Bridle/Rein Quality - How much does it affect contact/feel?

[AAHunterGal]

Since I got her about 3 months ago, I’ve been riding my mare in a new mid-quality Davinci bridle with that’s not very broken in yet, nor do I think it will ever be amazing. I condition it 1x a week and clean it after every ride and smoosh it around in my hands, but the leather itself just isn’t top grade.

Turns out like many horses, she jumps better in a different bit, and changing bits constantly was getting tiring.

So, I decided to set her up in my OLD bridle for flatting that I’ve had forever and is plain, but buttery soft and the leather quality is just so lovely. At first I thought it wasn’t going to fit my mare, but with everything on the very top hole, it does! Yay!

I rode in it for the first time today, and WOW. The difference I felt in my rein contact was palpable. I felt like I could ride with a much greater degree of tact and subtlety, and SHE certainly seemed much happier and more accepting of my hand.

Has anyone else found that better quality bridles/reins improve feel in a way that’s very noticeable? Or were we just really having a good day together and the bridle piece was a coincidence?

[Can_tFindMyWhip]

Absolutely. If the reins that you normally use are similar to cardboard, that will for sure impact your connection. There are lots of subtle changes in pressure that will not be communicated through stiff, cheap leather.

[Scribbler]

I don’t know because I have never not ridden my own horses in super soft reins. As a kid I spent hours with the neatsfoot oil breaking in the stiff plain leather reins we got back then, and as an adult I’ve had high quality secondhand bridles (plus the 40 year old bridles from when I was a kid!). And I think my lesson horses have all had very old and floppy bridles!

I’ve never used the modern cheaper leather bridles.

[Jackie_Cochran]

When I get a bridle (Micklem) and leather reins (NO RUBBER) I work a whole lot of lard into the leather. I do around three applications before I put the bridle on the horse/use the reins because the heat from the horse’s body helps the leather absorb the lard. AVOID rubber parts (lard melts rubber) and keep it away from the metal parts (corrosion.)

After a few months of rubbing in lard every few weeks or so the leather ends up supple. My reins feel nice and soft in my hands and I think that the horses’ heads feel more comfortable in the headstall.

My riding teacher LOVES the feel of my leather reins.

That is how I get the cheaper leather bridles and reins feel more like expensive leather. The transformation is amazing!