I am shopping for an early birthday present for myself and would like to get a new figure 8 bridle, rubber reins, and running martingale. What are your favorite brands to use?
The Nunn Finer soft grip rubber reins are by far my favorite. Thin, flexible, and super soft. I haven’t used their bridles or martingales, but have used a 5 point breastplate that I also really like.
I love Dyon! Leather holds up great and their reins are my absolute favorite.
I really like Hadfield’s and Edgewood, though I’d love to get a Bennett’s bridle (made by Jim Wiebe’s son; Jim was the maker of the famous Jimmy’s bridles). I also like New Cavalry, but they’re going through an ownership change per their website and their stock is limited right now. If you can find them, Moritz and Jeffries are great as well (Jeffries made the older Beval and Dover Wellington bridles IIRC). EquuSport, Horse|Man by Valencia Saddlery, Legacy by The Country Saddler, and Huntley are supposed to be great as well.
If you’re looking for a lower price point, Harmohn Kraft’s Aramas and Americana are great lines. If you can find a set, Exselle is a great option as well. Ovation and Joseph Sterling are very solid mid-priced options, too.
I have a HUGE selection of tack, especially bridles, of varying brands. I would say that my favorites of my high end bridles are Jimmy’s, Hadfield’s, Edgewood, and my older Beval/Dover Wellington stuff by Jeffries. More towards the middle price ranges, my older Crosbys (now sold as Exselle), HK Americana, and Ovation. I also like my Joseph Sterling reins and am sure the bridles are likely just as nice.
The Nunn Finer rubber reins get my vote as well! I also have a few bridles by them that are very, very nice for their price point.
Count me in on the Nunn Finer soft grip reins. Love them. I’ve contemplated trying the Thinline soft reins, but haven’t braved it yet. 
I was die hard into rubber reins until I changed barns and everyone was riding in these and our head groom encouraged the purchase.
https://www.equusport.com/product/web-reins/
I was pretty bummed, web reins felt kind of sad and dingy to me. But THESE are awesome, the rubber lining gives you a ton of grip and the stops really make it easy to keep your reins even. I’m a convert. I ordered Equusport bridles and the martingales and luckily Brad remade the crown pieces bc apparently both my horses have “draft” size crowns. I sold my D’yon bridles and martingales bc honestly, while they’ve held up fine, I feel like they never look clean, they have that kind of plastic quality to them.
I’ve had Hadfields, Bennet, Hermes, Jimmys, Edgewood, ADT, Crosby, Huntley. Out of the box, the most beautiful leather was the Bennet bridle but a close second is the Equusport. They are the only ones that actually smell like leather bridles from 20 years ago. I agree with everyone on the boards who feels like the quality of leather has gone down in a lot of places. The Bennet and Equusport to me are the exception.
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