So I guess no one told them that the native Americans rode with a soft (ish) strap of rawhide that passed under the tongue. Not a miniature bosal-leverage-contraption.
Any kid who rode with a hay string can tell you that any rope or string passed over the tongue is fair game for major chewing. My twines usually got spit out as a quid of spitty green fiber.
Actual âwar bridlesâ were popularized by Professor Beeryâs mail order horse training courses. I actually used to have one that came in a bag of tack⊠Wish Iâd kept it for historical purposes.
Just found this thread.
However I do have some second hand input regarding thisâŠ
My farrier in the 90âs was apache/irish* I did mention that I used to ride my POA along the streets of Thousand Oaks in the late 70s with a makeshift warbridle** and according to him that is the bridle that the indians would used during war because if they fell from their horse they were most likely dead or on their way to it and the horse would in a day or two (because of the war bridle) step on it and break their lower jaw, or get caught and break it trying to free themselves, either way the war pony would soon join their rider in the spirit world.
A bloodline cross that you do not want to be on the wrong side of, the best friend in the world if you are not.
**Made out of a 8 feet of nylon webbing with a D ring pop riveted instead of stitched⊠It broke twice and I gave up using it after walking home the second time -BTW the tribal printed square of fabric with no girth did not help me stay on either in spite of watching the Disny movie Tonka every time it came on. My farrier also infrmed me that the indian patterned blankets used i the movies were props to cover the saddles the actors were using. (I was not alone, and also I was a teen from a non horsey family when I was doing these suicidal antics)
Devotees of these âprimitiveâ devices also donât tell you that as soon as the tribesmen could do so they squired and used the White Manâs tack. A major item of trade goods was saddles. The second thing a victorious Indian band gleaned from the a battle field was leather goods (saddles, tack, boots, etc.). The first, of course, was weapons and ammunition.
Indians used these devices because it was all they had. The did not have the metallurgical skill or resources to make good quality bits. So they invented something (or maybe some Spaniard who knew of these techniques taught it to them) and they used it until they had something better.
Itâs absolutely true that the Indian warrior was a professional horseman! His horses, and he usually had more than one, were his life. He was not going to trust his life to anything that was second best if he could bet first best. He may have been primitive; he was not stupid.
What makes me want to scream is gadgets without instruction or training or warnings. The horse world is full of them. I do believe that if your skilled enough to ride a horse from your seat, meaning you can stop and turn as well as change gates and speed without reins or spurs, then youâd be ready to try a strip of leather. Otherwise it most likely will end in failure.
I saw a pic of a show jumper using this type of bridle and it was a beautiful picture. The horse could drop it if the riderâs hands arenât holding it in place. More than not what Iâve seen with this bridle is the thing zipped up under the jaw either tight enough to keep it from dropping off or very tight and pinching at rest. Common sense people, really. Horses will get you killed if you donât use your common sense!
I donât think you may be aware how spurs are used, as an extension of our legs, to refine our signals without needing to move the leg hardly any?
As for war bridles, well, like any other we use, it is on how someone uses it that makes it acceptable or not.
Humans being basically handsy, any we use our hands on we can use or misuse.
We need to be aware of how we use our hands first.
It is hard to use a blanket condemnation of something like an indian war bridle without explaining who is using it wrong and why.
The one jumper that used an indian war bridle in competition was Suzy Hutchinson, riding for Jimmy Williams, on Woodstock, when for a while he had some nerve problem on his face that made wearing a regular bridle painful for him.
That may be who you remember seeing?
This thread is a year oldâŠ
and I had the wholesaler I work for make me some leather bridleless bits, a la the meroth. Mare rejected the biothane one outright, but she goes ok in leather. Itâs a trick, and took some training for her to get used to, but wasnât too much work.
They are stupidly expensive- it think it cost me like 6.00 to make and they retail for 90?!?
Tell me about it when I opened my notifications and seen it lol
either way, in recent times I was at a poker ride turned mess because a girl had one of these bridels on her mare that had no business using one. Horse was held right and pranced the entire ride, then at one of the draws horse spooked at something and took off into the brush. Girl could not stop said horse at all. A few took off after her but when I got back to base it was still another two hours before she returned with horse in a rope halter.
