I watched this happen to Gina Miles in the middle of her 3* stadium course once - the horse refused, she slid forward, and somehow the whole bonnet and bridle came right off. I think fly bonnets are just a bit slippery & make it harder to keep the rest of the bridle on. I haven’t had the chance to experiment with different solutions, but it should be pretty easy to knot a piece of craft cord through the crochet to make a throat cord. You could also experiment with adding some non-slip stuff behind the ears - even just automotive silicone or a piece of that nonslip drawer liner foam might be enough to solve it. A bit DIY, but it might be worth trying!
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Check this out–the bridle and bonnet slid off during this jumper round, and horse and rider finished without skipping a beat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df8oDx-KGXQ
I think some of those bonnets do tend to be slippery. In this case, I didn’t see any reason for the bridle to slide off–no refusal or stumble or anything like that. I like the ides of securing the bridle with a braid.
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I have one bridle and one set of ears that does this. It is a delgrange bridle that I won and while it is lovely, my horse has shaken it off often, more often with one particular set of ears (they are a bit smaller). He never shook off while I was riding but whenever I would give him over to anyone at shows I would have to tell them to make sure he doesn’t rub his face because he would rub either on the person or his leg, then shake and bam no bridle. Thankfully for the most part he would then just stand there and look at me or the person holding him but not fun. I finally just decided to use that as my schooling bridle at home and went back to an older (still in good shape) bridle for shows.
The throat latch wouldn’t have mattered, as would have had to be pretty tight and block off throat when actually riding, for it to not come off as was more his rub/shake that slide it off. I would say try with different bridle, no show sheen and if your ears are a bit snug perhaps need slightly bigger ears so they are not pulling on brow piece.
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I feel like there’s a market for a bonnet which just has one strip (with a velcro or something) to go around the crown piece at the poll, instead of putting that much material underneath. It could still go under the brow band. This actually doesn’t sound that hard to DIY, if you’ve got a cheap bonnet to try it on.
Alternatively, you could practice riding without a bridle. 
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I had this happen with the Shockemole bonnet too. My horse has a narrow head and does not have much of a jowl so I think the throatlatch is not much help. He’s extremely broke so fortunately I was able to pull him up immediately when it started to come off - there was an instant of terror for him as it came over his eyes. That was the last time I tried the pompoms under the bonnet - he shakes non-stop with poms/plugs of any kind. I do think that the neoprene lining on the bonnet makes it more slippery. He tried to shake it off a few times after that but it didn’t work again and I think maybe he forgot about that stunt 
An old eventer trick - one braid at the poll, run a mane-colored shoelace through it, and loop around the crownpiece. Only takes a minute, really, since it doesn’t need to be a fancy braid.
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How does one attach the chord of the bonnet to the throat latch?
If it’s the long cord you just wrap it around the throat latch, then I thread the other side of the throat latch through the little loop on the other side of the ears, fasten trait latch tie cord back t the litte loop! If, like mine, you don’t have a throat cord, then I just thread the throat latch through the little loop that’s on either side of the bonnet!
I think a lot lot of the newer ears are falling off because of the fabrics…they are now way more slippery and “techy” than the older ones that were more knitted and then the ear pieces were just like cotton! I haven’t bought the new style ones as most are too expensive, now I’m definitely going “hmmmmmm”
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Thank you for all of the responses! The throatlash was the normal 4 fingers and didn’t help at all, noseband was pretty tight as well. Doing some googling, I have found about 6 posts on various sites where this happened with a Shockemole.
My thought now is to try the pom poms once again and get a normal (not sound proof) bonnet so the ears aren’t heavy. No idea if I will ever get the pom poms in but it is worth a try and some bribery because he goes so much better with a little soundproofing. We have the joy of people turning out horses in other arenas very close to the jump arena and chasing them. That can light him up so that was the original reason for the purchase of the Shockemole. Now I just want it all the time because it really helps his focus!
I do think I will try the braiding/shoelace as well to be double safe.
Any favorite brands of bonnets out there that look nice and not slipper/techy?
I like the ones that are like the equiline ear bonnet shown here. They’re cheaper, and mine have never slid! I got a lovely brown set with cream trim and a thin strip of rhinestones
https://www.equi-products.com/collections/bonnets-ears/products/equiline-u-kim-ear-bonnet
I got this one and love it! We don’t do rated shows so the bling isn’t an issue.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Horse-Fly-Veil-Ear-Bonnet-Fly-Mask-Hood-Breathable-Cotton-Piping-Crystals/272806532585?hash=item3f848955e9:m:mr1PYwjDdeemucxqdbr0Pxg:rk:6:pf:0
Ha ha ha yeh I used to do this with a pony I used to event with. Every now and then he’d put in a good stop and if I was a bit a head I’d come flying off with such force the bridle used to come with me. Tying the bridle on at competitions was imperative :lol:
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Four times the bridle has come off when my horse shakes his head. Once with a rider! I just figured out a way for the bridle not to come off. I don’t tuck the back of the bonnet under the crown piece (I fold it under itself so it looks neater). The front goes under the browband, the sides go under the crown where the browband attaches, but not the back. Yesterday I was at a show and he shook his head when a fly landed on his neck. The bonnet came half off, which is not ideal but better than the alternative that the entire bridle comes off. I know the thread is old but I thought I would share for anyone who is searching this topic.
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Yep. Or a hair tie to tether earbonnet to forelock or behind ears to mane. I second the throatlatch and a tight noseband…
Same thing happened to me- one of those ear plug bonnets- whole bridle came off- haven’t used it since
Side note- this happened to my trainer when a horse stopped (but no bonnet I think) and he put the bridle back on, while mounted in the GP ring at WEC Ocala. It’s on CMH and pretty amazing… (finished the class)
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My mare has a special talent of removing her bridle. There is some sort of quick head nod while she flattens her ears forward and then says “ta-da!” Always so proud of herself, and thankfully, at 21, never naughty about it in any other way. Wish I had an answer for you!
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Just curious - everyone this is happening to, do you have a horse that prefers the bit a little on the loose side? I would figure with a correctly fitted bridle that the tension on the bit would make this pretty hard to do. Some horses don’t like a traditional fit though, and prefer the bit a bit lower. That would take the tension off and make this easy to happen.
Also, I’d make sure my browband wasn’t too short, pulling the bridle forward on the face.
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I have had this happen and I am 100% guilty of having my entire bridle looser than the average person would have it. I have horses that would probably fit in a “traditional” way into a full size bridle on the last few holes but instead I have them in oversized bridles on the tighter holes. I personally just hate the way bridles look when they’re on the last hole or second to last hole for everything. I don’t really use ear nets that much so it’s not a huge problem for me-- but I have had a horse rub for a moment and next thing I knew the bridle was half off because the ear net caused a “friction free” zone that made it that much easier to pull the headstall forward.
My horse can get all his bridles off (jumping, dressage, western) with or without a bonnet on. I don’t have the bit low, but he pushes the bit back with his tongue, flicks his ears forward, off the bridle goes. He has pony sized ears which makes this easier for him. He shook one off by accident years ago, clearly found it amusing, now does it regularly. I can normally stop him, but every time a new person rides him he removes the bridle. Also manages to drop the bridle every time my husband gets left in charge of holding him at a horse show despite my threats to both of them.
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