30 yrs old was in '86. I was making them then. I’m Jimmy’s son, Jim, and make the Bennett’s Hunter® bridles.
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I can attest to the decline in quality in Edgewood. I have a 20 year old bridle with gorgeous stitching, it is truly a stunning fine bridle that stands in sharp contrast to the wide hunter styles today. I now have a cob headed petite warmblood and recently bought a padded Edgewood. It looks ok from afar, but the stitching is very average. On the cheeks it looks downright cheap, something I’d expect on a $100 bridle.
Some of my favorite everyday bridles have been my older Crosbys (from Miller’s, when they were made in England). They wear like iron! I love my HK Americana as well.
I also love my older Bevals, Dover Wellington, and Jimmy’s 20th Century. Absolutely beautiful quality!
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Today I would say my original Beval Heritage wide flat noseband hunter bridle is my favorite. It has sentimental value, in addition to being beautiful, because it was my best horse’s show bridle. I have not been able to bring myself to use it on any other horse until I bought my mare (who I love to pieces). I still can’t bring myself to take off the nameplate with his name-- but it brings me joy and not saddness to see her wearing the bridle.
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All of my bridles are D’yon and Antares. They stay lovely even in daily use, and even the ones that were abused (not cleaned regularly enough) are in fantastic shape. I think my oldest is 12+ years old. Worth the money IMO.
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My show bridle is an Arc De Triomphe, which I love. It is very supple and has held up well to abuse - it is about 12 years old now, I don’t take as good care of it as I should, and the stitching has held up really well.
My schooling bridle is a padded HK Americana which I got off of ebay after hearing people rave about them on here. I have never, ever, felt a bridle as buttery soft. Ever. And I worked in two A circuit show barns that had incredibly high end tack. This is the bridle I would want to go in if I was a horse, because it is genuinely pillowy soft.
I am going to have to replace my ADT bridle as my show bridle because it doesn’t fit my current horse that well (my last horse was much bigger), and I’m eyeing an Aramas based on my experience with my Americana.
I have an Aramas that’s seven years old now, used every day, still looks new (with regular cleaning and care of course). It’s super soft and great quality. I love this bridle even more than the Nunn Finer Italian bridle I have.
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Actually, the owner of New Cavalry (John?) was partners with whoever broke off and started Edgewood. One of the two was known for not paying his bills within the industry. New Cavalry is still in SoCal and Edgewood is in Edgewood, NM.
As I understand it, however, New Cavalry isn’t the easiest to deal with. Some of my information is old and/or third-hand, but if the order isn’t done the way you expected (either in terms of something unique you ordered-- size of this/that part) or quality (stitching spacing, etc.) you might not be able to get the problem corrected.
Just a caveat emptor. I am a fan of beautiful bridles so if I had deeper pockets and got a good feeling when I described what I wanted, I would probably roll the dice. But I would pay careful attention to the business acumen of the person on the other end of the phone (as best I could discern it) before pulling the trigger. Perhaps this is what one should do with any small business making high-end custom anything. Both sides lose money if it doesn’t meet expectation.
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Does anyone have the Antares Hunter Bridle? What are the reviews on those? Do they ever do sales like the other big companies?
I have a wide noseband Antares hunter bridle. Great quality, and the keepers on this one fit well.
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any idea on the fit? My horse is currently on the second last hole of a COB sized Beval. Should I go size 1 or 2?
I’m not familiar with the Beval bridles but I usually always purchase the 2 because I can make it work on the smaller and larger heads. I believe my pony wears size 1 adjusted the smallest it will go.
I had one of the originals, before the “comfort crown” or whatever its called was invented. Gorgeous leather, I loved the hardware too, its a beautiful, quality bridle. They never go on sale as far as I know, but in those days they were only sold directly through Antares. Maybe check with Smartpak and see if they ever put them on sale.
I had the size 1, bought for a 15.1 hony with a fine boned face. I also ended up using it on a 14.2 pony who had a bigger head than the hony so you might be able to use size 1.
Far outlasted any other bridle I have ever had. Excellent quality leather and craftsmanship.
