Retiring the Double Bridle

I did some tack cleaning over the weekend. At first, it was just going to be Izzy's every day bridle, and then I did Speedy's snaffle bridle. Then I looked at his double bridle, and my heart broke just a teeny tiny bit. It was covered in dust, and his beautiful Zwarovski crystal browband was sagging in a way that couldn't be good for the shape or the leather. I decided to clean it as well. 

Knowing that Speedy wouldn't be wearing it again, I decided to strip away the extras I had bought for it - the crystal browband, the Sanft German Silver Curb and Bradoon bits, and the Thinline reins. 

I dismantled the bridle, carefully cleaning and conditioning each piece. Once it lay in pieces, any sentimentality I had felt earlier disappeared. It's just a bridle after all. I located its original browband and reins and reassembled everything with the plainer weymouth and bradoon that I had long ago bought for Izzy.

With it hanging clean and shiny, I figured that I may as well sell it. It's not doing me any good, and I hate to see useful things sitting around unused. Bridles and saddles need loving homes to keep them in good working order. There's a great Facebook page in my area for selling tack, so I typed up the add and uploaded the photos. I skipped the box for price.

How much was it worth really? Not what's it worth to me, but what would I pay if I saw it listed for sale? I located the price of the bridle and bits new. I did some quick addition, and then I cut the figure in half. That's what I would pay for it. That's what anyone else looking would pay for it.

I couldn't do it. I closed the page and hung the bridle in my office closet. I would rather sell it cheap to a friend or someone who knows Speedy's story rather than sell it to a stranger looking for a great deal. I've been that stranger so no offense meant. It's just that it means more to me whole than I thought it did.

In some ways, retirement is harder than it should be.