Help a Sister Out: Bridles!

I'm half-heartedly bridle shopping (am I ever not?) but I'm not 100% sure what I'd be looking for if I'm actually looking. All I can say is a friend just got a Jerry's Harness bridle and I'm OBSESSED but that is a LOT of money to spend on a bridle annnnnnnd for someone who goes through tack as fast as I do, I'm not sure it's a good idea. 

So let's look at what I have current headshots of Courage wearing and see what looks best. I'm breaking it down by category, because to the surprise of no one, I have a TON of these pictures.

Non-traditional Dressage bridles (aka either not show legal or definitely not a current trend):

figure eight bridle

Frankenbridle

PS of Sweden Bridle

retro rolled bridle

In this category, all but the PS of Sweden are technically "legal", but none are current looks you see in the show ring. I adore the Frankenbridle, but it's brown and I really feel brown dressage tack mutes a bay, despite being totally fine with brown jump tack. (In fact, I hate black jump tack. Being a tack ho is complicated.) 

Next up: White padded bridles. I don't know how I feel about these. I love them on some horses (Totilas, Valegro), but less so on others. I had one many moons ago for my mare and I got bored of it rather quickly. That said, the look is growing on me again and it's totally on trend now and I could get a nicer one than I had before (Bobby's, gag). 

retro semi rolled brown with white padding

Almost frankened-black with white padding

Patent and rolled accents

Admittedly, the white is a bitch to clean, but I'm a one horse ammy with a bridle fetish. I'm kind of enchanted with the look. 

Brown Bridles I could get in black:

These are show legal (or would be with a standard modification) and I have or have had them. 

micklem bridle

Ovation bridle

PS of Sweden Flat Out bridle

The Micklem is a funny bridle. It actually works well enough on Courage's facial shape, but he doesn't particularly need it's function and I'd rather have something that makes him look less finicky. Let's face it: he's finicky enough about literally everything else.

I really like the narrow cheeks for his tiny head on the ovation and the PS is just fun. Basic, but useful. 

Traditional dressage look: these bridles are pretty standard for the show ring. 

Real Antares

fake Dy'on

red barn

All of these are shown with the flash on, which is pretty unrealistic for us. That said, the flash is most definitely removable and I'm not bothered by the flash tab because I do occasionally throw one on. Browbands are of course interchangeable. 

What what do you think? What's the best look for a little blaze-faced bay horse aiming for his first recognized dressage show?

Face Off: Rambo Micklem vs PS of Sweden High Jump Bridle

The 900facebookpony already did a comprehensive write up of the PS of Sweden High Jump bridle. If you're at all curious, read it. This really is one of the coolest bridles I've been around and the thoughtful details are just incredible. Of course most people, including myself, draw an immediate comparison to the Rambo Micklem bridle, which I reviewed here.

So instead of just a straight review of this latest addition to the bridle hoard (just think if I never sold bridles. omg.), I wanted to talk about the really obvious comparison between the Rambo Micklem Bridle and the the PS of Sweden High Jump bridle.

Here is what I absolutely love about both of these bridles: they completely reject "traditional" styling that's been basically unchanged for centuries and instead look at the anatomy of the horse's face. Which is better for what and why?

Here we go!

Bridle Comparison

sparkle browband not included

Availability and Price

Micklem

The first and most obvious question to answer is how does one acquire either of these lovely pieces--neither is American based. The Micklem was designed in England and is widely available in the US through major retailers. A new Micklem runs in the $200 neighborhood and includes reins.

No special knowledge is required to order and many tack stores have started to carry Micklems as they have picked up in popularity due to being legal in all USEF English-riding disciplines (dunno about driving, reining, or vaulting). They show up quite frequently in upper level eventing competitions.

cute bay horse not included

High Jump

A High Jump bridle isn't hard to acquire, but it takes a few more page clicks than a Micklem for the US-based audience. It is available through the PS of Sweden website here. Here's the thing: It's list price is $313 when using the English version of the site.

North Americans (and basically any non-Europeans) are exempt from the VAT tax, which means that when you look at your cart, the price excluding VAT is $250. Shipping to the US (via UPS 2 day) is $30, which puts you at $280 for a High Jump bridle with reins.

It's not rocket science, but your first overseas order can be confusing. Bonus, PS takes paypal, so no worries about converting currency or whatever. The internet is magic.

Leather Quality 

Micklem

To me, a bridle in the $200-300 range is pretty standard and I don't get my panties in a twist about whether or not it's the second coming of leather Jesus.

That said, not everyone is a bridle ho like I am.

The Micklem bridle has what I call "passable" or "workmanlike" leather. It's not pretty. It's not French. It gets the job done. I don't feel bad if I ride in the rain. Despite months of meticulous care by me, the Micklem never really got that "well broken in" feel I love in quality leather.

I don't worry about it falling apart, but I don't love handling it.

High Jump

Straight out of the package, I like the leather on this bridle more than I ever liked the Micklem. It still isn't Antares of course (dear god if they put Antares leather on PS designs I would die of happiness). The leather is soft and pliable. The padding is luxurious. It takes conditioner well and is already more pliable than either of the Micklems I had ever was.

The leather is nice enough. I'm going to grade it at "slightly better than Nunn Finer" and maaaaaybe whisper that a little bird told me they were planning to upgrade the leather this year. Time will tell if I can hold out and not get a new one when that happens.

cute head, but made like a block

Sizing and Fit

Micklem

One thing that has always bothered me with Micklem bridles is that they're pretty inflexible in terms of size. Your horse either has a Micklem-sized head or he doesn't. Period. I have no ties to the Rambo company and I don't know if they're working on this, but I've never been really impressed with this aspect of the Micklem.

In addition, the "jaw strap" always hits my horses funny. I get that the Micklem isn't supposed to be tightened down, but it just seems weird and uncomfortable to put it in the middle of the cheek. Now maybe my mileage would vary if my horse was more Micklem-sized (heh), but this is what I have to deal with. I do like that the awkward jaw strap kept the bridle cheeks well clear of the eyes, but there has to be a better way to do that.

For what it's worth, Courage always wears Cob size bridles and I ordered the same here. It was fine on the jaw strap and on the longest or second longest hole for the flash.That said, his muzzle is not his most delicate feature, so I'd say the bridle fits pretty true to size.

High Jump

Truth: even when I discounted the High Jump bridle as just a European take on the Micklem, I admired the fact that they found a way to make this concept adjustable. The "cavesson" is set on rolled leather, so it can move around to accommodate different faces. The strap behind the bit is similar to a conventional crank (except it fastens with a snap), so there are lots of length options.

The front strap actually buckles UNDER the chin instead of on the side. Admittedly, this makes it minorly more difficult to put on, but OMG then then buckle isn't catching my horse's lips constantly. Given that I want my bridle to fit my horse, I actually really love this feature.

Again, I ordered cob size for Courage because he always wears cob and he does fit in the cob. Buuuuuut if I were to order again, I think I'd do some measurements to see if he could rock the horse size. The browband and cheeks are fine, but due to the shape of Courage's face (I swear it's two parallel lines instead of something cuter), the noseband is on the very last holes.

Thus, if in doubt, I'd definitely size up.

DETAILS

Micklem

This is what really separates the wheat and chaff, folks.

Most bridles have two straps that run alongside the horse's face: the cheeks and the cavesson hangers. Straps make bulk. Bulk makes pressure. Pressure is what we're trying to alleviate here.

The Micklem deals with this problem by putting everything on the one strap. I mean, you've got to hand it to Rambo--the Micklem bridle has the least pieces of any bridle I've ever worked with.

HOWEVER that is exactly what keeps the Micklem from being adjustable. Everything goes where it goes and your horses either fits or doesn't.


The Micklem does a nice job with the comfort crown and I never had any trouble with it.

High Jump

This is where the High Jump blows it's competition out of the water.

To keep the flexibility in adjustment, the High Jump sports the usual two straps alongside the face, BUT it contours one to match the shape of the facial bones and then rolls the other to eliminate bulk.

It doesn't just have a comfort crown--the entire shape of the crown is designed to sit on the horse's head. The crown is what makes it so these bridles don't need throatlatches--they're so anatomic that they just stay put.

The High Jump adds great details like fancy stitching, the snap on browband, and the hidden elastic in the bit attachments and reins to incorporate a little more give for a softer ride on the horse.

Oh, AND while the Micklem reins are standard nasty rubber reins that I literally never used, the High Jump comes with rubber lined leather reins with hand stops. That are awesome.

And that brings us to...

spring=glorious outdoor pictures

FUNCTION

Micklem

The Micklem is an item that serves to hold the bit in the horse's mouth and attach the reins while interfering with the animal as little as possible. That is the goal of bridles and it certainly gets the job done. I'd like to say it's a magic bullet or some sort of miracle cure, but 99% of contact problems seem to have a lot more to do with training than any particular piece of equipment.

That said, the Micklem is gaining traction in the show world because it is another option for those fussy horses who like a little relief. I thought Courage went well in the Micklem I had for him. My very-traditional trainer didn't like it. I ended up selling it (to get my first ps) and now said trainer has a Micklem. So. It's making inroads.

I didn't think that the Micklem changed Courage's manners in the bridle in a substantive way, but he wasn't a horse who had huge issues to start with. I would absolutely LOVE to try this bridle on some horses from my past if I ever got the chance.

winter=blurry indoor pictures

High Jump

Everything the Micklem does, the High Jump does better. It's more anatomically correct, more detail-oriented, more fitted.

The High Jump bridle is currently USEF legal only for showjumping and the jumping phases of eventing. It has not been allowed in dressage just yet. That said, it's similar to the Micklem so if PS makes the push (greases the right palms?) as it gains traction in the US market, I wouldn't be surprised if it became legal.

I have not heard that they are working on that yet, but they're a git-er-done sort of a company, so I'll keep you posted if I hear more.

PS of Sweden High Jump Bridle

CONCLUSION

At this point, the Micklem is the cheaper, show legal option that is mildly more accessible in the US. That said, the High Jump bridle is a much higher quality piece of tack that is rapidly catching on around the world. I love how it fits my horse and I love looking at it, and it's not leaving my tack room any time soon.

I think it's a good option even for the average rider with a perfectly fine horse just because it's worthwhile to explore alternatives to the traditional. Yeah, maybe you won't like it, but maybe you will.

And maybe it won't be this innovation that makes a difference for you, but it's worth being open to ideas in case one of them does.

PS of Sweden Breastplate High Five Review

PS of Sweden breastplate

Ok, true confession: despite my mild belittling of the PS High Jump bridle as "just the European Micklem", it grew on me. And then I wanted one. And then I REALLY wanted one.

And then they went on sale.

Oops! Bloppis, you get me every time.

Kicker was, the bridle came in a set with the PS of Sweden Breastplate High Five. Another brutally honest moment here and I'll admit that I'm not really in to the "big" look on breastcollars that is going around and the PS breatcollar is definitely big. It's a five point and the section across the chest is wide and eye catching.

straps

I get that it's a trendy thing, but I didn't know if I would like it.

Without further ado: The PS of Sweden Breastplate High Five Review

MSRP: $195 (before deducting 25% VAT for us non-Europeans)
What I paid: $75 (per PS invoice)

CONSTRUCTION

The night it showed up, I spent a good hour or so playing with the new toys and conditioning everything. The breastplate is large, but it's lined with super soft leather padding. I am WAY more ok with leather padding because cleaning sheepskin is, eh, let's just say "not how I want to spend my time".

The ring at the center attaches the strap that goes between the legs and the optional (but included) martingale attachment. I have to hand it to this breastplate--the straps are SUPER adjustable. As you can see, I can adjust the top or the bottom of the strap between the legs (is there a name for it?). It also has a handy clip to attach to the girth, which is my favorite thing in breastplates.

so many straps

The other two straps (top attaches to saddle, bottom attaches to girth) are tidy and well made. Again, I LOVE clips for ease of attachment, /I have whined before about having a girth strap that's nylon instead of leather, but I'll hand it to PS: it lays much flatter under the saddle flap and is completely hidden from view.

Noted: I actually think the leather quality on this piece is much nicer than on the Flat Out Bridle I already have.

martingale attachment

The more I handled this breastplate, the more impressed I was by the thoughtful details.

MARTINGALE

I mean, I knew I'd wanted one of their martingale attachments because they looked cool. I loved it even more after I handled it.

HELLO.

CLIPS.

Yes, you're seeing correctly. Instead of rings to go over the reins, PS uses heavy duty clips that just snap into place. Forget undoing your reins before and after every ride. Nope. Just snap the rings on and you're good to go. Also the overall length is full adjustable.

And I didn't snag a close up, but there's cool detailing on the keepers too.

One critique I'd offer is that given all the other clips, I'm rather shocked there wasn't a clip to attach the martingale to the breastplate. However, that's a problem that I can fix with $2 and a trip to the hardware store.

gah so much hair

SIZING

I was a little not sure on the sizing--I ordered cob size because I was mostly wanting the bridle and Courage is definitely cob in the head, but he kind of goes either way when it comes to breastcollars. I mean, I hjave three (dear god) Nunn Finer breastplates--my hunt style is horse size and I had to punch extra holes. My bridge style is cob size and it was pretty snug till it stretched. My "normal" five point is horse size and it's adjusted pretty tight.

Which is to say Courage is somewhere between cob and horse.

it's blurry indoor pics time of year

The PS was tighter than I'd like--I added d savers to the rings on my saddle to make it long enough and everything went on, but I won't be sad if my straps stretch out a little bit.

So it's cob size, but not like really tiny cob size. There is quite of bit of flexibility to the fit--I have straps all over the place. It's fine between his front legs (admittedly, I think that's all the way out still) and the elastic in the design makes it fine everywhere else.

plus sweet free keychain

COLOR

The more perceptive among you have probably noticed that this breastcollar is a lighter brown than my usual "almost looks black" shade. That's because the sale was on the chestnut color only. I pulled the trigger and closed my eyes because I wanted the gear and I do love deals. I was completely prepared to hate the color and spend my entire next paycheck on an entire vat of hydrophane.

But I was pleasantly surprised. The chestnut is a warm brown without an god-awful red tint to it. It maybe wouldn't have been my first choice, but I certainly don't mind it and I haven't purchased any hydrophane as of right now.

SHAVE THIS HORSE

WRAP UP

And how did it ride?

I'd say pretty great. The leather is cut away to make it fit quite ergonomically. The elastic is nicely stretchy, so even if it's a little snug, it still has lots of give. Despite my worries about it being a little small, Courage was perfectly happy and freely forward during his ride.

There was no rubbing or chafing anywhere after I pulled it off, which is nice since his Nunn Finer is rubbing him bald right now. The clips are easy to use and it's very self-explanatory to put on.

This version does not have a grab strap over the withers. I am a big fan of things to hang on to, so I wouldn't rule out adding one if this becomes my go-to breastplate for winter riding.

So here we are. The look is growing on me and I'm definitely glad I got it. I don't really think Courage needs a five point for daily dressage in the indoor, but given how badly the Nunn Finer is rubbing him, I think this is my go to until the summer coat comes back in.

I tried to answer as many questions here as I could. If you have more questions, please leave them in the comments and I (or Amanda, haha) will happily get back to you.

Trouble in Bridle Paradise

It's possible you've noticed that I'm a bit of a tack ho. At last count, I owned (gulp) seven bridles. It breaks down like this:

See by this logic I really need two more. It would make a better infograph.

Top: Cob size Nunn Finer Figure 8, Horse size Nunn Finer event bridle, Cob Size Aramas fancy stitich.
Middle: Cob Size Circuit figure 8, Cob size M Tolouse fancy stitch, Horse size Mark Todd with flash.
Bottom: Cob size micklem, TBA, TBA.

Despite his mellow look here

Anyways. People think that's a lot, but it really isn't. Courage can't even fit in the two horse size entries. The Mark Todd is out on loan because it's too pretty to sit around and the other one, well...

S the biomechanics instructor has me ride in a loose cavesson to keep everything super mild. That's all well and good since I have um... three... of those, but sometimes I get bored. I stuck the little bay horse in a figure eight last week and yeah. Ladies, meet C-RAGE. Not even kidding. Despite the fact that most of the riding we did last year and this spring was in either a micklem or figure eight, SOMEONE's little brain COULD.NOT.DEAL.

Not at all. It was bad. (Oh, and he also doesn't do full cheek keepers, in case anyone was wondering. Yes, I tried.)

D'awwww

So. Horse size bridles out. Figure eights out. Micklem out. The M Toulouse is on loan to everyone's favorite Prisoner, so that's out too. It's also just a hair small for Courage, so that's ok.

Realistically, that leaves me with the Aramas that I stole off of ETT but has a broken keeper and then my ridiculously patched together bridle that I flat in. It's the body of the (borrowed!! thanks Ellie!!) Nunn Finer Figure 8, the cavesson off the horse size model, and a horse size browband with fancy laced reins I threw on because they're pretty.

This face needs more bridles

So how does a tack 'ho end up with essentially 1.5 bridles?

I don't know and it isn't right.

Who wants to go bridle shopping?? I'm looking for recommendations for something that I don't already have but would want to own. I like details and nice leather and Courage can't do more than about an inch of cavesson, so nothing too huge.

What's everybody wanting?

Tack and my OTTB

Because they're pretty cute

One thing that came out of our lesson on Monday was that I need to change my tack again. Hooray! I know I'm a little strange, but I love playing with tack ideas to help finesse the best performance possible.

So. For our lesson, I had Courage go in his micklem bridle with his eggbutt Sprenger bit, which is a very, very soft set up. This has been our default lately--I wanted the soft bit to encourage Courage to go into the contact, plus I figured it would minimize any errors I made over fences.

Mmmm leather and sparkles

Our trainer didn't love it. As she pointed out, he doesn't really mouth the bit or connect at all. He opens his mouth or closes his mouth. He isn't interacting with the bit. In addition, I tend to ride with a very soft contact. With the construction of the Sprenger eggbutt, that means the thickest part of the bit is barely touching the corners of his lips and having no action inside his mouth at all.

To me, this is actually good news. I mean, obviously I want to improve (/have) the connection and quality of the contact, but when we started, he'd just sort  of gape his mouth open and ignore me. Now we're facing a different set of challenges, which means things are changing and we're learning together. It is progress on a microcosmic level.

The prescription for hunter face

She wants to see him go in a plain cavesson to see if that encourages him to have a little more jaw mobility. Even though the mickelm is not very tight, changing up the arrangement (in concert with me stepping up the pressure) might help him learn to be more accepting of the bit.

In addition, she wants to try a thinner bit with the idea that it might give me a little more direct feedback and help him pay attention without having to use as much force.

She mentioned a d bit. Of course we'll try that. I've also had a lot of luck with the baucher and I'm not adverse to trying out a loose ring again, even if I do hate how they look.

I'm excited to play with my toys, that's for sure. Courage and I are doing flatwork boot camp while we bust out the bit box and reorganize the bridles.

The Preamble

The best at putting his head down

I knew I wanted to take Courage to a super fun out of town cross country schooling during spring break, so I thought it was in my best interests to haul him over to my eventing trainer's facility. Once a week she hosts a "grid night" that's just an inexpensive way to get horses out and jumping. Every time I planned on going, something came up.

Until last week. We were scheduled to leave for the weekend on Thursday, grid night is Wednesday... so we chucked him in the trailer and went. My thinking was that he was pretty perfect last year, so why would this year be any different?

In case you are wondering, here are some reasons why:
1) He hasn't been anywhere in three months, which makes his world very small
2) I haven't put a lot of pressure on him in that time, so his tolerance for difficult things was reduced
3) He's feeling really great physically, which makes him expressive
4) He's just plain out of practice.
5) There was a big storm system blowing in

So....

Looking good

He came out pretty quiet. I handwalked him around the arena, and he looked at things but wasn't super reactive.

He was a little vocal, but otherwise fine. I hopped on.







At first, all was well. We walked and trotted around and worked on settling in. It wasn't his best work ever, but I seemed to be getting his brain.

And then the wheels started coming off. He went all classic-insecure-gelding on me and started screaming for his girlfriend.

She screamed back.


Wheeeeee.

Going in

I tried to keep him focused by beginning the exercise. Just our luck, it was a ridiculous amount of poles. Sadly, we are just not the best at poles quite yet.

We walked through a couple times, then went to trot. I was hoping that the walking would help him do things calmly.

Going out

Yeah, not so much. We'd trot the first pole, then canter, then leap and flail on the way out.

I tried not to get in his face, but he was blowing through half halts and ignoring me and then pissing off if I touched his face. I tried bringing him back to walk or trot mid-poles, and that was a no go too.

VROOOOOM

I tried staying in balance over him and looping the rein and we just charged faster and nearly flailed our way into another green horse.

See, when Courage flails, his whole topline goes hollow and he tenses the bottom of his body. His ears are practically up my nose and his legs are moving like pistons that don't go anywhere.

It's not hard to stay on, but it's very hard to channel that into anything useful.

Oh, and we started screaming and panicking even more. I don't think his girlfriend was even calling back to him at this point. We were approaching full-on melt down mode.





Oh goody. I don't really think it's productive to push a high-strung horse into a meltdown, because they're already reacting to pressure. Besides, I'm trying to string together calm, positive experiences to build on for the year. I don't need to teach him that traveling is scary. He seems to have a handle on that.

I broke it down for him and gave up on the exercise. We walked through the grid once in a relatively calm fashion, then moved on to something I thought he could be successful at.






Hellooooo trot figure eights.

I just serpentined him around the jumps and through the poles and made him focus a bit. It wasn't that great of work. He was having trouble going forward and continued to be very tense and scream for his girlfriend.

He managed for a while, but then we started just skidding sideways and giraffing.








I made him do a few more figure eights and then took him to stand in the group and just chill. We chatted with friends and stood on a loose rein until the group finished. Then I hopped off and stuck him in a stall until his girlfriend finished up the next group.



And he spent the next hour and a half kicking the walls and screaming like an idiot.

Still. Despite the fact that it was all in all a pretty un-fun experience, I finally felt ready to face the year. We could do so much better and I wanted to kick both our butts into shape.

It was time to get out there and DO STUFF.

It's good I felt like that, because we were scheduled to leave the very next day...

(to be continued)

PS Many thanks to Alyssa at Four Mares, No Money for all the lovely pictures.

PPS brace yourselves for the photo-extravaganza of awesome. SO. STOKED.