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| Showing off his bridle |
But it's become apparent to me that possibly not all equestrians are this way. I do love JenJ over at Wyvern Oaks, and she's in the camp of "one is best kthxbai" when it comes to my most favorite piece of tack. Her way isn't wrong (even if mine is so very right), but I'm just curious where other bloggers fall in the spectrum.
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| because sex appeal |
Do you want ALL THE BRIDLES? Do you wish you never had to think about it again? Do you only use them for their specific functions or do you sometimes put your horse in a figure eight because of how freaking sexy he looks in it?
PS For some more bridle nerdery, run on over to the Dressage Nerd blog to read about the mythic symbolism bridles can have.
PS For some more bridle nerdery, run on over to the Dressage Nerd blog to read about the mythic symbolism bridles can have.
You know me: I want all the bridles! I did give one away yesterday, and I'm strongly considering selling my super nice Ovation hunter bridle. Plus I have a box of dressage bridle parts that need to go. If all of that stuff left I'd be down to just four!
ReplyDeleteI only use them for their specific function. Each of my horses have a show bridle and a schooling one. I have many others from past horses that needed different a nose bands, etc
ReplyDeleteSame here. I have a show bridle & schooling bridle for jumping & dressage. I don't need more than that.
DeleteI like to have nice things… When I had a dressage saddle I only had 1 dressage bridle but I have quite a few "jump" bridles.
ReplyDeleteCurrently the hoard includes:
1 unmarked plain "made in englad"
1 plain raised padded Edgewood
1 raised fancy stitched Aramas
I covet a CWD but still trying to finagle my way into owning one. I really tend to use the Edgewood the most and the Aramas isn't even at the barn. It is more of a "just incase I find myself trying to do the Hunters again" kind of keeps.
I love all the things but don't see myself having more than 4-5 bridles at a time. Primary benefit right now is that I have one I can keep a leverage bit on and another I can have a snaffle or hackamore if I choose. Makes switching up and options easier.
I want all the bridles too - cause they are so pretty :)
ReplyDeleteI've always had one English and one Western headstall. This year I figured B needed his own and I've always wanted to try a Micklem and figured we both deserved it over the years. Now I'll keep my one English for the hunter ring only so it'll last. Lots of sentimental value.
ReplyDeletei share your love of the strap goods. i'd have as many bridles as the you and facebook pony if i could! a girl can dream, right?
ReplyDeleteI want all the bridles. New bridles smell nice. Why would I ever not want to want another bridle???
ReplyDeletePure poetry, that.
DeleteI do not want all the bridles. With tack, I try to KISS. I have one nice show bridle, and one schooling bridle... but I only got the schooling bridle within the past few months because I hate switching bits back and forth. I could possibly see a third bridle in the realm of possibility, but not anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteHow funny! I swing the total opposite direction on this topic! Ellie has one nice hunter bridle and I don't really have a desire to buy another until the current one needs replacing!
ReplyDeleteWhen I bought Wilbur I did purchase a schooling and show bridle- the show bridle is now Ellie's bridle and the schooling bridle has been packed away for the past year (I'm glad to have the second now for Wilbur).
That said- I fawn over the bridle and spend lots of time cleaning and conditioning it!
Maybe if I rode in different disciplines I'd be more of a collector!
I have a lot of bridles, but they all have a purpose. I try to ride in what my horse prefers - and if what they prefers doesn't quite match the tack or look we are going for - then I sell and get what does!
ReplyDeleteI think part of my lack of love of bridles is that we have four horses and a shit ton of bridles. I have a hard enough time keeping track of them all and keeping them all clean-ish... adding more just for the sake of having them makes me want to cry.
ReplyDeleteNow, if we're talking SADDLE PADS... you can NEVER have enough of those!
This.
DeleteI have one nice bridle and one cheaptastic back-up bridle... I RARELY use the cheap-o one. Oh and I have a western bridle, too. So three. I'm not really a bridle ho, but they are pretty!
ReplyDeletei use one bridle for everything, and my preference is always for function over form, so whatever works the best will be my go-to for schooling AND showing. that said, i do have some extras swimming around (ya know, just in case)
ReplyDeleteI don't even have a schooling bridle and a show bridle, lolz
ReplyDeleteMoe and Gina each have their own bridle, because Gina's horse-sized stuff doesn't fit Moe's cob-sized head. I have an extra bridle, which is currently serving as Moe's primary bridle. His normal figure-8 was too complicated for the dressage kiddos who lesson on him to adjust correctly consistently, and he doesn't really need it when he isn't jumping or galloping. Gina wears it at shows where her black dressage bridle looks silly. (So, at that one show where she did XC and at the hunter pace.)
I had an oversized bridle, too, which I gave to a friend when I stopped riding the oversized horse for whom I purchased it. I am a bridle minimalist!
I want all the bridles. Especially ones I have no horse for, like a Figure 8.
ReplyDeleteI have two endurance bridles (one for each main endurance bit, mostly), a dressage bridle to match the dressage saddle, a pretty Western bridle that's never going to fit the pony's forehead, and maybe one more plain English-type bridle?
ReplyDeleteBut I would happily take another pretty bridle or two, just because.
I want all the bridles, but I only use one to school in, haha. And I only want all the best bridles, not just any bridle. And they are usually all the same style of bridle. It makes sense in my head because I might actually use them all that way. I don't have a need for a figure 8 even though I would love to own one, I don't.
ReplyDeleteI own three bridles... a black snaffle bridle, a brown bridle, and my double bridle. All three have their purposes and I can't imagine owning any more. Actually I've even simplified things by combining my black snaffle and double bridle... that way if I want to go from one to the other I can easily remove the curb portion and have the snaffle part in tact. So really I only use two :)
ReplyDeleteI have one bridle right now that I use for everything - jumping and dressage, schooling and show. But I'm a hoarder so I have a few other bridles that I don't use but keep around anyway....you know, just in case?
ReplyDeleteI love looking at bridles, and think they are so unique and pretty....but I'm a equestrian on a tight budget. So I have one to school in and one to show in and they work great!
ReplyDeleteI used to have two bridles, but finally got rid of my crappy schooling one. I only used it when Pig needed to be hacked out in a Pelham. Now I just switch out the noseband and bit when he needs a Pelham.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER! I totally get the obsession with pretty leather goods. I'm currently looking into putting together a double bridle for Pig. The prices are horrifying, but the options are SO PRETTY. Anyone have a nice black cob-sized snaffle bridle they want to gift me on the cheap so I can customize the noseband and add a bridoon strap and pair of reins? Eh? Eh?
The queen of "Just In Case" I couldn't even begin to tell you how many bridles (and parts) I have in the trailer and garage. However, the ones that have gotten the most use in the past couple of years are my Vespucci Monocrown Figure 8 and Vespucci Monocrown Dressage Bridle w/flash. But...right now we're using a Royal Oak Dressage Bridle with just a regular noseband, no flash. For a long time I was really into cob size bridles to avoid extra leather flapping around...then came Pongo with his massive head and none of my bridles fit him, which is when the Vespuccis came into rotation. Same bridles for schooling and shows. I also have two beautiful double bridles that haven't been on a horse in ten years...but I still REFUSE to sell. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI totally appreciate a sexy bridle, but for me extra bridles always have fallen into the "something I don't actually NEED" category and unlike another cheap saddle pad I have a hard time buying unneeded things that are more on the expensive side.
ReplyDeleteI always want all the things but bridles has never been one of them. Usually it breastplates and pads. and polos. yeeeah. Bridles are expensive. I cant afford to buy a ton even when bargain shopping. I got my dressage bridle as a gift from my mom when she was deployed and it was a super expensive german made fancy thing and its almost 9 years old. Yankee and B both look smex in fig 8s but Yankee needed a lever noseband. its Fugly but it works. And he also has a really ugly hackamore for stadium, but it too, works.
ReplyDeleteyou know, plus changing bits and reins to a different bridle is a PAIN
DeleteOne bridle is enough for me (I don't like cleaning bridles), but I can absolutely appreciate the feel and aroma of fine leather. Divine.
ReplyDeleteI am so lazy I want two bridles - 1 for regular work and a bitless one for trail rides so I don't have to clean gunk off the bit when I let him graze. But I don't have the bitless one yet so I am a one bridle house. I don't think I want multiples but I do appreciate sexy bridles. If only I was rich enough to own them and have someone clean them for me!
ReplyDeleteWith 2 rideable horses, I have....8 bridles. 1 'schooling' bridle for each, 1 show bridle, a double bridle which I probably won't use for 10 yrs and...miscellaneous. I have too many bridles. I want some more.
ReplyDeleteI'm just as bad with halters.
I have a couple of really, really, really nice, really gorgeous show bridles.... and they stay under lock and key. My schooling bridles, meanwhile, are numerous and SUPER junky... I cobble together bits of whatever nosebands and bits I need for that particular ride, steal parts from my other schooling bridles, and have spare reins and bits hanging about all over the place. It's kind of like a mad scientist's lab in my trailer.... If I put ALL of the pieces together to assemble real proper bridles I would probably have about 10 schooling bridles, but at the moment I have about 5 of them cobbbled together with the specific sets of bits that I will be needing (lunging, dressage, jumping, galloping, hacking, whatever). And my driving bridle which is SO BEAUTIFUL but SO out of place with everything else!
ReplyDeleteI only have one now since he broke my other one. :( It was nice having one with a bit and one without.... other than that I don't have room to keep a bunch of tack (using my car as a tack room), so I'm good with having only one or two.
ReplyDeleteI do not want all of the bridles because I like money. Haha. I want to find what works and stay there, and luckily, I think I have done that. I was pretty adamant about getting the Micklem, though. Function/science over hanging stubbornly onto old-time fashion.
ReplyDeleteI just can't do more than one bridle (simple cavesson) because they all seem to function so differently. Unless there's a training benefit for a flash that someone proves to me that I must use so as to reap all the training benefits, I'm sticking with what I have. Sure, I think Dassah-mare would look straight sexy in a figure-8 but I have no reason to even have her in a regular cavesson.
ReplyDeleteI really would love to doll her up in all the pretty bridles but I've got no training basis for that, so I can't justify it.
Honestly, I'd be fine with just one. Doesn't have to be fancy, but one's enough for me.
ReplyDelete