Bobby's Tack: Dressage Bridle

Last week while letting Izzy wear his bit during breakfast, he hooked the throat latch of his bridle on something, probably his hoof, and snapped it down the middle. I was disappointed for about a nanosecond. It's not that the bridle is ugly or ill-fitting, but it was starting to show some wear. Izzy is hard on his tack. As I held the flapping piece of leather, I realized this was the perfect excuse to buy a new bridle.

End of the throat latch.

As I poured over website after website, my practical side took over. Izzy isn't ready to show yet, so he doesn't need a fancy bridle. Besides that, he's hard on his tack - he sweats like a teenaged boy, throws foamy spit everywhere, and rubs his face on his legs every chance he gets. I decided to replace the bridle with something very similar for under $200.

I don't like to think I am that picky about bridles, but as I looked over my list of must haves, it would seem that the opposite is true. My must haves include:

• monocrown that is contoured and padded
• not willing to commit to ergonomical 
• buckle ends, not hooks
• normal-sized crank noseband 
• removable flash since I don't use one
• black only
• no patent leather
• reins don't matter as I ride Izzy in my own rubber reins
• plain browband as I have my own

The monocrown is the one thing that strikes 50% of the bridles off the list. I just can't stand cleaning a headstall where the noseband slides through keepers over the headpiece. Price eliminated a lot of other bridles.

Checks off all the boxes.

With my must haves in hand, I went back to the internet to see what I could find. Searching with a clearly defined list makes the process much quicker. Before long, I ended up at our ever favorite Riding Warehouse. They have a good selection, and without too much searching, I landed on the Bobby's Tack Padded Crank Dressage Bridle with Reins.

It's not fancy, but it's actually pretty nice. Shown with my browband.

The bridle checked off every one of the items on my list. The monocrown is padded and contoured, there are buckles instead of hooks, and the crank noseband is just the right size. Two things that were bonuses were that the throat latch is adjustable on both sides, and the leather is Italian. An additional perk is that the leather reins are actually quite nice. I've put them in storage for now, but I may bring them out to try later.

Mr. Grouchy Face

The bridle runs $182.95, but with a 15% discount, I only paid $166.78 which included free shipping. The bridle is not fancy, but it will work great as an every day schooling bridle. ​​