I am a new trail rider and had a great ride this past weekend. My horse willing crossed water, a bridge and was well behaved in woods and the fields. I normally ride in a Micklem bridle but he did not seem to like it on the trail. He wasn’t able to easily get a drink at the creek and was much fussier than normal. Any suggestions for a regular bridle for trail riding? I am not sure if I should just get a normal black leather halter or try one of the biothane bridles or halter bridle combos. I hope to trail ride weekly and am aiming for an overnight trail ride in fall. If I stick with a regular bridle I would want to be able to fit a rope halter underneath for the longer trail rides.
I have a zilco snap on headstall, and it clips on to a rope halter. I love it – I don’t have to unhalter to bridle, it cleans easy, wears well, is lightweight and basically idiot proof. Plus, it was like $35-40 or something.
I also added a pair of scissor clips to my reins so I can easily connect/disconnect them from the bit to lead by the halter. If you get off to walk for any reason it’s easy.
I bought a halter bridle combo from Distance Depot last year and I love it! I got the bit hangers for the bridle with a hunter green overlay color. It is very handy to be able to just remove the bit when you’re done riding and not have to worry about it. The biothane is also easy to wash… you can just use soapy water to clean it off. 
I’ll link a picture of mine later when I’m at home.
Thanks for the suggestions!
I really like the idea of the snap on headstall. Do you know if you can ride with it by itself too without snapping it onto a halter?
I do already have the clips on my reins to make it easier to take them on and off.
This is a great convertible clip-on bridle.http://www.tayloredtack.com/BRIDLE_PARTS.htm
I have a nice clip-on or snap-on bridle like this which can be clipped to a halter OR have a throatlatch attached to it as a simple bridle. Taylored Tack make the nicest endurance tack and the biggest variety. I am not fond of the halter bridles but love the flexibility of the snap on bridles.
Is a bridle even necessary? Some horses do fine without one, just a rope halter is enough. Others need a bit more. It’s all in the training, control is not so much in the equipment used as it is the training they get. Some bitless bridles work good and leave them free to drink. My paso fino gelding that I sold last year would do fine in just a web halter and one lead, since he neck reigned. Yesterday I picked up a paso fino mare, took her to the vet for coggins this morning. Going to do a weekend campout with a paso group weekend after next. Havn’t tried riding her yet but she’s 16 YO and been rode in shows and trails, granddaughter of one of the top show winners in the breed, but that’s meaningless to me since I don’t show in that manner.
Zilco converts easily to halter use and washes off with water.
For trail riding, a biothane halter/bridle is the only way I’ll go after trying many different combinations of bosal, leather, bitless, etc.
Depends on your horse & your style, but Biothane … is Ride, wash & wear again. No oil, mold or rot. I like the beta Biothane type.
Thanks for the suggestions! I do really like the idea of being able to wash off the bridle. He got a lot sweatier on the trail than at home. He does need a bridle he’s been ridden for low level eventing, dressage and jumpers his whole life. His training had a lot of holes when I got him so I’ve been doing more groundwork, lunging and riding in a bit-less halter bridle with him but he’s not there yet. I need the added control of a bit if he gets too excited on the trail.
I ride in the Dr. Cook Bitless Bridle and it has been amazing for my mare.
https://www.bitlessbridle.com/
You mentioned about needing the extra control. I know every horse is different, but my mare responds much better to the bitless than she does to the bit. This bridle is great for trail riding because you can just loosen the nose band and the horse can eat or drink as they like.
ETA: I have the beta version and it has held up VERY well. I quick rinse with the hose and it’s clean and good to go!
That is pretty much the same style as the rope bitless bridle I have. While I can stop and steer him in a general direction he rides stiff as a board in it. I like to practice our dressage work out on the trail as well and he hasn’t figured out bending as nicely without a bit. I’ve been working on it and he’s improving but I still would prefer to have a bit.
Careful with Biothane I can tell you about a few nasty train wrecks as Biothane doesn’t break… I lost my post and am to lazy to repeat the stories but use your imagination. Its the same as turning out your horse with a nylon halter, now who would do that.
I love the ease of Biothane but could have lost my horse to it and will never use it again.
I’m also a big fan of the add-on style Zilco or beta bridle. I use my with a really thin and light rope halter.
[QUOTE=walkers;8147808]
Careful with Biothane I can tell you about a few nasty train wrecks as Biothane doesn’t break… I lost my post and am to lazy to repeat the stories but use your imagination. Its the same as turning out your horse with a nylon halter, now who would do that.
I love the ease of Biothane but could have lost my horse to it and will never use it again.[/QUOTE]
It would be easy to take out a couple of inches of the crown of a Biothane halter and stitch in a short piece of leather so it would break in the event of a wreck. Think of it as an overload fuse in an electrical system. Yes, that would partly defeat the purpose of using a non-leather halter, but a short piece in the crown shouldn’t be too much work and when it gets too used, just take it out and stitch in another one.
Good Idea Bomproof, my horse caught his bridle on a frost free pump handle while drinking water out of the bucket. He raised his head and the entire pump and pipe came out of the ground caught on his bridle, good boy didn’t freak out but it could have been bad with him running off with a pipe banging on his head. Also heard of people using biothane harness and bad wrecks when they caught on a oak branch.
I was thinking of twine but leather is a much better idea.
You can google leather halter bridle combo.
I can’t go back to a regular bridle for trail riding, the halter combo is too convenient. I prefer the snap-on headstall, for some reason the bit clips bother me.
Biothane + dishwasher = clean tack 
I also use the zilco snap on bridle, got mine from Riding Warehouse. The actual biothane will not break but the hardware will.
I love being able to keep my rope halter on under the bridle, and because it snaps on you don’t have the crownpiece of the halter sliding down your horse’s neck. I’m able to keep my horse firmly attached to the trailer, and I can unsnap the reins and snap them to the halter if I want to lead.
You can ride without the rope halter, but there isn’t a throatlatch if you believe that keeps the bridle from coming off over their head.
When I was trail riding a lot I always used a commercial halter-bridle made by Tory and it was fine, but it was kind of a nuisance to clip the bit hangers to the rings, mainly because while I was clipping one side the other would just dangle and I couldn’t easily put the bit in the horse’s mouth. When I start riding again next year I’m going to make a simple loop headstall like the Zilco that I can snap on over any leather or synthetic halter. Put the bit in, slip the loop over the crown, snap the straps over the halter and done.
[QUOTE=Bombproof;8153652]
When I was trail riding a lot I always used a commercial halter-bridle made by Tory and it was fine, but it was kind of a nuisance to clip the bit hangers to the rings, mainly because while I was clipping one side the other would just dangle and I couldn’t easily put the bit in the horse’s mouth. [/QUOTE]
My technique is to hold the two bit hangers together in one hand. Other hand guides the bit into the mouth. Then transition to bit hanger in each hand, clip to rings simultaneously.
