Solo or Lumiere or your other favorite bridle? I'm shopping

[equinelibrium]

I just ordered a Masego bridle for my SO’s horse. They’re on sale right now and always offer free shipping worldwide on orders over $50. I got a bridle, extra (plain) browband, and extra adjustable bit attachments for $145.

Bianca Multi bridle

The design is nice because it can be used as a regular bridle or a sidepull. The leather quality seems average for a mid range bridle (and pretty good considering the bridle itself was like $110 and included reins). Haven’t gone after it with the leather balm yet but I imagine it’ll soften up decently well.

As an unintended bonus, it came with the most extra browband I’ve ever seen. It’s not the right style for Mr. ex-ranch horse, so we passed it onto my mare, who wears it like a tiara I would never in a million years buy something like this on my own, but I have to admit it’s kinda fun!

Unicorn Raindrop Browband

[endlessclimb]

Every place that has affordable crystal browbands is sold out of the nice/pretty ones. I’ve got $100 burning a hole in my pocket that I was told I have to spend on a “luxury item”, but they’re never available! Gah!

[equinelibrium]

Be careful what you ask for. You just know the wrath of COTH shoppers will find approximately 1000 options for you!

(I haven’t ordered a crystal browband from here, but the leather quality is lovely - it’s the bridle my mare is wearing in the pic above. If I did my math correctly, it would be about $100 without VAT and after shipping, and you get to pick the colors. https://www.henryjamessaddlery.co.uk/collections/browbands/products/custom-swarovsk-giant-crystal-curved-browband?variant=32127119884403)

Masego has them too but they’re the thinner style which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and they don’t have as many color options.

[athelas]

Equiture! I have several but I just bought the Pegasus tanzanite browband and it’s freaking stunning.

[kaya842]

Not sure! It was a cognac color without “fun” colored piping or decorative piping (a more “plain” style). Same friend has a Finesse bridle and loves it (bought one for each of her horses) but can’t comment on those as I haven’t seen those in person yet.

[kaya842]

If you need enablement - Dark Horse Jewels delivered above and beyond on the two custom slim style browbands. I believe I paid less than $150 for two but that was during a sale. They are stunning though!

[J-Lu]

I purchased one of their rolled patent leather bridle somewhat recently and I love it. So does my horse. We moved on from a ~10 year kieffer regular bridle that was on its last holes and I can’t imagine the horse head it would now fit. I liked the thicker reins I had on my last bridle (I purchased the reins separately and they were rolled…from Dressage Extensions years ago). BUT, these thin reins have rubber on the inside and I just can’t see myself going back to other reins. The crown and noseband are well padded and I mentioned to Stephen (the owner) that I want a mattress or a yoga mat made out of this material. The price was really good for a rolled bridle with reins and I wanted a crank noseband for comfort (I don’t crank the crank but it is well padded and evenly distributed under the jaw).

Count me in as an enabler.

[BlueDrifter]

oh wow… I have never purchased from them, but the Starlight is $247 – that beats $420 from Smartpak!

Is there anything special to look out for when ordering from Hypostore?

[outerbanks77]

Yeah, Equiture! They make them to order, so it takes a few weeks, but that also means they won’t be sold out, and they have a ton of selection. I’ve ordered several (three for me, a couple as gifts) and they always bring lots of compliments.

[Unfforgettable]

My double is a Lumiere and I’m happy with it, especially for the price including reins. The only problem I had was they kept sending me a double bridle with a flash caveson (??)…third try was a charm and got it sorted.

[beowulf]

I think I have a post about Halter Ego, maybe on the “Do Fancy Anatomical Bridles Make A Difference…” page?

I haven’t used mine long enough for thoughts on durability, but mine came dry and stiff. I conditioned it for weeks before I felt it had restored enough of the natural fat in the leather to be okay to put to work. The browband is beyond stunning.

I had a plus/minus experience with them. I bought a bridle, but it didn’t come as advertised. I sent it back and they generously offered to make a custom version of the bridle so it would be as advertised. I agreed, and it took them six months to send a new bridle to me. The communication in the mean time was not good. I am not a difficult customer, but I felt baited and switched by their communication style. It took multiple pestering emails on my behalf to get order status updates, and many times my emails went unanswered for weeks. I would not have minded the wait if they quoted 6 months to me initially, but I was told 6-8 weeks lead time and then heard crickets.

I won’t buy from them again, though I do get lots of comments on the bridle.

[iberianfan]

My snaffle is a Lumiere and I am not particularly impressed. The pictures looked nice, other people liked them, the price was good. I did want a crank, though, and they do not offer those. Nevertheless, I thought I would give them a shot.

The bridle had a defect in construction when it came. The noseband pillow was only attached to the noseband by one “belt loop”. And it couldn’t be fixed or removed because the belt loops do not slide over the buckle. I thought I could live with it and I really wanted a pad under the chin. But it’s driven me nuts keeping it centered, etc. I have attached a thicker pad that has Velcro loops. I should cut off the original pad, but I have such an aversion to cutting things.

I know, why didn’t I send it back…something else I hate to do and I really thought I could live with it.

Other than that, I would say the quality is ok, not spectacular.

[Samondel]

Just email them before you order, and they’ll set up a VAT-exempt account for you. And if you aren’t in a tearing hurry, they have 20% sales on the regular (usually not including Samshield, Kentucky, and a few other big brands… but the 30% off for Black Friday at least included Samshield, because I ordered their stirrup irons, before cancelling and getting LeMieux ones instead).
I have found their customer service, especially via chat on the website, to be great. Order not going to ship for a while? Add items on. Order hasn’t shipped yet? Change items, all no problem.

[BlueDrifter]

Thank you for the tips… Measuring tomorrow!

[beowulf]

Just coming back to this post a month later, here’s a photo of the Halter Ego bridle I bought on my gelding. It’s currently sitting in a plastic bag again with some conditioner, because it’s still pretty dry. This was an XF, and it’s a little small on the browband and throatlatch or my F/S guy.

[J-Lu]

Here is my horse in his new bridle. So far, I love it. I cut off the martingale stops:

ETA, I had better quality rolled reins before. They were thicker. But these have rubber on the inside and I really like that.

[MissusS]

What model did you get? I am looking at a solo flex in plain leather.

[J-Lu]

I got he Lumiere at the time (last fall). Rolled bridle with rolled reins, patent leather noseband and browband inlay. One of the reasons I purchased it was because it had one of the more narrow nosebands which fit well on my Westfalen’s face because he has a smaller nose. I don’t crank the crank. I don’t ride in the flash so removed it.