crystals, to pearls, to beads, to whatever! A lot of sizes or custom offerings. So I’m sure if it’s a browband issue, that’s quite easy to solve.
I use the curved/U shape and prefer those over straight.
If it’s the noseband, take a measurement of where you want to cheekpieces to be. Take the noseband to a good repair shop. Ask the repair shop to move the cheek pieces back by x" either side.
It won’t be cheap, but it will be the nicest option for fixing the fit.
@CobJockey a bridle fitter should know that bridle can be un-stitched and re-stitched. I hope it wasn’t an expensive clinic!
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@sascha Good thought, but that’s not something I have access to where I am. No need to patronize the clinician, the information I got from that clinic two years ago really changed the way I approached bit and bridle fitting for the better and put me on a much better trajectory with a tricky horse.
What do you do when you need to have tack repaired?
I’ve never had to have tack repaired.
Maybe you should do some sleuthing (ask your local tack shop and/or feed store who they recommend/know of) before you need something repaired. Or, you know, something properly fitted. Saddle fitters will sometimes also do this.
Shoe repair shops repair tack.
Frankenbridle. On top of the wide browband which you already did, buy an independent crown a size or two up. Makes a big difference.
AKA my horse with a traditional FS length head, is in OS browband, OS crownpiece, FS cheek pieces and noseband. Mixing and matching got the good fit and he never, ever rubs his head on his legs anymore after a ride.
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But if they are unfamiliar with tack that can backfire… #askmehowIknow
Most are lucky enough to live near somebody who can repair tack decently, some are lucky to be near really great tack repair like tack shack in Ocala, and some are just not near either.
^ this … but if it’s a nice piece (or even just a mediocre piece that needs to fit correctly), one ships it out with clear instructions and measurements that have been triple checked.
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let’s hear your story
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