Thursday, April 12, 2018

Vote for Your Favorite ZB Bridle

Here is a fact that often surprises people about me: as much as I love having ALL THE TOYS for ZB to play with, I actually super respect people who can have just one bridle and be happy with it. 
R WANT NAP INSTEAD OF CHOICES

Sometimes I even pretend like I could be one of those people and consolidate (aka bring my spares home to stick in the bridle bag), but that generally lasts like an hour, because I find things I forget I had when I put things away so then those things go to the barn and it sort of spirals out of control from there. 

All that aside. 

Here's a quick rundown of the current bridle stock (not including one I got tired of looking of a picture for that does exist and presumably fits). Remember all browbands are interchangable. 

Which one do you think looks the best?

1) Retro Otto Schumacher White padded bridle 


 I picked this up a week ago (uh time flies!) for a killer deal. It's size 3, which fits everywhere except the cheeks. Because this is me, I stuck a different set of cheeks on it and here we are. The white padding is nice in a dark indoor. The leather smells amazing. It's in shockingly good condition for it's age. The price was such that I can abuse this as a schooling bridle and feel no guilt. It's a crank. It has a flash. i can take the flash off and leave the crank loose to minimize the amount of buckling I have to do.


2. Single Raised Tony Slatter Bridle (currently with Topline Leather browband)
This is not a brand I was familiar with, but a barnmate was selling it and let me try it on ZB and basically as soon as I touched it, I was sold. The leather is stunning. The fit is excellent. It's a plain cavesson, which is about the number of straps I have the energy for. If I'm being picky, the reins are a little short for ZB, but I haven't swapped them out yet because I like touching them. On the whole, this is an excellent quality bridle that is uncomplicated to use, and the single raised is classy on her.


3) Highly Custom Nunn Finer Event Bridle in black/stainless (also shown with Topline Leather browband)
This is the first bridle I bought ZB and I'll probably never be able to sell it because WTF cob size cheeks on an OS headstall. Well, and I'll never want to sell it because it's simple and classic and easy and doesn't have a crank or a flash and can be beat to death and still be acceptable in mixed company.


4) Large horse size Micklem with (different) Topline Browband

 In fairness to me, I don't actually own this bridle. A friend sent it to me to mess around with and either keep or sell. I could tell you a long story about why I've now had it for like 6 months and done neither, but the essential points are that 1) I still have it 2) I don't love it and 3) hey look something off the rack went on ZB somehow!


4) Mark Todd bridle with Dark Jewel Designs browband
 I've blogged about this bridle before. I hang on to it for sentimental reasons and i definitely expect it to be back in the rotation this summer. In a strange twist, it's the only brown piece of tack I own right now. Well, sort of co-own. It's complicated. But beautiful.


5) Red Barn Piaffe Bridle with Black Jak Refinery browband
I had a massive tack ho crush on this bridle for a long time before I bought it. It's a really fun design. It fits (in regular horse size wtf) and the self-colored padding keeps it just this side of conservative. If I'm being picky, I hate doing a crank/flash on the daily, but I also want to keep this as my show bridle. (Ignore that I'm not showing right now) (Also ignore that I loathe new leather and this needs to be broken in).

Help me out blogosphere! If I'm attempting to narrow down which one bridle lives at the barn, which one should it be?

67 comments:

  1. I'm partial to the Piaffe (dibs when you get tired of it 😂), but I also like having a schooling bridle I feel like I can abuse without guilt, so Otto or the Nunn Finer would probably be my vote. Although I was unaware of the existence of the Tony Slatter bridle.... 😉

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How did you not know about that?? I send you pics all the time!

      Delete
  2. I vote:
    Highly Custom Nunn Finer Event Bridle in black/stainless (shown with Topline Leather browband)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the retro otto on her... but I am a sucker for pop on a dark colored horse. The micklem doesn't do much for me on any horse despite slapping one on my own horse every ride. It may just be my own person obsession but I think she'd look fantastic in a wide noseband like an Eponia...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really want to love micklems, but this is the third different one I'd played with and I just can't.

      Delete
  4. I like the Red Barn, mostly because of the wider noseband. Otherwise I would have picked the Nunn Finer... that one just needs a touch wider noseband IMO. Really I like all of them though except the Otto (granted I hate white padding) and the Micklem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Every time I try to shop for wider nosebands, I get annoyed with how much they cost and then forget to buy one.

      Delete
  5. I think you need to get the Topline mermaid browband made in brown and slap that on the Mark Todd... But I'm from hunter land and love me a brown bridle. Second choice is probably the Nunn Finer.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the Tony Slatter and the Otto :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Retro Otto and Piaffe! *drooling*

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nun finer and Piaffe. Huge pet peeve of mine is a flash holder with no flash threaded through tho. I don’t love the retro look of the Otto of the wide nose + stitchig on the Mark Todd. I love that rainbow brown and more than life itself! Perfection.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've learned to accept the flash loop without a flash because I tend to buy and sell too fast to justify hurting the retail by making custom alterations. Agree that it's suboptimal tho.

      Delete
  9. I like #2 Tony Slatter. But my, what a good model ZB is!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You like it now. You'd love it if you touched it.

      Delete
  10. I love the retro look on ZB - she is rocking it hard - and plus Valegro rocks the retro too :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, his is more cutting edge $$$$ custom, but I like where you're going with that.

      Delete
  11. The white padding is nice but my fav is the Nunn Finer. I think it's a lovely bridle, but it doesn't detract from ZB's face. You're drawn to her soft eyes and smooshy nose than if it were a flashy bridle. I'm personally not a fan of a flash, but that being said I like Piaffe as a strong 2nd. The wider noseband is nice and the slight sheen really brings out how black ZB is :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bringing out the smooshy nose is an excellent point. Good call.

      Delete
  12. Is all of them an acceptable choice?

    ReplyDelete
  13. I really like Otto and the Piaffe, but I'm a sucker for wider nosebands.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Otto and Tony Slatter for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well, I pick the Mark Todd because reasons. But I think the Nunn Finer is my top choice for your everyday bridle. Simple, classy, quality.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I like #5, although to be fair, I think the u-shaped browbands look best on her, so I'll vote for those :D

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oooo I like 1 and 5!!! and ZB! All the ZB

    ReplyDelete
  18. I like the Tony Slatter and the Red Barn best

    ReplyDelete
  19. Tony Slatter or the Otto for when you feel real fancy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bridles with first names of their own just seem more fancy somehow.

      Delete
  20. I vote for the Tony Slatter as I have a TS dressage saddle and Love so many things about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a sleeper favorite--I was not familiar with it before and it's legit french-quality leather. Very pleasant surprise.

      Delete
    2. I would call dibbs if you decide to re-home it, (because I have been shopping for one) but from the posts here, I'll find another before you give it up. lol

      Delete
  21. I love both #2 and #3 on her! I feel you on the bridle situation... I currently have 4 in my tiny tack locker at the barn right now. For one horse. Why. And a bunch more at home... I wish I could be happy with one or two!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha ha yeah. It's not even like I use a bunch of different bits--I have like 4 versions of the same thing and she goes great in it.

      Delete
  22. Otto with a new browband or the red barn piaffe

    ReplyDelete
  23. Nunn Finer - mostly because I hate dangling flash tabs. I use the same dressage bridle and same jump bridle regularly. I do have 2 more jumps and another dressage - on and the unicorn horse bridle, but they all stay home. I do have a list of all my tack and the location of where they live. I keep as little at the barn as possible, even though I have a giant 6'x3'x3' locker.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hold onto your tack sponges, blog land; I'm gonna show you how to tack ho.

    School in the Otto
    Show in the Slatter
    Jump in the Nunn Finer
    Add a bridoon hanger to the Red Barn and make it her eventual double
    Trail ride in the Micklem
    Hunters in the Todd

    As far as the tack room situation? Buy more hooks. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And then there’s that One Other Thing.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Since my "clicky link" skills have failed me, here's the link for copy and paste

      https://www.sstack.com/stable_racksorganizers_tackbridle-racks/easy-up-10-hook-tack-rack/

      Delete
  25. Perfect answer? Buy two more bridles and use them all (One for each day of the week)! Help much me? Nope ;) I like them all (Tho I am not a fan of the micklem on anything)...:)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Replies
    1. It took me a while to figure out why they list only equaled 5. 😂😂😂

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...