New Bridle design

It looks similar to the Correct Connect bridles. I have one, and the leather quality is really great!

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you are so right. I had one horse for whom I kept trying fancy anatomic bridles . his preference was an inexpensive, minimalist, soft leather bridle without noseband.

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That;s my question as well. The metal ā€œrotatingā€ joints on the throatlatch and browband are against the rule about metal parts. On page 48 of Annex A, one of the bridles is not permitted because of metal snaps. https://www.usef.org/forms-pubs/96D17lSsaCo/annex---bits-saddlery-equipment

There are several bridles that are not legal for showing because of metal parts next to the skin. It seems to me that this bridle also would be not permitted. Also, there’s a bridle that is not permitted due to metal inside the noseband, and this bridle may have that, too. I also question the attachments inside the noseband and the metal rings on the side.

WEll my bridle came today. First impressions: leather is not bad. It is solid leather and looks/feels a bit like the Passier bridles used to feel. The padding is fairly soft but not super soft like my Schockemohle. Will have to see how that breaks in if I keep it. The browband is WIDE. will be replaced asap if I keep it. The crownpiece is nicely shaped, and much narrower than some brands are making now. apparently that was a design choice they made. The noseband was surprising, it is not a crank. It is also not a normal one piece under jaw strap. It has a padded center piece and buckles on both sides. I actually rather like the design of that part. The nose bump is fairly small as compared to the nose bump on the fairfax bridle. I;m not sure if it will make much of a difference but on the other hand it is soft and not visually displeasing (I think the fairfax bump looks huge). The rotating noseband is trippy, not sure if it will make any comfort difference but will see what horsey says. The throatlatch does not look bad, but I am not sure if I have ever seen a horse who needed his throatlatch moved further down his face.

Overall, I’d say it def looks worth trying. Will post a photo when I get out to barn to get it on my boy.

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Waiting to here back from them if the bridle is rated dressage show legal.

I asked them this and they are currently working on the approval. Once approved they will post on their website.

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I tried the bridle on my boy tonight. Will attach a couple of photos, but they are not good as I didn’t have anyone to hold him and he kept trying to wander away, lol.

Impressions: bridle was easy to adjust, holes well punched, strap ends fit properly into keepers. Size wise it seems to be a fairly accurate horse size. The browband and throatlatch are potentially a little short in my opinion. The throatlatch works fine for my gelding but for a horse with a thicker throatlatch area it could be an issue. The browband is a bit tight on my gelding who does not have a particularly broad forehead.

My trainer thought it lookedd interesting. Her first and main comment was ā€œyou are going to swap out the browband right?ā€.

I am going to ride with it tomorrow, will see if it makes any diff to him.

Please excuse the halter hanging off his neck, I had to have a way to keep him from heading for the grass.

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Hi! Did you end up keeping the bridle and if so, can I ask if you were successfully able to swap out the browband? I’m tempted to try it but the chunky browband is holding me back :sweat_smile:

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Agree with this, yuck… I even hate when people tuck the end of their flash into the flash loop instead of having the end pointing down. Overall the bridle looks clunkier than some of the super wide nosebands fashionable right now. All of the different fasteners and removable flash are really busy looking.

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The browband can easily be swapped out for any other quick change one that snaps closed, like the Montar browbands. I put on a Black and grey crystal Montar Browband and it looks really nice. I will have to take a picture of it and post it here. So far I really like the bridle and my horse seems to also. He seems to be less inclined to want to scratch his face while being ridden with this bridle on.

Reviving this since I’m looking for a bridle similar to this since my horse has a sensitive TMJ. I’m leaning towards the Stubben Freedom, but honestly, I don’t like the way it’s made; there is just so much going on. I’ve tried a Micklem, too.

Has anyone else tried this bridle and what did they think?

I really like the Better Bridle and Total Saddle Fit is a great company to work with.

I use them on my jumpers. They are somewhat clunky but my two have big WB heads, so it works out. My older boy who has a VERY itchy nose likes this one better than others I have tried. Neither of my guys are very sensitive otherwise, but the bridles are made well (although you need to watch that the little balls that hold the browband on don’t come unscrewed! TSF had to send me some spares since one of them disappeared during a ride), and are holding up nicely to daily schooling use.

I decided to try this bridle because the nose is nearly identical to Shoeckmohle’s Equitas one, which my itchy nose guy likes, but I have to say that the TSF is made so much better. I use the only two Equitas bridles I have left that haven’t broken for showing, and when they decide to shred themselves, too, I’m not sure what I will do. The TSF are not very fancy, but I may end up using them to show, just because my guys like them.

I just looked through all of my stuff and don’t have any great pics of them wearing their bridles, but here you go. You can see on my grey that the browband tabs sort of stick out, and on both bridles I added rubber keepers to hold the straps down. Here is a pic of Steve being fuzzy last winter, and a more recent one of Gogo showing me his 100% all-in enthusiasm for work:

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GoGo does look very enthusiastic, lol. The first thing I did when I got mine was to pull off the browband and put on one of mine that has snap ends. Looks MUCH better. Montar/fairplay offer a good selection of browbands with different color crystals and they offer both black AND brown leather. Dapper Horse carries them, idk who else does. they may also have plain browbands with snaps (but I like my blingg_)

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This may have been said upthread already, but I don’t believe the Stubben Freedom is competition legal, if that matters to you.

I’m not in a position to compete anymore. :(. I’ve thought about it, though. I ended up buying different pieces and I ā€œfrankensteinedā€ a bridle.

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