What's the nicest bridle you have? (durable, beautiful, etc.)

[jhg140]

I have a 16+ year old Beval New Canaan that has been used and abused, and though it has some mold spotting from bad storage over the years, it is still in excellent shape and you will have to pry it from my cold, dead hands. I haven’t had a bridle since that I felt as strongly about… until I got my hands on a lightly used Antares. Love it. So substantial feeling, yet extremely soft. I like it a lot more than my friend’s CWD. Mine is a flash bridle so I can’t speak to the hunter bridles, but overall very impressed with the quality and look.

You can find lightly used Antares bridles for $300-400 (plus then you don’t have to break it in! because new bridles and saddles are a pain)

[pattnic]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8753086]
SP and HK have both confirmed it to me.

I’ve held them side by side. There are differences in styling but not size… Not that I can see.[/QUOTE]

The Plymouth line, too?

[vxf111]

[QUOTE=pattnic;8754303]
The Plymouth line, too?[/QUOTE]

I asked the question generally and was not given “only x, y, and z” in response

[WB_Mom]

I have a Hadfield, an Antares and a Beval Heritage wide noseband. They are all very nice and a joy to use! I love really good leather!

[OldLadyYoungOTTB]

I got the Wellfleet today, and for the $150 I paid for it, it’s a really nice bridle! The leather is really soft and it seems well-made. Of course I had to try it on my horse ASAP. I still need to darken it up a bit. Also, I put different reins on so they don’t match. https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-zZX8VrT/0/L/i-zZX8VrT-L.jpg

[Bristol_Bay]

[QUOTE=OldLadyYoungOTTB;8755065]
I got the Wellfleet today, and for the $150 I paid for it, it’s a really nice bridle! The leather is really soft and it seems well-made. Of course I had to try it on my horse ASAP. I still need to darken it up a bit. Also, I put different reins on so they don’t match. https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-zZX8VrT/0/L/i-zZX8VrT-L.jpg[/QUOTE]

It does look nice! Such an attractive model, too.

[Bristol_Bay]

[QUOTE=TheBrownHorse;8750221]
A few photos, though the Aramas is not the greatest photo

The Aramas Bridle

http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah294/theshortbrownhorse/Aramas_zpsav0imflb.jpg[/QUOTE]

Yes it is. It is the greatest photo!

[511]

Anyone seen the Pfiff bridle?
http://www.pfiff.com/en/products/riding-01/snaffle-bridles-01.30/pfiff-snaffle-bridle-premium-101208-60-Cob/

Is it as nice as a true passier?

And why is there such a price range in the same manufacturer?
https://www.calevo.com/cgi-bin/calevo/process/locale/en_US/page/1060305.html
https://www.calevo.com/cgi-bin/calevo/process/locale/en_US/page/1060330.html

[Sparrowette]

[QUOTE=Madeline;8737664]
Big Dee’s
Thoroughbred nylon race bridle. $16.99. Noseband will set you back another$10 if you really need it. Stainless hardware. Indestructible. Machine washable. Great colors. How can you go wrong?[/QUOTE]

My ASB mare is pretty smart, and has figured out that she can break the throatlatch of any leather bridle. When the throatlatch is broken, the bridle comes off, and then she stands there with this Sh!t-Eating Grin on her face - SO PLEASED WITH HER BAD SELF!

After you recommended this, I got one for her in blue. She’s tried, and I’ve seen her get frustrated.

Guess what, horsie? I’m the human!:lol:

[vxf111]

Well I can tell you the NOT nicest bridle I have is the Bridleway I bought on sale from Bit of Britain. Lasted about 1.5 months of normal use before the reins came unlaced. BOB won’t stand behind it. First they told me to go pound sand. Then they offered me a $10 refund. That’s what I guess for taking a chance and trying to buy local. I didn’t expect a Hadfields for a cheap price but I expected equivalent to the Smartpak Plymouth line. While I don’t love love the Plymouth, I haven’t seen them fail in a month and a half AND Smartpak will take a return for a defective bride that falls apart.

[Bristol_Bay]

[QUOTE=5;8810607]
Anyone seen the Pfiff bridle?
http://www.pfiff.com/en/products/riding-01/snaffle-bridles-01.30/pfiff-snaffle-bridle-premium-101208-60-Cob/

Is it as nice as a true passier?

And why is there such a price range in the same manufacturer?
https://www.calevo.com/cgi-bin/calevo/process/locale/en_US/page/1060305.html
https://www.calevo.com/cgi-bin/calevo/process/locale/en_US/page/1060330.html[/QUOTE]

I had a Pfiff saddle, the Gotthart. It was very well made. Not super nice leather, but a decent saddle for the money, $1500 new. It was wool flocked. The seat was too slick for me, eventually.

So, if anyone is curious what I ended up with, I did some extra work over the summer so I could afford a new CWD. Since I was ordering a saddle, I got the bridle and reins half price, so less than a new Edgewood with reins. I don’t have it yet, but will report back when I do.

[511]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8810703]
Well I can tell you the NOT nicest bridle I have is the Bridleway I bought on sale from Bit of Britain. Lasted about 1.5 months of normal use before the reins came unlaced. BOB won’t stand behind it. First they told me to go pound sand. Then they offered me a $10 refund. That’s what I guess for taking a chance and trying to buy local. I didn’t expect a Hadfields for a cheap price but I expected equivalent to the Smartpak Plymouth line. While I don’t love love the Plymouth, I haven’t seen them fail in a month and a half AND Smartpak will take a return for a defective bride that falls apart.[/QUOTE]

For schooling, an indestructible cheap bridles is the gatsby brand. the leather is made with some sort of oil tanned process and they will-not-die!. They are the Toughskins of bridles (You will give them away before they wear out) the leather does stretch though. They are floppy out of the box and I have never oiled or conitioned one, rarely cleaned. I Think they feed on horse sweat.

I bought three around a decade ago on ebay for under $20 each and two still haunt my tackbox. I can’t remember what happened to #3 but it didn’t break, I would have remembered that. The price has gone up because the seller has figured out that they are only going to sell one per horse but they are still cheap for tack.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=5;8810607]
Anyone seen the Pfiff bridle?
http://www.pfiff.com/en/products/riding-01/snaffle-bridles-01.30/pfiff-snaffle-bridle-premium-101208-60-Cob/

Is it as nice as a true passier?

And why is there such a price range in the same manufacturer?
https://www.calevo.com/cgi-bin/calevo/process/locale/en_US/page/1060305.html
https://www.calevo.com/cgi-bin/calevo/process/locale/en_US/page/1060330.html[/QUOTE]
rolled bridles are expensive to make, and as a result expensive to purchase. the passier BOSTON is basically one of Passier’s ‘top of the line bridles’ for showing; the Taurus is their entry/economic line.

[Madison]

Earlier this year I purchased the Beval Heritage wide noseband bridle, expecting it to be the nicest bridle I have. It was not. When it arrived, not only was the leather quality not what Beval used to be, the burnished edge came off when I oiled it. Beval stood behind the product and took it back for a full refund, but it was disappointing because I had high expectations for it.

Seems like it gets harder and harder to find great quality in bridles anymore, unless you want to pay the going rate for Hadfield’s tack. I ended up going with the Nunn Finer Catarina wide noseband bridle instead and am hoping I’ll be happy with how it holds up, because it is very pretty!

[511]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8811165]
rolled bridles are expensive to make, and as a result expensive to purchase. the passier BOSTON is basically one of Passier’s ‘top of the line bridles’ for showing; the Taurus is their entry/economic line.[/QUOTE]

Is the leather the same in both bridles? Usually when I see a difference in price that drastic I think materials not labor.

I actually know a veneer of what is involved in rolled leather.
It was described on pages 56,57, & 58 of The Art of Hand Sewing Leather* rolling leather is more involved than I would ever want to do and I have a feeling that it needs to be hand stitched over the rolls (which are called rounds in the book) and that would account for some difference in price, I’m not sure that it would account for three times the price but it might if the same leather is used in both bridles.

*by Al Stohlman, a book well worth the price, if you are handy.
It is so much easier to with a little practice beforehand take ten minutes to so they can repair that bridle that the f’idiot horse just broke themselves in ten minutes rather than take it to a cobbler or tack repair shop.

(I practiced on old stirrup leathers that got a brief stay of execution before they met their dumpster doom.)

[raisethebar]

[QUOTE=Bristol Bay;8755346]
Yes it is. It is the greatest photo! :p[/QUOTE]

http://www.hitchingposttack.com/products/aramas-fancy-stitched-mildly-square-raised-wide-bridle-w-reins-and-comfort-crown.html

Is this the same bridle as the one in the pictures? It looks lovely!

Trying to quote the picture from TheBrownHorse… I hate technology haha

[Thoroughbred1201]

New Cavalry

By far and away the best bridles I have, and by far the longest lasting are by New Cavalry.

New Cavalry was the original bridle that started the style of fine stitching in the late 1980s, and Edgewood was essentially a knockoff, started by a ex-employee of New Cavalry. I still have my original bridle from then, and it’s going strong. We have several more, and they wear like iron.

Now that I’ve switched to Saddlebreds, I’ve said mine will be the only Saddlebred wearing New Cavalry Hunter bridles, lol!

New Cavalry is still operating, and still makes quality tack.

www.newcavalry.com

[reefy]

I know it’s not in the price range you want but I have a Hadfield’s bridle that is so beautiful and has been since day 1!

It’s going on 14 years old now and has turned a lovely shade of dark caramel and is buttery soft. It will last you a long time and look terrific!

[Madaketmomma]

[QUOTE=chunky munky;8737753]
Huntley. Beautiful and great price point. Very good service.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Bristol Bay;8737763]And their website has all the measurements. Nice!

One thing they all have in common is Sedgwick leather.[/QUOTE]

I adore my Huntley bridle, with the one exception that the reins are just a tiny bit shorter then any other bridle I have ever owned and it is making a big difference to me. I feel like I am having to hold at the end of the braided part and really need a couple more inches.

[Madison]

[QUOTE=Madaketmomma;8812911]
I adore my Huntley bridle, with the one exception that the reins are just a tiny bit shorter then any other bridle I have ever owned and it is making a big difference to me. I feel like I am having to hold at the end of the braided part and really need a couple more inches.[/QUOTE]

I looked at the Huntley bridle and thought it was really pretty, but the other limitation it has right now is they do not make an oversized martingale, so if you want a matching set and have a larger horse, it is not an option. But it was a very pretty bridle with nice stitching and leather.