D’yon is weirdly all over the board. I loved my D’yon anatomic bridle (brown) that I briefly owned, bought used. Great supple leather. I bought a La Cense (D’yon side pull) off of that good experience and that leather was plasticy with an awful paint finish. It’s been taken care of immaculately and has cracking on the finish anyway.
Yeah, the leather and quality is unimpressive. The one I had would be a little over $200 new (but I got it on sale for less) and I sent it back. I couldn’t look at that leather everyday! I don’t know if it’s the way they dye it (mine is black) on top of poor quality leather, but it does look wrinkly like endlessclimb said.
I hate to recommend this company because their customer service is atrocious/non existent in my experience, but they may have what you’re looking for and the quality is ok:
They have the Ginger bridle in brown, but it looked to be out of stock in cob size.
How about a Solo Savana?
I have two bridles from Eponia and like them both. I think the Ginger’s leather quality is much better than the Violet Waters’ - black dye must be tough on leather because my black one has cracks at 2 years of use while my brown one is 7 years old and looks brand new. For the price point I think they’re one of the better leather qualities you can get, but I’m discouraged to hear people have had poor experiences with them.
Here’s my Violet Waters Eponia bridle on my young mare. It’s beautiful and I get a lot of compliments, my only complaint is the keepers are so loose.
Really, photos do it no justice. Like the Ginger (which does have brown patent) it glitters in the sun:
Yeah, their browbands are really nice. The leather is ok, but hasn’t worn as good as some of my others. I have a black one.
The bridle fit my WB and my PRE, except for the noseband so I asked if I could buy a cob sized noseband. They sent me one but it was for a monocrown, and the bridle I have from them is not. I returned that one and asked again. They sent me the same wrong noseband. Even after I sent them a photo. So I sent it back and gave up on getting a noseband from them. I did have a nice set of reins from them at the time and I wanted to see if they still made them so I could buy more, and all I got was silence. I asked again and they told me “we never sold reins” which is not true. So it’s just been weird. Their bridles aren’t bad though.
How is the leather on the Halter Ego bridles? Thinking of buying one, but I don’t know if you’re paying for the “cool design” and quality, or just the former.
Sorry for the hijack!
I also have a CWD. The company is awful, but I do like the bridle! You can also make something similar via Devoucoux with bling if you want bling. My big guys take size 4. You’d want a size 2 CWD for a cob size.
And if you need a double, they make one also but you have to order from overseas. I believe Devoucoux makes a full bridle in brown that is available to order direct.
I have loved every bridle and item I’ve ever had from Henry James. I have a tack room full of lovely Antares and French bridles too, but I don’t think there’s a better quality/value for the money than HJ. They will also mix/match parts and sizes for you at no additional charge.
Would the Schockemohle Slimford work for what you’re thinking, or is that not the kind of crown piece you want? It seems to check your other boxes. https://schockemoehle-sports.com/en/Bridle-Slimford/1101-00046.5
I hadn’t seen that model before, it might work! Thank you!
That bridle is beautiful—did it come in that color or did you oil it to darken?
Luckily no need for doubles, have several very nice brown ones already (and more than a few black ones…). But I was smart and most of them have all the buckles over the crown so they’re easily adjusted smaller.
It has darkened with conditioning, but it was pretty dark to start. They have 2 brown colors—this is the darker one. The lighter one is more orange. The crank strap on the noseband runs large so I had it shortened, but otherwise runs pretty true to size for CWD. Ideally, I’d do size 3 cheek pieces, but you can’t part out this bridle. The stitching is different than their other bridles.
The leather quality is high and the buckles are all actually brass. I have a few PS of Sweden bridles (older, better I think?), Artemis Equine, and a Kavalkade Draft dressage bridle, and I think it’s the best. It’s thicker than the PS bridles, so harder to break-in, but will stretch less and last longer. It feels substantial in your hands. The kavalkade is probably #2 for me, but I had very few options in draft sizes any way, which my one needs for her headpiece.
It’s alright. You’re paying for the bling. HE’s browbands are well made, but the leather overall is flimsy. The leather is on par with Centaur and Suffolk line. I view my Eponias as utilitarian and would think nothing of riding out in the rain with them. HE not so much, the leather feels fragile in some places.
My HE needed heavy conditioning brand new. It was advertised as solid brass, but it’s brass plated nickel - confirmed by magnetic test (thanks to a COTHer for that tip!).
To me Antares and Quillin are high quality. Passier would be decent quality. I’d lump Eponia just below Passier, and then HE after. It’s on par with FSS bridles.
Here’s my Halter Ego on both my different sized horses.
When it was new:
After some conditioning:
It darkened into buttery cognac now. Some areas took conditioner better than others. Both cheek straps stretched, which is okay with me because they were too short for my needs before.
They offer unique bridles with playful patterns. I’d only buy one at extreme discount (sub $150) if I bought one again.
Happy to help! For what it’s worth, my mare loves the Stanford bridle from there–it looks like that one comes in non-patent brown, too. https://schockemoehle-sports.com/en/Bridle-Stanford/1101-00042.3
Maybe my HE is a different model or year or something, but as someone who does leather work, it is high quality. The buckles are not reactive to a strong magnet, definitely not nickel. The leather is almost double the thickness of PS - and fully burnished edges, not painted. It’s definitely veg tan as well. That being said, if there is that much difference in quality between bridles, that’s clearly an issue!
I wonder if it’s related to the leather patterns? A lot of work needs to go into the hide to make it a playful pattern or color that isn’t natural tan/brown. Mine is cognac and leopard print. I could see more traditional options like solid brown or black having better durability.
There were a few other things that made me think it was made cheaply with so-so leather. The underside of the leather is coarse grained with no rubbing. It was also undyed where the cheek pieces wrap around the bit and into the hook/stud attachment. That’s something I’ve only seen in cheaply made bridles. The stitching is tight and uniform which is good, but one other thing that made me a little underwhelmed with this bridle was how inconsistently it took conditioning applications. It’s not obvious in the second picture, but the crown and cheek pieces developed two different color patinas; there’s something in the processing that made the crown piece resistant to any sort of conditioning/oil perforation.
I could talk leather all day, so sorry to hijack OP! It’s something of a fun puzzle for me to collect and actually fit bridles to horses. I honestly just love the feel of good leather and have about twenty bridles for… two horses.