I am looking into the Ovacation Wide Noseband Bridles at SmartPak. I am looking between the padded and non padded. I love that the non padded has the padded poll for comfort.
I’m on the fence as to pulling the trigger - I would love to see pictures of your horses in them!
I have one for schooling and I love it. The leather is not butter soft like an Edgewood or something higher end, but it stands up super well to every day use. It is definitely a great value, and I’d buy it again.
I have the wide non-padded noseband:
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@HJdaydream thank you so much for sharing!!! I love it! This definitely helps 
I have an edgewood padded wide noseband for showing but I am actually looking for something else to school in that isn’t going to break the bank yet I could also show in it too. I think this looks like it fits the bill!
PS - your horse is very handsome!!!
I have this bridle and would not recommend it. I purchased it based on people saying that the quality of the leather was good and I am sooo disappointed with it. The nose band is so stiff after oiling it, it is gappy around my horses nose. I would look at getting something higher end used if you can find it, especially if you’re used to edgewood leather.
I want to add that the quality is what I would expect for the price, it was really cheap and it shows, I dont want to seem unfair with a low price high quality expectation, I was just hoping it would be one of those ‘good deals’ and it’s not.
Thank you @RainCity I just sold my Edgewood to a friend because I didn’t love the look on my guys head although I am obsessed with the bridle itself. I don’t necessarily need the best of the best leather but looking for something that will hold up and yet still look nice.
This might do the trick…
You might also look at something like this one https://www.farmhousetack.com/nunn-finer-caterina-hunter-bridle/ Slightly higher price point, but also nicer leather.
I’m totally in love with mine. It’s definitely not Edgewood quality, but IMO I think it’s much nicer than other bridles at this price point. With some oil and TLC, it’s become quite soft and feels fantastic. I have the non-padded.
@raisethebar So funny, I’m starting to look around at new bridles/martingales for the new horse and this was on my list! 
I know a lot of people happy with it! I’m thinking I’m going to pull the trigger!
I do love that Nunn Finer bridle though… I feel like I’ve heard good things about that too!
@HJdaydream — quick question - how are the rein length for your bridle? I just had a pair of reins that were too short and apparently they were “horse” sized and measured 54"… Online, these said they measure 54". My horse has a long neck but all normal full sized bridle’s reins were appropriate, except those ones!
@raisethebar They are a bit short for my huge guy (he’s 17.3), but he wears a horse sized bridle. I would have preferred oversize reins to come with the horse sized bridle, but that isn’t an option (that I know of). I don’t think you get oversized reins unless you order an oversized bridle. I swapped mine out for other reins.
I also did not like the quality and quickly resold mine. To each his own. I think the SP Wellfleet are much nicer quality in the price point
As far as I can tell Wellfleet does not currently have a wide noseband hunter bridle available?
@vxf111 @HJdaydream I should have bought that when SP offered that. I do not think they make a Wellfleet wide noseband anymore. They now have a harwich model which I do not think I like as much.
Looks like SP is redoing the Wellfleet line?! I bet they are
Mine is several years old, from when they first came out. I would bet that like everything, the quality has changed as they have tried to increase margin. That said, I quite like mine. It’s not like the light tack that oils dark, but it does look nice on.
(black horse)
I literally just purchased an Ovation bridle at Dover with the regular noseband because I had a Dover gift card I needed to use. I almost got the wide noseband version, but I just don’t think my mare’s going to end up in the hunter ring. It is raised, fancy stitched, and padded, and was $180.
The way I saw it is that it was a decent price for a decent quality. I compared it hand-in-hand to a Pessoa bridle, which was double the price, but didn’t have the padded monocrown and didn’t seem superior in any way quality-wise. My opinion…as long as you don’t expect it to be like an Edgewood in terms of the butter soft leather quality, it’s a decent bridle for a decent price that looks fine even for some local showing.
I do wish there were more options in the middle price range. It seems that prices jump from the $180-$200 range up to the $350-$400 range (some of which truly aren’t much nicer than the less expensive options!). But then Dover didn’t have a vary wide selection; I’m sure I could have done better online elsewhere, but like I said, I had a gift card to spend, and so it just made more sense.
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