The Biggest Bridle Dilemma

only the best problem ever

Well that escalated quickly. I bought my first dressage saddle (in years) like 9 months ago. I rode in a jump bridle for a while, then got a beautiful PS of Sweden dressage bridle.

And then I had one bridle for MONTHS.

That's pretty good for me.

Then I sort of accidentally started shopping for no good reason. I wanted one bridle, bought a different one, then bought the one I wanted and sold the first one I bought, which left me with two net dressage bridles.

But that's ok, right? One to school, one to show. Or one with a flash and one without. Or one with sparkles and one plain. One with a spendy bit and one with a cheap one. There are so many justifications for two bridles.

Obviously.

But then I found a TOTAL STEAL on a VERY FRENCH dressage bridle. I tried to be strong but Redheadlins was like "omg buy now" (even though she always says no) and Alyssa (who also always says no) apparently doesn't get up at 6am on Sundays to go online tack shopping with me. Lives?! Who has those. So what I'm saying is you should blame my friends for the fact that I now posses three black leather bridles.

And admittedly, that's enough to do dressage in for like ten years and still have enough left to make a dominatrix outfit, sooooooooooo that coupled with the fact that my bank account and I are currently not on speaking terms means I need to thin the herd.

Except I can't.

So that's where you come in. Please help me decide which beautiful piece of sexy strappy leather gets the heave-ho.

PS of Sweden

bridle profile

Bachelor #1: The PS of Sweden Dressage bridle.

This bridle sports the big, wide, flat, non-fancy noseband look that I love. I really love huge padded stuff, but Courage's tiny face just can't take it.

This bridle runs the balance of huge and looks good on my horse. It has the comfort padded monocrown.

Fun fact: this is a lower end PS bridle, so the leather quality is my least favorite of the three.

browband snaps and topline charm

The browband clips on and off, which is super fun for changing up our look and the throatlatch is completely removable, which is brilliant when it's cold and I want one less buckle to play with. This is a crank-style noseband and there is a completely removable flash. I actually don't care for the attachment (and my horse doesn't go in a flash), but it's another option.

I love it.

Red Barn Capriole

Bachelor #2: The Red Barn Capriole bridle

Style-wise, this model is actually fairly similar to the PS bridle. Again, it's a wide padded noseband, but it's fairly flush with the face, so it doesn't completely overwhelm my little OTTB.

It has a comfort-padded monocrown, crank, flash. The flash strap is removable, but the little attachment loop stays put. You will note the shocking lack of sparkles, but this can be remedied.

This is a pretty basic bridle in a lot of ways--it doesn't have any really unique features outside of the padded, modern look. It does offer nice quality leather that's promising to break in quite well and it feels very durable. It's very correct for the modern show ring.

I love it.

Antares Dressage Bridle

Bachelor #3: The Very French Contestant. 

I call him Antares.

I bought him as a resale project (obstensibly), but the more I touch him, the more I want him. This is a whole different look for me.

We still have the padded monocrown and the built in flash (strap removable). We've added fancy stitching on the browband and noseband--very subtle, but visible up close.

We've added French leather. We've added a throatlatch that buckles on both sides, which I guess makes it easy to replace? Dunno, but seems like a feature worth mentioning.

Antares (it's his name) has very refined cheek pieces and elegant hardware. He doesn't have a crank, which means slapping a standing martingale on for occasional shenanigans is within the realm of possibilities. (Conversely, I have a jump bridle for this reason, so I don't need this feature.)

And did I mention French leather?

Yup. He even smells beautiful. And his name is on the side of the browband. <3

He even came perfectly adjusted to fit Courage. A sign? Yes.

I love him.

I don't know where that leaves us. I would really like to get down to two dressage bridles, but I cannot choose which one doesn't get a rose.

I probably ought to sell Antares, because he has the best resale and isn't my usual look, but I also named him and maybe it's time to change things up around here. I have a little horse with a little face. Maybe he can wear less leather.

Conversely, the PS and the Red Barn are very similar looks, so maybe it makes more sense to only keep one of those? In case you're keeping score, they all have padded monocrowns, flash attachments, are competition legal, and fit fine. Two out of three have padded cranks, but I don't crank down my cranks. Courage goes in a loose cavesson.

Ideas? Thoughts? What looks best? Want to buy one and end my suffering?

I DON'T KNOW PLZ HALP.