Why mess with having biothane covered, though? Just buy the leather bridle. I love biothane harnesses – leather work harness for a draft horse weighs more than I do & is a pain to take care of. I dislike it for riding bridles & saddles, though. Thick, doesn’t lay smoothly. In my anecdotal experience, biothane strap goods (bridles) cause rubs when the horse is sweaty. I don’t know. Leather sort of molds to the contours of the horse’s face as it warms & breathes & does absorb a little sweat. Biothane has hard, stiff edges & doesn’t absorb moisture. Maybe it is my ADD pickiness about texture & cut . But if I were a horse, I’d prefer leather.
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Just heard back from the biothane bridle guys…bummer, it would be too thick and they cannot sew through a bio (or leather) overed with deerskin. So they said they have white leather and i could dye it. hmmmmmm…
You’re right! I have about 30 bridles…maybe more. Just started getting into biothane recently…have several so far, they are really good in the rain. And IF you like color (which i do) they can be made super colorful.
Somewhere along the line i decided that gray …medium warm gray, would make my mare look best and i’ve been obsessed ever since lol
Not sure how much you want to spend, but I really like the quality and feel of the Halter Ego bridles. And they do have a grey one (leather) on sale:
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Just curious, why would you want to do this?
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When I first showed dressage, I was on my own, and nervous, so one of the first things I did was go to the steward to introduce myself, and to make sure all my tack/equipment was legal and that I understood the tack check etc. For me personally, I would not want to go to a show with tack that was “iffy” as it is just one more thing to worry about, and you may not be allowed to show if your tack is considered outside the rules.
I have since done a lot of scribing, some judging, and volunteering, so I much more comfortable with the rules and routines. I know a few people recommended scribing, but judges don’t usually want a scribe that hasn’t shown, so I recommend volunteering instead! I think it will help your understanding and comfort level with shows and the people involved.
That said, I have never seen grey tack at a show (only browns and black), and as it is not expressly allowed in the rules, you may be taking a risk that you will not be allowed to show once you arrive as most shows can’t allow someone with “illegal” tack to compete. Consider having traditional show tack, and then fun schooling tack?
(I did show once in light blue gloves…it was freakishly cold/snowing, and I wouldn’t have been able to ride in unlined gloves…not in the rules, but I think the cold weather make the officials more accommodating!)
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Just FYI, the ONLY 2 judges I’ve ever heard make any kind of statement on “fashion” in decades of scribing were men.
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English and Western bridles typically come in a range of light or brown leather, or black. Some English bridles have colored padding on the nose band and brow band.
Obviously biothane and nylon web and yacht rope halters can come in all kinds of colors.
But if you want a leather bridle that is not brown or black, you are looking at a custom order from a leather craftsman. And this is going to get very pricey. Is this worth it to get the right shade of grey for a green horse?
I get FB posts from a Quebec artisan called something like Creations Hippogriffe. They make medieval inspired bridles that are stunning objects, though not something I need for any of my horses.
The other place you can find unique gear is anything that caters to Iberian horses, there are traditional styles from Portugal and Spain that are unique.
I suppose you could also start with a tan or light brown bridle, as long as it was natural leather and not color corrected or coated , and try dying it grey and seeing what kind of nice taupe you end up with.
But honestly, all my old brown bridles (natural leather from the 1970s) have ended up that dark brown oily color of well worn strap goods, whether they started as tan or Havana. On my second hand black Stubben, I’d owned it a year before I was cleaning it in full sunlight and realized the noseband and browband had actually originally been padded in forest green, not black. Impossible to restore that color, impossible to destroy that bridle :).
In other words, a warm grey bridle might well be stunning on your palomino, but getting it in leather will be very pricey plus likely to age to regular old brown over time.
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that’s an excellent point about bridles aging darker and darker and darker.
because deerskin is so flimsy.
Not necessarily. I have some breeches with deerskin seats and they have lasted for years and years.
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really?! hmmmmmmm, i wonder…
This sample is the exact color of gray i need.
but by ‘flimsy’ i mean thin and verrry flexible. Which is why i was thinking of layering it around a more firm material (biothane or leather)
Thanks for the link! i emailed them to ask if they could do a custom. I need to see that gray too, it looks bluish but it might be just the padding that makes it so. If they will do a custom for me then i’ll ask for a leather sample.
(I’d want a custom because my mare’s face just isn’t big enough to carry off that large a noseband like that one)
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Definitely go to someone who crafts traditional tack for Iberian horses. She’s too dainty for a clunky biothane bridle. 
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she’s 16h tho
16hh isn’t very big. Plus, it’s her build. She’s got a fine boned face.
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I have deerskin gloves. I cannot imagine making a bridle out of deerskin.
That mare has a gorgeous head. I agree, she is a bit Iberian in type. Google around Portuguese tack. Also Spanish and Portuguese stuff is cheaper than Northern Europe equivalents.
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I did find this in a grey bridle from South Africa.
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Also this product is popping up on my FB feed. It looks similar to Urad leather polish. It might work on light brown leather to get more of a taupe grey.
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that bridle is kinda perfect for that horse, and it’s a lovely gray, but not my mare’s gray. Love that site, i bookmarked it…i’ve several other horses coming up the pipeline, some of which are rather exotic colored…I think i’ll one day be a customer of theirs!
