I ordered the fancy stitched Vespucci hunter bridle. Are there any pros and cons regarding this bridle? I am going to use this bridle only for shows. I was told that it does run big. Did anyone have a problem with the way this bridle fit on his or her horse?
I have 2 of them and love them. I do think they run large. The horse size BARELY fits my Oldenburg mare - she does have a bit of a refined head but it seems larger than her horse size schooling bridle (which is a Bobby’s.) It does fit her, however.
A couple of friends have had Vespucci bridles and while the leather was quite nice it stretched excessively. I have also read of issues with glue seepage so I would be very careful either to not oil them or use a minimal amount. In fact be sure to check that Vespucci recommends oiling, as some brands specifically tell you not to.
I really liked mine… till it got stolen 
My horse sized one fits a BIG BONED 16.3 hanoverian and is almost too big on him. It doesn’t fit the two warmblood mares with more refined heads that I’ve tried it on.
The leather is very soft and I use it for daily schooling and it has held up well. I would love to see what a cob size fits like.
I have one, its a cob and fits my 15.2 quarter horse quite well. I loved the reins that come with it but i have oiled the bridle tons and it still hasn’t soften up. I’ve had the bridle for 3 years now and even with daily cleaning its just not as soft as i would like it to be.
Love mine, getting another one for my new mare! I do love my Dy’on one, but the reins are sold separately which makes the bridle around $700.
Love mine. Have one for my large pony that is a Quarter x Welsh and the cob size fit him beautifully. I also have another one for my Holsteiner mare in standard horse size which also fits beautifully. Have had no problems with anything as far as quality and fit and finish. I have had them about a year so far. Love the rich dark brown color and the thinner mono-crown. In my opinion some of the mono-crowns in other brands have gotten very big in size. Its not to big, its not to small…its just right!
I have two Vespucci bridles, but they are both black dressage models, and so may have been tanned/finished differently. I really like them, though, and they have not stretched at all.
I really liked mine but at the training barn they broke the nose band. The nose band did start rubbing the sides of his face anyway so I wasn’t too bummed. However the problem was it was at a horse show and you cannot simply change the nose band because it is stitched in. SO I took that opportunity to go to the CWD booth and buy a new bridle 
The vespucci did soften up really nice quickly, unlike the CWD bridle that is taking a while to get supple.
And I didn’t think it ran big. Seemed pretty standard size maybe a bit larger.
I have 3 and I love them. My horse has a hard to fit head - normal cobs are too small and normal fulls are too big. The Vespucci cob fits perfectly. They take oil very well and soften nicely. I haven’t had any issues with glue like some others.
I have one and I love it! I ride with a tight nose band and it has stretched the leather. Still beautiful on my horse’s head though. If one part of the bridle doesn’t fit, you can always order a different size of that piece (for example, a horse size bridle but with a cob size brow band).
I have one and I love it. Cob size is a tad too big on my refined-headed TB, most of the holes are at or near the top. I’ve had it for over eight years and haven’t experienced any stretching or wear and tear issues, though there are some sweat stains on the nose band padding.
I LOVE my vespucci bridles. I have a figure 8 and a regular with the flash. They do run on the bigger side, but isnt an issue for my 17.3 dutch warmblood. I had a refined TB mare that I needed a cob size for. Very high quality for the price. Stiching is beautiful. Love the crown padding and noseband padding. If you take care of them, they last forever. I will honestly never buy a different brand.
I had several over the past 6 years and have been less-than-impressed for the price. I think for full retail price you’d be better off with something like Aramas.
I got one on sale last spring, and for the sale price (somewhere around $130, if memory serves), I like it.
I have horse size, which fits my Norwegian Fjord very well. The throatlatch is on the third hole from the top, which means it’s a pretty long throatlatch - with a refined neck that could be a problem. I also removed the under-padding on the noseband, since it seemed to get in my way and I keep the noesband relatively loose, anyway.
I would definitely buy one again for the sale price, but not for full retail.
It was the only bridle with buckle ends (which I prefer) that fit my last horse well, but he had a weird block head. I have a Vespucci flash and a figure 8 and they both fit him. I’ve been using the figure 8 on my TB but the noseband is huge- it would fit a camel- so I’ve had to punch a hole right up to the center piece.
Other things I’ve found- sometimes the stitching is not very good, and sometimes the leather breaks. I was jumping a 3’9" oxer with my old horse and the reins broke in mid-air, which was…exciting, let’s say. There was no warning that they were weak- I wipe down my tack after every ride and I had not seen anything worrisome the day before.
Love mine. The leather is great, it does run big though. Be extra careful with the stitching on this bridle, thats the only issue i’ve had.
I had the figure eight - loved it. I’d order it again but it does run large, I think I had the cob sized for my TB.
The leather seems to be nice enough, but at least on the one I’m using, the padding has faded to a really light tan - not my cup of tea. Given the glue issues, I wouldn’t want to oil it to try and fix it.
