Welcome to Nirvana: Dressage Bridle Shopping

jump bridle, dressage saddle = no

So here's the thing: I told myself that dressage was the CHEAP route to go competitively, because I already have a saddle, a white pad, a bridle, a sparkle browband, and a bit. Right? We can just go compete from now til third level and not change a thing.

I mean, Courage is the fussiest-mouthed horse ever, so if he goes higher than third, odds are he won't even need that double we're allowed.

HAHAHAHAHA

I hadn't bought a bridle in 8 months (EIGHT MONTHS) guys, so obviously I was going to shop a little. I've pretty much had everything but the highest-end French stuff and let's be real: I am not dropping that kind of money for something I probably won't keep.

funny with his mouth. yes.

So that left the problem of what to shop FOR. Black leather, obviously, but it's really not my favorite. I do love brown dressage tack, but not so much on a bay with minimal white.

Then it hit me--Courage is funky with his mouth. Always has been. I've ridden him in all sorts of things, but for the past few months have just gone the loose cavesson route to see what would happen. Last year, Courage would either brace his mouth open or clamp it shut with no in between. All our dressage work has him interacting with the bit by chewing on it, but his chewing is eh... more extravagant than is usually desired.

do love this look

Hmmmm. I''d be really curious to try him in a flash for two reasons: 1) he MUST have bit stability (loose rings make him loose his marbles) and a flash supports the bit, keeping it more still and 2) it is conceivably possible that by limiting his range of mouth opening, he could learn to interact with the bit in a more-acceptable way. Or at least a less-offensive-to-dressage-judges way.

Oh and then our dressage clinician wondered if the super wide cavesson on my PS bridle might be hanging too close to the bit rings and pinching him. I seriously doubt it, but there's a simple way to find out (since continued riding in our jump bridle with dressage saddle is sub-optimal).

So obviously I was shopping for a black dressage bridle with a flash. Not too raised or padded, because it would dwarf his tiny face. Not too skinny or flat because I already have a flat bridle. Not too low end, because low end never makes me happy.

Red Barn Capriole Bridle

I found this:

But eh, I don't really NEEEEEED a bridle and it was listed for more than I wanted to pay when the whole entire point of shopping was impulse buying anyways. So I low ball offered, got rejected, and redirected my search elsewhere.

The trouble is that Courage is a really hard horse to shop for. Oh, and I'm mega picky.

I finally ran down a dressage bridle (Horze Venice) that I'd been wanting to play with for a while and got it for a song.

But as soon as I pulled the trigger, I regretted it.

Horze Venice Bridle

I mean, I know Horze bridles are nice for the money, but when the money is peanuts, that's still not very nice.

And. And. And.

And I wanted the Red Barn, dammit.

So I bought it too.

The Horze bridle arrived first, and it was exactly as advertised. Nice for the money. Good to look at. Got several compliments from fellow boarders.

(Which, imo, were completely unwarranted because while it's a perfectly fine-looking bridle, it does not look so good on my horse.)

this is my problem

The only hangup is that the seller of the Red Barn bridle apparently only ships by mule train (or ox cart? Which is slower?) and despite paying and having the bridle shipped on August 28th, as of late-evening September 9th, it has yet to make an appearance.

So there I was, toodling my thumbs and thinking how sad it was that I only had one sparkle browband in black leather for my dressage bridle(s) and while I planned to sell the Horze right off, the PS was staying... but maybe that's a story for another day.

#fulltackho

Yeah... anyways. I think I have the bridle dilemma sorted now (aside from the mule train issue). Let's not talk about halfpads either. Or complusive polo wrap buying. Those are clearly other people people's problems and not something I'd be involved in.

Clearly.