Hoping to crowd source some suggestions for bridles for an extremely ear shy horse! This mare needs to have a bridle put on over her poll, like a halter without a throat snap, rather than pulled on in the traditional fashion. The horse has improved significantly in her comfort level with handling of her head, but I don’t ever anticipate being able to regularly pull a bridle over her ears, nor do I feel that it’s fair at this point to push the issue. With that said, I am hoping for some creative suggestions on finding the right bridle for her. Most of my tack has been around for years and was sponsor-provided, so I’m not up on the current trends and all the bridles currently available- it’s overwhelming!
Horse currently goes in a Micklem, due to the single strap cheek that makes it easy to buckle the bridle over her head. This single-strap design is pretty necessary, as cramming 2-3 straps of leather (throat latch, cheekpiece, noseband) through the browband then buckling it all is a lot to juggle and gets the mare’s nerves going. Even monocrown bridles generally have three pieces that need to go through the browband and if we do that every day, I think she’s going to get very tricky to bridle again (we have a good system now with the one strap, but it took TIME to get there!). The issue is that she does not need the mouth strap in front of the bit, and I think she would go better without, as we deal with some jaw tension. I have found a couple of others that also have the single cheek strap but all have a mouth strap as well. Does this kind of setup exist with a plain cavesson? Any suggestions of others, before I go full custom and spend an ungodly amount of money on a bridle?
Also- needs to be USEA/USDF legal!
Thanks in advance for any ideas.
