Friday, April 8, 2011

Hunter Bridles


I want a new bridle. Really. I usually stick to the $50 and under category which means that I get a bridle that I hate. They're stiff and the color tends to scratch off and I don't like. I bought this bridle from sstack.com and I do not like it. Don't buy it.


Pinnacle Comfort Plus Hunt Bridle
Pinnacle Comfort Plus Hunter Bridle
Most expensive bridle I had bought to date ($75) and I was very disappointed. Well, it does have it's merits - it has very soft supple leather, and I love the padded crown feature, but what disappointed me the most was that the color on the leather appears to be painted on. Yes, it is not stained. The color flakes off and is doing so on the throatlatch where it is constantly buckled and unbuckled and also on the noseband where it has gotten rubbed a couple times. Sure, wear is normal on a bridle, but my last bridle that I had for seriously 9 years never did anything of the sort. That thing wore like iron, but I still hate it. It was super stiff and changing bits was a pain. I paid $25 for my old bridle new, yet this bridle from Schneiders, though more expensive, apparently thought it was cheaper to paint the leather rather than to stain it (?). Lame.

So I would like a new bridle and this one I want to splurge on. I want to pay less than $300 and I want the reins to come with it. I would like a fancy stiched, raised, padded bridle and reins. I really don't care what color it comes in (besides black), I would prefer a padded or monocrown feature, but it's not absolutely necessay. I will not consider any bridles that have a crank noseband (absolutely hate those) and I prefer that it doesn't have a flash, though that can be fixed :)

I think I have narrowed it down to four different bridles. The most expensive is the Dover Showmark Deluxe Hunter Bridle. Downsides are that it is in the most expensive end of my price range and the reins are not raised and fancy stitched (gasp! I know, right? Lol).



Next is the Smartpak Wellfleet Raised Fancy Stitch Bridle. I really like this bridle, it has most everything I want. I think that the only thing I would change if I could is that the caveson strap be integrated so that a nameplate can be placed on it, but really, that's not a big deal.


Then I also really like the Bobby's bridles. They seem really nice and again, have everything that I'm looking for.


Bobby's Comfort Crown Square Padded Fancy Bridle
The last option is a Nunn Finer bridle. These are the least expensive of the bunch, but still have good reviews. Again, everything that I want, though I am a little wary of the quality compared to the other bridles because of the price.


Ideally I would like to be able to see and feel these in person, so I'm going to see if the local tack shop carries any nice bridles in my price range. Ideally I would love to buy an Edgewood bridle so I'm looking for a used one in my price range, but I found one on craigslist and even used they are asking $300!

Now here's the fun part. While searching through bridles, I found some really insanely expensive and interesting bridles.

These Dy'On bridles are top of the line bridles and I like them. Go here to buy one.

Dyon Anatomic Rope Noseband Bridle (#24000136)
I find this one fascinating because I've never
seen anything like it in the english world! I like
it but I don't think I'd be brave enough to wear
it at a show... too spendy for a schooling bridle!

I also think this one is awesome as well, with the slightly flared noseband and browband. Pretty cool!


Dyon Fancy Padded Anatomic Bridle (#24000134)

Then there was this bridle. $800!!! Yikes, that is how much my saddle cost!


Jimmy's 21st Century Bridle

Over at Behind the Bit there's a great post about how to choose a hunter bridle.
 




5 comments:

  1. If you don't want to break the bank but want a great bridle, I recommend Bobby's because they are reasonably priced and the leather they use is very high quality! I have two Bobby's bridles... one I bought new at a local tack store (about $130 or so...). It's a hunter bridle with no flash noseband and it's very elegant. The best thing about it is that the leather is lovely and right away it became super soft.

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  2. I had a Bobby's dressage bridle. It was ok, but I didn't love it.

    Have you looked at Aramas bridles? I've heard nothing but good things about them and there's one I'm currently drooling on. They're about $225, comfort crown and they do come with reins.

    I think this might be the right link:
    http://www.hitchingposttack.com/servlet/the-1445/Aramas-Fancy-Stitched-Raised/Detail

    I'm on a crap connection, so I can't actually look around and find the correct link for you atm.

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  3. http://www.justbridles.com/index.php?p=product&id=146&parent=1

    There's the one I was talking about.

    It's more than I remembered, but I think there's an ebay seller that that has them for slightly less.

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  4. I thought I'd put my two cents in- I have an amigo by horseware ireland bridle, and it is lovely. The color has stayed really true, the leather is nice quality and not too stiff and the flash bridle has nice rubber reins- they make a fancy hunter one that's clearance-ing out on Dover right now.. :)

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  5. Thanks for all the comments! Hopefully I'm going to make a trip to my local tack store this week and I'll check out what they have so I can get my hands on them and see what feels good! With the Bobby's bridles, I've heard that you get what you spend on them, so they range from a lower quality at $100 to really nice quality at over $200. So we shall see!

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