Bridles

Though not deemed safe, you can ride a horse without a saddle, but never without a bridle. The bridle is what connects the bid in a horse’s mouth to the rein that the rider holds. With the bridle the rider is able to signal the horse when to stop or make a turn.

As part of the horse’s tack, a bridle is one of the most important components. Thus, buying the right bridle which suits the size of your horse and has the right style is also a critical point of consideration. Since most bridles are fully adjustable, the problem of the horse finding it too small or too large is eliminated. Of course this is presuming that you are not riding a draft horse or a pony. 
 
Understandably, English bridles are most suitable when you ride horses in the English style. However if you do horse riding purely as a past time, the conventional standard snaffle bridle could be more than sufficient. These can also be used for show classes for beginners. But if your horse has a irritable temperament or generally hard tough to control, your trainer could suggest a different type of model like snaffle bridle with a flash noseband or a snaffle bridle with a drop nose. The reason is that these bridles make it tough for the horse t spit out the bit.

Use a snaffle bridle if you are contemplating doing dressage work. However not using a dressage bridle would make it impossible for you to compete in events. A double bridle is required in case you ride saddle seat, a popular position. Its method of action is controlling the height of the horse’s head with one set of reins while offering conventional signals to stop and turn with the other set.

There are several options available for riders in western style. Though the conventional western bridle is nearly similar to a standard English snaffle bridle, the only difference is that it does not have a noseband. However, the bosal and mechanical hackamore bridles, two common western bridle styles, have neither brow bands nor bits. So the way western riders using bridles, control the horse is instead of using a bit, they use pressure to the noseband. If you are thinking of using a hackamore bridle, it is important to remember that the bosal model is used for training purposes to train horses to use a hackamore, and the mechanical hackamore is the model you need for your horse.

Buying a bridle is easy – as you can get it either from your local feed or tack shop. You could even make online purchase, where the product is delivered to your door step. However if you have budget constraints, buying used bridles is also a possibility. Ads for used tacks appear usually on bulletin boards or in the classified section of your local paper. Ensure that the bridle is thoroughly checked as they can be full of mold or have loose stitching, resulting from years of neglect in maintenance. Of course dirty or poorly maintained bridles can be cleaned with some elbow grease and saddle soap. But make sure that the bridle is rightly priced, considering such work still remaining to be done. But a bridle which is loosely stitched can have dangerous consequences – so buy only after you have closely examined it.