If it came off as aggressive it was not meant to. I like bridles, and I like discussing them. The Micklem was really interesting to me because at the time it came out, I had a horse with an old poll injury from flipping in a gate and I hoped it would help.
Micklem has been out for a long time now as far as products go and there’s some others out there, maybe not imitations, but innovations to what the original design tried to address, which appears to be avoiding facial nerves and other sensitive areas of the muzzle and behind the ears. At the time Micklem came out I do think it was ahead of the game as it offered a different type of pressure on the horse, it had a padded poll, and it was a unique design (TBH I love the look of it).
Unfortunately if we’re putting a bit in the horse’s mouth, we need a way to keep it there - I really don’t see a conceivable way we could keep a bit in a horse’s mouth that didn’t apply pressure somewhere. Standard bridles have ‘anchor points’ where pressure is across/behind their ears, on their poll. If there is no noseband and it is a snaffle, this ‘anchor point’ distributes very little pressure, and there should be no pressure on any facial nerves on their cheeks. When you add a standard noseband , the pressure should be minimal as long as the noseband is not tight. Once you tighten the noseband any degree, it pulls the cavesson down, and causes pressure on the poll, the cheek, the chin, and the nose - all areas that have facial nerves that are quite sensitive to pressure. If you have a figure-8 or flash, this adds even more pressure than a standard noseband does. If you add a gag bit, well, you see where I am going. The tighter the noseband or the more leverage of the bit, the more poll-pressure you will apply.
The Micklem would address this pressure, but so would having a loose noseband. I guess that’s my point. In general (not saying you are guilty of this) a lot of people leap to trying the Micklem before trying loosening their noseband. So many riders don’t even realize the tension a tight noseband causes.
This is really a big can of worms but I think the bigger problem is that a lot of people don’t want loose nosebands because it exposes holes in their program, where the horse evades the bit, crosses their jaws, gapes with their mouths, etc. Tightening the noseband eliminates that unwanted behavior, but then you have to look for ways to help alleviate that tension which is where I think the Micklem started to come in.
The Micklem does offer bit stability, far more than a standard cavesson does. For that, I do like it and appreciate its function. I have, however, gotten similar results from employing a drop and a stable bit like a Baucher.
A lot of the horses I catch-ride go in Micklems and I can’t change their tack, because they’re not my horse[s] and it’s not my place. I will say many of them have white hairs on their nose, and rub their faces incessantly after their bridle removal. Their bridles have marks where the holes are always fastened and they’re tight, but that’s the only way to secure the bridle in my experience.
So the trade-off for stable bit comes at the price of pressure across the bridge of the nose. Some horses are okay with that - some are not.
The Stubben Freedom’s concept interests me, as it brings the pressure off the nose of the horse and off of the poll by anchoring at the cheeks. I want to know why no one has made an “o-ring” near the cheek bones, where the poll-strap could rotate and the cheek-straps move freely - this to me would seem much more comfortable. PS Of Sweden has a close/similar design that I also think produces similar results.
The other thing, just as someone who cleans Micklems constantly - for the money you really should be eligible for better quality leather. I don’t love the cardboard inserts in the noseband or the cheap lining, personally.
