I found a ThinLine crown pad at Picovs. I’ll probably go with that one. But I’m not going to need it for awhile (Being 10 hours away from your horse for 8 months of the year really sucks). I’ll check out some more reviews on it and some of the others in the meantime.
So I checked the Stubben crown on my bridle and it probably about 1/2 inch wider than my other bridle. It was hard to tell because my other bridle is already monocrown but I’m fairly certain the crown pad would move a fair bit on a bridle with narrower leather.
Good to know. Thank you
Back On Track does have a poll crownpiece cover http://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Back_On_Track_Poll_Crown_Cover_Guard_with_Velcro_Straps/descpage-BPC.html
[QUOTE=HicksteadFan;8377720]
Didn’t think of that. Thanks. I was checking out magnetic stuff a while ago and BOT did not have anything. (I decided not to go with magnets because of all the research saying it doesn’t do much). If Thinline has something I’m sure it would be a good one. I’ll check that out.[/QUOTE]
I thought this padded crown looked very interesting
http://www.wowsaddles.com/accessories.html
scroll down to KINDA HEADPIECE
It even has a channel for the mane if you have a horse with “hair”.
Yes to this. A bazillion times.
Apologies to anyone who’s like “duhhhh, that is so obvious” but it the noseband can affect poll pressure because horses heads are kind of cone shaped. So tightening the noseband increases poll pressure because that tighter noseband will be able move to towards the smaller diameter end of the head/cone (ie towards the muzzle) but not towards the wider diameter end of the head/cone (ie towards the poll).
Personal experience that drove this home for me:
I used to lease my horse before owning him and his trainer at the time was a fan of very tight nosebands. He would sometimes have swelling at the poll (especially after shows when he was in a bridle a long time). He had an anatomical bridle with a padded crown piece but the swelling persisted.
Ultimately, the swelling didn’t stop occurring until we bought him and started loosening up the noseband (which we eventually ditched).
I don’t think the trainer or the previous owners intended to create this scenario and I know that somtimes a noseband can be helpful. But it was really useful to realize the noseband was affecting our guys poll. Three years now of no noseband and zero swelling at poll (regardless of what kind of crown piece he wears). Yay!
Same horse also had ulcers on insides of cheek at level of noseband. No longer has these either.
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The biggest change to my horses poll tightness was getting a bridle that buckled over the crown and had a wide slightly padded crown piece. I already ride with a super loose padded noseband.
It’s an older bridle2fit that I purchased before deciding making the plunge for a finesse bridle.
I have this!
I love it. I rode a quirky warm blood for a while that was SUPER weird about his ears. He was twitched a bunch as a baby so sometimes bridling or haltering was tricky if he felt like you were doing something he didn’t want. I put this on and immediately noticed a difference in his willingness to bridle. And noticed a lot less poll tension while schooling as well. I think it’s less of the ceramic magic and more of the fact it’s just comfy.When I slide my hand under it doesn’t feel too tight, where sometimes the bridles with multiple pieces can feel super snug or have pressure points.
I will say this will require you to lower the bit and noseband, and also require you to size up your browband. One of my pet peeves are brow bands that are so tight they pull the bridle into the backs or the ears. This is wider than your normal bridle poll pieces so it will do that if you’re not careful.
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You sound just like the health insurance reps who denied coverage for a breast reduction: “just buy a better bra!” All the padding in the world won’t reduce the downwards pressure. I also think your message was mean-spirited.
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