Do fancy anatomical bridles actually make a difference?

[beowulf]

Update: I got my bridle from Halter Ego last Friday! YAY.

For those just tuning in, I ordered the bridle in late Dec, received it first week of January; it wasn’t as advertised (came with nickle hardware, but was advertised with brass). Halter Ego offered to take it back and make a custom one that matched the product description. Got it on 6/10.

The good is I really like the design, and they took a page out of Eponia’s book and sewed a leather strap to the chin-strap keeper so you never lose it. The padding is soft and the bridle arrived feeling broken in. The browband is absolutely stunning and well made. Those stones aren’t going anywhere. The browband is my favorite part of this bridle, the photos do not do it justice. It gleams and glitters from a mile away.

The bad is for the price it is so-so quality and the sizing runs small. My F/S guy is in their X-Full size and it’s still almost too small. It’s not a bridle you can pull out of the bag and use. Mine needed several coats of conditioner first.

I’m not the type to air personal grievances on public forums but found the communication with this company fell short. The projected lead time was several weeks; around month three I started asking them for ETAs. I received complete radio silence on updates and weeks would go by without them answering inquiries.

Below is the final product on my gelding. I think if you are a leather snob, you might not be impressed with the quality of this company as it is on par with Horze leather… But if you want a fun, cheeky bridle that still has some ergonomic bells and whistles, Halter Ego might be worth looking into.

[blue_heron]

Can you speak to what about this bridle is more ergonomic than any other bridle? Perhaps it’s just the angle but it doesn’t look significantly different.

[beowulf]

Ergonomic is such a broad term that every manufacturer throws out there as a buzzword. It really just seems to mean ‘padded for the horse’. This bridle isn’t any more ergonomic than other ergonomic options out there - it’s just a padded bridle that has a cutback padded monocrown (not singlecrown – there’s a difference!) and padded crank cavesson. So, more ergonomic than a traditional non-padded browband, but not exactly breaking the wheel here either.

[Posting_Trot]

I think that the leopard accents certainly add to the ergonomic aspects! Just kidding, but I do think the bridle is handsome and looks terrific on your horse.

[blue_heron]

So I’m not blind. Thank you!

[Turntable]

I also don’t use a noseband or only have it very loose (I go by the two finger rule I learned as a kid). I find horses become much steadier on the bit immediately- people almost always comment on it and attribute it to my good riding but really it’s just that I pay a lot of attention to the bridle fit and loosen the noseband about 6 holes before I get on

My other thing I do not like is short dressage girths + point billets. Point billets are stupid, imho- why put all the pressure on the part of the back with the most moving parts? Idiocy. I like saddles like the Balance, Peter Horobin, some Stubbens, Riding EQ and Bua that allow for shoulder movement and have a girth more like a jumping saddle and I think many horses prefer it too.

[BlueDrifter]

It does look good on him!

(I like the classic horse photographer shadow pose, too!)

[Libby2563]

I finally got fed up with riding my 4-year-old in a poorly fitting Plymouth, and I ordered him a PassierBlu Spirit. No one seems to sell it in brown in the US so it came from Calevo and cost $183 including shipping, vs $250 here. I was pretty confident the horse size would fit after trying my TB’s cob-sized one on him.

The contour behind the ears is the best I’ve found for him and I think he looks quite handsome! It’s a gorgeous shade of brown too. The noseband vs cheekpiece hanger length is a bit odd, the browband is almost too long (which I never say), and I know it’s missing some “anatomical” features—but all in all I’m quite happy with it for the price and glad to not be on the bridle hunt anymore.

[Lunabear1988]

Well it looks so good on him! I just asked for the same bridal for my birthday except in the black. Glad to know it’s such a nice product!

[beowulf]

Wow! Fit looks great and if you’re missing a cute chestnut horse don’t look in my barn!!

I like it better in brown too. I see what you mean about the browband length. On the plus side he has some room to grow into it? Lol.

[Lunabear1988]

I’ve heard so many good things about this bridle, so I went ahead and made the plunge and ordered it. I ordered it from the same place as well, such a good deal! I appreciate the heads up! I got some gloves too and saved about $150 in all. Hopefully it won’t take forever to get here.

[Libby2563]

@Lunabear1988

I’ve heard so many good things about this bridle, so I went ahead and made the plunge and ordered it. I ordered it from the same place as well, such a good deal! I appreciate the heads up! I got some gloves too and saved about $150 in all. Hopefully it won’t take forever to get here.

I hope you like it! Mine shipped really fast. Ordered Saturday, shipped Monday, and was out for delivery on Thursday! My only issue was with DHL, which didn’t deliver it on the promised day, tried to say it was because I had told them not to, and wouldn’t let me reschedule until 4 days later. Eventually they admitted the driver had just run out of time. Which is understandable, but don’t BS me!

[Lunabear1988]

Mine came really fast too. Thankfully no issues with DHL, wow that would be very irritating!

I don’t actually get the bridle for a few more days because it’s a birthday present. But fingers crossed that it fits and that my horse loves it.

[fledermaus]

This thread was what made me look at my new Bobby’s headstall and realize that the ‘anatomical’ crownpiece was digging into the backs of my mare’s ears. I’m returning it. I bet I wouldn’t have noticed, at least for awhile, otherwise.

[lorilu]

Interesting thread. If your horse is hard to fit, Look at the Tota system of bridles - I got one with horse headpiece, cob cheeks, horse noseband, oversize browband for by Lusitano… they were very easy to work with. I got the headpiece with one single bit hanger strap so I could shorten it sufficiently. SOmetimes bridles with a buckle on each side cannot be shortened enough for my guy.
ALso, IKON makes a nice bridle system. SO far my new guy likes the snaffle bridle he is in.

[kaya842]

@soloudinhere Did your samples from Alibaba ever arrive? How were they? I’d love to know more!

[atr]

I’m in the process of having a very similar experience to yours, 4wd. I’ve had this dressage schoolmaster horse for 18 months or so. His previous owner said he really didn’t have any great preferences on bridles, so he got the old hand me down Vespucci–which apparently fitted him and is a nice bridle. I’m also pretty old school and don’t get caught up in gimmicks. I don’t crank my noseband and I have been riding with a loose enough to be useless flash. I’ve had some issues with him taking the contact but put it down to my lack of finesse compared to his experience level and his somewhat unfocussed personality.

I recently decided it was time he got his own bridle. I bought the Keiffer Rachel, which was a decent price and is really quite nice quality.

The difference is almost disturbingly night and day. I took the flash off the first day I tried it as it was all a bit stiff, and I haven’t bothered to put it back on, so I guess that may have made some difference, but I now have a horse who is confidently seeking and offering a steady contact and actually seems more focused on me and his work. I don’t know if it’s the poll pressure relief or the cutback cheeks or where the noseband sits, but OMG… what a change!

[scislandsprite]

I was doing my regularly scheduled visit of Kavalkade’s website and it looks like they came out with this bridle that has the cheekpiece and noseband integrated with each other if you’re still looking for that

[scislandsprite]

I have a couple questions about Passier bridles and figured I’d post it here since there’s a lot of bridle discussion here.

Just curious if anyone has any thoughts about the design of the new Passier Balance Snaffle Bridle? Here’s the product info page for just the noseband which is what I’m curious about, given the rings.

While I like the idea of the rings so then the noseband has a bit of adjustability, I can’t figure out if the rings would rub or be annoying on the side of the face.

My next question is which of the Passier snaffle bridles seem to have the most anatomically correct crown design? I know a lot of anatomical bridles have cutback crowns but they sometimes still push on the ears so just curious which one is best if I were to get one of the Passier bridles since the nosebands are exchangeable.

[Bluey]

@scislandsprite

I have a couple questions about Passier bridles and figured I’d post it here since there’s a lot of bridle discussion here.

Just curious if anyone has any thoughts about the design of the new Passier Balance Snaffle Bridle ? Here’s the product info page for just the noseband which is what I’m curious about, given the rings.

While I like the idea of the rings so then the noseband has a bit of adjustability, I can’t figure out if the rings would rub or be annoying on the side of the face.

My next question is which of the Passier snaffle bridles seem to have the most anatomically correct crown design? I know a lot of anatomical bridles have cutback crowns but they sometimes still push on the ears so just curious which one is best if I were to get one of the Passier bridles since the nosebands are exchangeable.

I would not like the pressure point of the leather connecting the bottom of the noseband to the top part, seems it would make the nose sore right there, a very sensitive spot on the front of the face, thin skin over mere bone there.
Old figure eights used to have a little round flat piece of leather, some sheepskin, over those spots because of that being such sensitive places, easy to rub.