Good Quality Hunt Bridle-Need Advise...

[scpezold]

I am in the market for a good quality(heavy duty) hunt bridle. I am new to this sport so don’t know much except I want to be “correct” and get a flat bridle (they are so classic looking anyway). The last nice bridle I purchased was 15 years ago and is a New Cavalry (square raised for the H/J ring). I don’t think New Cavalry is as popular as they once where but I love their bridles! They have hunt bridles as well. That being said, I am not in a position where a tack store is right around the corner to look at feel and quality so I will need to order. Please let me know the brands of hunt bridles you recommend and have held up well in the hunt field.

Any advice would sure make this process a little easier

[ManyDogs]

Look at the Old Habit website-they are located in VA.

[lesson_junkie]

Look online for Smith Worthington bridles. They have 2 weights of leather, and 2 grades of leather. The lighter size looks nice on cob size heads. The hardware is high quality. They come in brown and light chestnut. I’ve used mine for about 4 years and it’s still in good shape with lots of use still in it.

[TBlitz]

one of my hunt masters swears by Bobby’s Bridles for being heavy duty

I, on the other hand, love my Jeffries hunt bridle for the super soft, nice leather that seems to be pretty tough. I don’t see many of these to buy in the US though.

e-bay is a great place to find bridles… though you have to be careful about the quality of unknown and non-brandname items. I see nice hunting bridles on there quite a bit, though I don’t need anymore bridles ATM (I have a slight bridle obsession, so I look alot).

[Ride_emCO]

Horse Country has beautiful bridles. http://horsecountrylife.com/catalog/4/cover4.html

[scpezold]

[QUOTE=TBlitz;2978259]
one of my hunt masters swears by Bobby’s Bridles for being heavy duty

I, on the other hand, love my Jeffries hunt bridle for the super soft, nice leather that seems to be pretty tough. I don’t see many of these to buy in the US though.

e-bay is a great place to find bridles… though you have to be careful about the quality of unknown and non-brandname items. I see nice hunting bridles on there quite a bit, though I don’t need anymore bridles ATM (I have a slight bridle obsession, so I look alot).[/QUOTE]

I purchased a martingale and drop cavesson from EQTack that was Bobby’s English. I got it in and fitted the martingale to my horse. When I went to take it off of him it left dye marks on him. The leather was not the quality expected for the price I payed. It looked like leather from India. Went into a consignment tack shop and found a Bobby’s bridle which looked great and had smooth supple “normal looking” leather. I then started wondering if the leather EQTack sent me was even Bobby’s at all.
I will look into Jeffries and may try Bobby’s from another site. Thanks for your help!

[lesson_junkie]

hunt bridle

Bobby’s Tack is Indian. They have several levels of products. The Indian leather is a higher quality than most because they import the chemicals from Britain to cure the leather. They also have goods made of English leather imported to India and constructed there. The craftsmanship is beautiful, and a great value.

[flyingchange]

http://www.katenegus.com/

Very high quality. Made in England. Shipped from England.

[Scaredacoops]

I absolutely love my Amish made hunt tack from Bartville Harness in PA. I’m on my 4th season with mine and it still looks almost new. It is very well made, sturdy, yet supple. The horse size bridle runs about $86. The breast plate is about $88. Reins are around $55. Their stirrup leathers are extremely nice.

Being Amish, they don’t have a website or regular phone hours. They only answer the phone personally on Tuesday and Friday from 8:00am-8:15 am. You can leave a message any other time (except Sunday) and they’ll call you back. The # is 717 529-6992. You can request a catalog. The owner is Eli Stoltzfus. He is delightful to talk with.

[scpezold]

[QUOTE=lesson junkie;2980252]
Bobby’s Tack is Indian. They have several levels of products. The Indian leather is a higher quality than most because they import the chemicals from Britain to cure the leather. They also have goods made of English leather imported to India and constructed there. The craftsmanship is beautiful, and a great value.[/QUOTE]

Well that certainly explains alot :lol: Not used to the indian leather look not to mention the color was so dark and was not offered in lighter shades Thanks for the FYI!

[scpezold]

[QUOTE=Scaredacoops;2980305]
I absolutely love my Amish made hunt tack from Bartville Harness in PA. I’m on my 4th season with mine and it still looks almost new. It is very well made, sturdy, yet supple. The horse size bridle runs about $86. The breast plate is about $88. Reins are around $55. Their stirrup leathers are extremely nice.

Being Amish, they don’t have a website or regular phone hours. They only answer the phone personally on Tuesday and Friday from 8:00am-8:15 am. You can leave a message any other time (except Sunday) and they’ll call you back. The # is 717 529-6992. You can request a catalog. The owner is Eli Stoltzfus. He is delightful to talk with.[/QUOTE]

I will definately call them! I went to Allegheny riding camp 20 yrs ago and still have a halter I got from one of the Amish markets. Incredible work! Thanks for the info!

[AilleXWest]

[QUOTE=Scaredacoops;2980305]
I absolutely love my Amish made hunt tack from Bartville Harness in PA. I’m on my 4th season with mine and it still looks almost new. It is very well made, sturdy, yet supple. The horse size bridle runs about $86. The breast plate is about $88. Reins are around $55. Their stirrup leathers are extremely nice.

Being Amish, they don’t have a website or regular phone hours. They only answer the phone personally on Tuesday and Friday from 8:00am-8:15 am. You can leave a message any other time (except Sunday) and they’ll call you back. The # is 717 529-6992. You can request a catalog. The owner is Eli Stoltzfus. He is delightful to talk with.[/QUOTE]
This has to be some of the BEST tack I have ever seen. They make a full size flat hunting bridle just like the one from Horse Contry but for less then 1/3 of the price!! They also make the “made in the USA” tack for Bit of Briten.

I just love there stuff and I can not say enought good stuff about there stuff and how great they are to work with.

[TBlitz]

This place has been hiding from me!!! I’ll try to remember it when I need another bridle.

[scpezold]

Thank you all for all your suggestions. Keep em coming!

[vineyridge]

I second Smith Worthington. They have English made and Indian made of English leather hunt bridles. Either one is lovely, and they are less than half the price of the Virginia hunt country stores.

For something cheap that was pointed out by J Swan here, Libertyville Saddle Shop was selling English made hunt bridles, both pelham and plain, for something like 49.95 a few months ago. I’m assuming that was a close out, and was wondering if any people here had actually bought one and if it was worth owning.
Here is the website:
http://www.saddleshop.com/eng/engset.htm
and you want search number K0114 to see the snaffles. You’ll need to put in pelham if you are interested in a two rein model. Both are the same price of $49.90.

[system]

I am also new to this,but i will let you know soon.

[Dispatcher]

I’ll put in a bid for Bartville–REALLY nice, good weight bridles. Like in the old days!

[Painted_Wings]

I need a flat pony bridle

My coming four year old has refused to grow. The bridle I have on her now is a 17 yr old raised pony bridle. Since my 16 hand paints are in Cobs I’m afraid she will always need a pony bridle even though she’s 14.3H.

[scpezold]

[QUOTE=vineyridge;2982829]
I second Smith Worthington. They have English made and Indian made of English leather hunt bridles. Either one is lovely, and they are less than half the price of the Virginia hunt country stores.

For something cheap that was pointed out by J Swan here, Libertyville Saddle Shop was selling English made hunt bridles, both pelham and plain, for something like 49.95 a few months ago. I’m assuming that was a close out, and was wondering if any people here had actually bought one and if it was worth owning.
Here is the website:
http://www.saddleshop.com/eng/engset.htm
and you want search number K0114 to see the snaffles. You’ll need to put in pelham if you are interested in a two rein model. Both are the same price of $49.90.[/QUOTE]

Ooh those prices do look nice. Hopefully not too good to be true. I have checked into the Smith Worthington brand and have not found much in the way of bridles…more saddles than anything. I will keep hunting though (no pun intended). Thanks for the above site, I’d be interested to know the quality of those bridles.

[lesson_junkie]

If you get in touch with the folks @ SW they will get a dealer to call you with all the info you need. They are a small company and give great customer service.