Totally mundane question - I 1/2 lease a horse that goes in a figure 8 bridle. I have a really nice Antares bridle that fits him, but he’s one of those horses that gets everything he can into his mouth.
So…would you spend $200ish to get a D’yon working collection bridle from Europe, or would you keep using the nice Antares bridle? I just get antsy whenever he tries to chew on it, but otherwise it’s going to sit in my closet.
WWYD?
How is he getting the bridle in his mouth?
I’m trying to imagine scenarios in which a correctly fitted bridle manages to get in the horses mouth, and the only thing I can see is the reins maybe if he’s tricky with them?
While I’m trying to get everything buckled, he flips his head around until either the noseband strap or the flash strap gets in his mouth. Or he’ll turn his head until he can get the reins in there. It’s super annoying!
Personally, I wouldn’t spend $200 on a bridle when I can just manage tacking up my horse better. But I’m also guessing you’re working with a very different budget than myself.
Maybe buy a cheaper set of reins if you’re really that worried, but it shouldn’t be that difficult to keep nosebands out of his mouth. Just keep them “buckled” when you put it on, so it’s up above his nose and not flopping around, and then unbuckle it when you’re actually ready to buckle it onto him.
I think if you’re worried about it, it might be best to save the Antares for good and find a cheap used schooling bridle that you don’t care what happens to it. You can find something no frills that isn’t super pretty anymore but is still safe in consignment shops or on eBay.
Maybe you could find a cheap noseband and reins for schooling? They might not match perfectly, but it will save your nice ones.
Honestly, buying tack used has worked great for me. You can find stuff that isn’t total unsafe junk, but that is also not $200. I personally wouldn’t spend anywhere near that much on something I would expect to get torn up. I actually ended up buying a $20 used bridle as a spare after I had a couple of nice bridles returned to me filthy and damaged after allowing someone who was riding my horses for awhile to borrow them. It’s not a big deal if something happens to it and I didn’t spend much.
If you can break his habit, that would obviously be best, but in the meantime it might be best to have something that didn’t cost much and you don’t care about.
If he’s mouthy/chewy, I’d just buy something cheap or used for everyday and save your nice bridle for shows/clinics/your next horse.
I’m all about having schooling tack I didn’t pay much for and don’t care about. Horses chew on things, reins break, etc etc… keep your fancy tack at home and buy something cheap to use and abuse. I once broke a friends’ $$$ Hadfield reins hacking at home, which I couldn’t afford to replace, and have honestly never quite recovered from the guilt!
You can definitely find a nice everyday figure 8 for less than $200, but also those Dyon pieces are beautiful and will hold their value if you want to sell it when your lease is up, so I am happy to enable you 
Kind of a side note, but I just bought a Dyon working collection bridle and LOVE it. I have an Edgewood figure 8 for my show bridle and use the dyon for flat/home. It’s nice quality, and you can replace the piece if he chews them, so there’s that.
Use the bridle. Buy cheap reins.
$200 is too much money to pay for a chew toy.
You will have to get better at keeping the noseband from his reach while you’re putting it on. Keep it in your hand as you put the bridle over his head and keep hold of the flash as you buckle the noseband.
In this way I have kept my Edgewood good for 15 years, despite daily use by a horse with an oral fixation… but gone through 2 pairs of web reins that cost about $30 each. My show reins are pristine.
My mare loves to get everything in her mouth. She’s had her current bridle about three years now. Even though she’s got it in her mouth a few times it still looks fine. I’m not saying to use the expensive and have it chewed up but you’ll be surprised at how little they get them in their mouth.
That’s good to know, I wasn’t sure how the quality would be… He manages to put some good teeth marks in his owner’s bridle, I just don’t want to ruin the nice show bridle if I can help it!
I got it for $120? Ish in Europe too, without reins. Try the Fundis Equestrian website! They have tons of nice dyon options.
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