I thought I would wander over from the jumper world. 
Has anyone ever used one of these/ You know, the leather bit with chin strap but no headstall? Curious because a fellow horse owner wants me to make one for her young mustang. She has been reading up on Native American horsemanship and wants to try one. Thank you!
The chemicals used in tanning leather would prevent me from thinking about this, even for veg tan. Odds are they werenât a problem for natives before. Rawhide wouldnât have that issue, but wouldnât be particularly comfortable for the horse.
Wow, things have sure changed since I learned about âwar bridles!!â Not ANYTHING like that bit was even considered as a part of a war bridle setup.
I first saw one made of a hard-twist lasso, and it REALLY âspokeâ to that horse who reconsidered his bad behavior, changed his ways. Pretty âWesternâ and not all neat and clean as it appears the OP is considering.
Good Grief! Who is the one who decided to rename older equipment or methods, into something so different?? I thought this was going to be an interesting thread and WHY OP was even CONSIDERING use of a true War Bridle!
Downgraded to post on using a leather bit on a horse. Leather bits have been in use for years. I only ever saw tanned leather used on them. They can have a place or you can skip leather, go to a metal bit instead. Had not ever seen leather bit made of rawhide. Donât think that would work well because saliva would soften rawhide to strength of cooked noodles. Any resistance by horse probably would pull the rawhide bit apart.
[QUOTE=goodhors;7538187]
Wow, things have sure changed since I learned about âwar bridles!!â Not ANYTHING like that bit was even considered as a part of a war bridle setup.
I first saw one made of a hard-twist lasso, and it REALLY âspokeâ to that horse who reconsidered his bad behavior, changed his ways. Pretty âWesternâ and not all neat and clean as it appears the OP is considering.
Good Grief! Who is the one who decided to rename older equipment or methods, into something so different?? I thought this was going to be an interesting thread and WHY OP was even CONSIDERING use of a true War Bridle!
Downgraded to post on using a leather bit on a horse. Leather bits have been in use for years. I only ever saw tanned leather used on them. They can have a place or you can skip leather, go to a metal bit instead. Had not ever seen leather bit made of rawhide. Donât think that would work well because saliva would soften rawhide to strength of cooked noodles. Any resistance by horse probably would pull the rawhide bit apart.[/QUOTE]
That is the only war bridle I know, that was a figure eight double loop of a stiff rope used to get a rank horseâs attention, because it has a lot of bite on itâs head.
Once the horse had learned some manners and was listening to you, in a few minutes of âeducationâ with it, then you didnât use it any more.
Leather covered snaffles were used on the rare colt that absolutely didnât like metal, until the fussy colt was comfortable with the bit, then they were ok with any bit.
We still have one somewhere âŠ
I am sure someone, somewhere in some older horse cultures, did use plain string or leather for a bit.
There are some native indians that use just a string tied around the bottom jaw, with two reins, for âbitâ.
I would think plain, slick metal would be easier on a horse than rough leather?
Tried one like the OP is asking about on my âhates bitsâ pony. He was definitely happier in that bitâŠbut it has zero stopping power. As in less than a loose ring snaffle.
So if horsie is trained, or very, very, calm it might work fine. If horsie is prone to throwing tantrums, not so much.
The leather is tanned w/ completely non-toxic âstuffââŠand once you soak it in oil and they munge it around in their mouths it gets quite soft.
Also will conform to the mouth shape over time.
My guy has very little space between his lip corner and canines, so was getting quite a lot of tooth marks in his.
âŠum, I thought a war bridle was used to control horses by using the lariat over the poll to put pressure on the nerves up there. ??
[QUOTE=Foxtrotâs;7538602]
âŠum, I thought a war bridle was used to control horses by using the lariat over the poll to put pressure on the nerves up there. ??[/QUOTE]
The rope goes around the neck right behind the ears and you take a second loop like a figure eight on that large loop on the neck and put it around the nose.
That figure eight on the stiff ropeâs loop on the horseâs most sensitive areas of the head doesnât do anything, is loose there, unless the horse acts up and pulls on it and then it tightens, to again come completely loose once it quits pulling, unlike if it was a plain, cotton rope.
Only works with a stiff, roping type rope.
At the race track, some hard to handle horse would at times get that âwar bridleâ on it, I assumed it was called that because the horse went to war and right away start behaving again.
I saw that used maybe twice in all the years and it was not violent at all, but of course, like any other technique, someone could abuse it.
I do think if someone abused a horse with that, the horse would fight back and come pawing at you.
It is a bit like using a chain lead-shank.
That is what I have heard it called, with a lariat. Seen pictures of the Indian bridles, but not heard them called war bridles.
Here is a video of how to train with a rope war bridle.
As you can see, it is not that good of a training technique.
There are two videos, this one and another following this one on the side bar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RXe5HYL7KY
For what they told me, those I know that used them said it was only used very few times and on harder to handle horses that were running over people.
This video uses it on a young horse learning, but there are better ways of doing the same that wonât cause a horse to resent the training, as the war bridle use is doing there.
OP, if youâre from the âjumper world,â you should know that Jimmy Williams trained one of his jumpers in one, and Susie Hutchinson rode him in it. Did the biggest jumper classes in California at the time with this horse & setup.
[QUOTE=anotherera;7538686]
OP, if youâre from the âjumper world,â you should know that Jimmy Williams trained one of his jumpers in one, and Susie Hutchinson rode him in it. Did the biggest jumper classes in California at the time with this horse & setup.[/QUOTE]
Yes, that was Samsung Woodstock, if I remember correctly.
He had some nerve damage to his face and a bridle used to hurt him, so they used an indian bridle on him for two years while jumping him in Grand Prix competitions.
After that, he healed and they used a regular bridle again.
He was also a very broke, sensible horse that rated very well with most anything.
The last two pictures show him, at least the one on the right, being jumped without a regular bridle:
My post above made no sense at all on re-reading it.
I only heard of a war bridle being the one with the lariat.
The get-up where there is no bridle but the rope or leather in the mouth and held in place by leather or rope under the chin - to me - is called an Indian bridle.
[QUOTE=Bluey;7538696]
Yes, that was Samsung Woodstock, if I remember correctly.
He had some nerve damage to his face and a bridle used to hurt him, so they used an indian bridle on him for two years while jumping him in Grand Prix competitions.
After that, he healed and they used a regular bridle again.
He was also a very broke, sensible horse that rated very well with most anything.
The last two pictures show him, at least the one on the right, being jumped without a regular bridle:
http://www.phelpssports.com/printarticle.php?id=1961[/QUOTE]
Thank you for posting that article, lovely bit of history there
My post above made no sense at all on re-reading it.
I only describe a war bridle being the one with the lariat.
The get-up where there is no bridle but the rope or leather in the mouth and held in place by leather or rope under the chin - to me - is called an Indian bridle.
[QUOTE=Foxtrotâs;7538768]
My post above made no sense at all on re-reading it.
I only describe a war bridle being the one with the lariat.
The get-up where there is no bridle but the rope or leather in the mouth and held in place by leather or rope under the chin - to me - is called an Indian bridle.[/QUOTE]
We used to call the loop of leather around the lower jaw of horse with one rein, a Jaw Line. It was usually seen on Appaloosa horses in the Native American Costume Class or in regular show Costume Classes if you were dressed as a Native American. If you didnât ride with the Jaw Line in that Costume Class at the Appaloosa shows and do ride WELL, you probably wouldnât place. I checked for some photos, but it appears everyone showing Native Costume now, uses a bit and bridle. Couldnât find any pictures showing the Jaw Line on an Appaloosa.
As Bluey said, the War Bridle was considered a harsh step to use, but sometimes those rank older horses had used up all the nicer methods and not improved their actions. Bluey told about the Figure 8 method, but I have seen others with different ways of laying the lasso around the head and nose that also worked. Part of the Handler technique was to NEVER be ahead of the horse, so it could not rear or strike you, as Bluey warned about being dangerous. Handler needed to be a fast mover, watching their animal all the time to stay safe. Thankfully most horses are handled, responsive, from foal age these days, so War Bridles are much less common now.
It is a tool for the times back when âYou did what you had to do, to get the horse usableâ.
I think the OP is using âwar bridleâ in the American Indian sense of the word - the leather jaw loop with a couple of eagle feathers dangling not the cowboy lariat war bridle.
I rode my childhood mare around bareback in this leather jaw loop during my âindian periodâ at about 11 years of age.
Hi everyone, I am not the one wanting to try it, it is a friend. I was just inquiring. I do remember Samsung Woodstock, and that is what I was referring to as far as the bit goes. I also know that some riders use a leather bit with a bridle. I just wanted some input. I believe it is also referred to as a âsquawâ bridle? Sorry if I mixed up the names. I was asking because this person has a young mustang and has gotten all 'native American" now, because of a book I loaned her. :rolleyes: she thinks less is more for her horse who have never had a bit in his mouth yet.
Until the Settlers had been around a while, Indians had no access to steel, steel objects, to use on horses. Indians had NO forge history to let them work metal as hard as iron or steel. Navahos worked silver, but not the other Tribes. One of the reason that steel or iron Tomahawks, knives, arrowheads, were so prized in Trading with the Fur Trappers, then other later people going into the Western areas. Steel and iron items were harder, stayed sharper than stone used previously. Guns they had, were traded for, stolen or gifts. They could not make their own items from metal.
So calling that leather bit with steel rings a âwar bridleâ is way off base when related to Native Americans. Might have had access to steel rings to add to horse equipment by the end of the 1800âs, early 1900âs, but not much before that time period. I did find some old photos of Native Americans riding horses with real bits on them, in portraits for historical use. All later time periods.
Thanks for all the history! There is a bit currently in use in the jumper ring by one rider called a meroth bit. It has rings, a leather mouthpiece, and a chin strap. This is actually the one my friend found that she wants me to make for her, but she was comparing it to the Native American style.
