Dressage Bridles

[Coppers mom]

What are some good dressage bridles for a horse with a small head? My mare has a very dainty face, and most dressage bridles look to chunky on her. Preferably, I'd like to find something under $150, but I haven't been able to find anything in that range made by a brand I know in Dressage Extensions. Any help? Thanks!

[Puddin Pie]

Perhaps not in your budget, but the bridle I coveted for years and finally broke down and purchased for my arabian, is the Stubben bridle that has the "raised squares" on the browband and noseband. Very delicate leather work and it looks fabulous on him.

[dresstar]

Hi,
I have a half arab. Well different ones threw the years. I have been able to use this bridle on all of them. Kavalkade Bridle with Diamond Browband
In a cob size. You can go to http://www.dressageextensions.com/home.htm I have also had people tell me that Bobbys will work to.
Good luck!

[Horsepower]

I had the same problem and based on prior threads ended up with the Courbette Magic Lemetex bridle. It is on sale now at The Hitchingpost website for under $175. It is Swiss made and the cheek pieces and rest are very slender, which look great on a dainty head. The leather is also a lovely quality.

[18handsoffury]

My saddlebred mare has a very fine featured face and I finally found a super gorgeous bridle on ebay,although it did have to come all the way from the UK. I think the ebay store was called saddlery4u but I'm not sure-you can just search for FSS dressage bridles and go from there-their store has stubben, schumacher and other brand names or you can have a custom one made for a very reasonable price. Brass fittings, rolled edges,super bling browbands/nosebands and specialty padded items-if you're looking for it they probably have it.

[ShowMeTheGlory]

These guys are FANTASTIC and the shipping is very fast. I just got an FSS bridle for my guy and it is gorgeous!!





My saddlebred mare has a very fine featured face and I finally found a super gorgeous bridle on ebay,although it did have to come all the way from the UK. I think the ebay store was called saddlery4u but I'm not sure-you can just search for FSS dressage bridles and go from there-their store has stubben, schumacher and other brand names or you can have a custom one made for a very reasonable price. Brass fittings, rolled edges,super bling browbands/nosebands and specialty padded items-if you're looking for it they probably have it.

[3horsemom]

my daughter's sweet mare has a vespucci bridle that is just lovely. it is very feminine looking especially with her pearl browband!
the horse has nicer bling than i do!

[Ambrey]

A friend who has a gorgeous TB mare with a very feminine head has a rolled Schumacher bridle that is just to die for. It is, um, slightly out of that price range, but there are other rolled bridles that are less expensive and I think they are so beautiful on the fine-faced gals.

http://cgi.ebay.com/FSS-ROLLED-Leather-Crank-Flash-Dressage-Show-Bridle-NEW_W0QQitemZ270307881355QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Hor se_Wear_Equipment?hash=item270307881355&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A15|39%3A1|240%3A1318 (http://cgi.ebay.com/FSS-ROLLED-Leather-Crank-Flash-Dressage-Show-Bridle-NEW_W0QQitemZ270307881355QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Hor se_Wear_Equipment?hash=item270307881355&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A15%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318)

I've also had great experiences ordering from them- at one time they did not have a good reputation, but I think it's improved.

[Whitfield Farm Hanoverians]

A great quality & great looking bridle is the Kieffer Anja, the rolled on in Dressage Extentions catalog. It looks horrible in the catalog but a friend bought one a year ago & it looked fabulous with great soft leather. She changed the browband so I guessed that the browband was ugly. Well another friend liked it so much that she also bought one & used the browband that comes on it. It is really beautiful. It is over the $150 mark at around $200 but really it is nice. Just don't look at the cruddy picture in the catalog.

[J-Lu]

My friend uses a kieffer Anja on her arabian stallion and it looks really nice on his head. I have a mare with a very refined head and she goes in a Schumacher snaffle and an Anky double bridle. The Anky comes in 1/2" widths, rather than 5/8" width, in the "horse size" and it looks very nice on her. I had to change out the browband, though, because the one that comes with the "horse size" bridle is pretty small. I think the snaffle also can come in a 1/2" width. I purchased it online and got a good deal. Good luck!

[Dinahmare]

How about this? Someone else mentioned that they are doing 20% off on Black Friday???

http://www.vtosaddlery.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=VTO&Product_Code=RBCDB&Category_Code=BRDL

[Windy Willow]

Clue me in on what the difference is between " rolled leather" bridles and padded. I know what a padded and flat bridle are but what exactly is rolled leather? Never had one and I can't really tell from looking at the pictures.. also are they more in cost? is it just a personal preference ?

[Ambrey]

Rolled is when the leather is rolled into a tube shape, so it has the strength of a strap but a smaller profile.

here's one with some good photos:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rolled-English-Leather-Bridle-A-Host-Of-Extras-F-S_W0QQitemZ180309314909QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Horse _Wear_Equipment?hash=item180309314909&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A4|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Rolled-English-Leather-Bridle-A-Host-Of-Extras-F-S_W0QQitemZ180309314909QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Horse _Wear_Equipment?hash=item180309314909&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A4%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318)

[Windy Willow]

oh I definitely dont like that altho the one in Bartsville that is pictured looks wider than that one.

I think I'll go with the black padded.Thanks for clearing that up for me:)

[dwblover]

Henri de Rivel dressage bridle.

[slc2]

My friend has a vespucci bridle for her little mare and it makes her look like a harbor chick, LOL. except she IS a harbor chick, lol.

[Ambrey]

What the heck is a harbor chick?

[Hampton Bay]

http://www.vtosaddlery.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=VTO&Product_Code=OCB&Category_Code=BRDL

I have the padded show bridle with flash in brown and it is pretty darn nice for the price. They have it in black with a flash too. It is much better suited for a smaller head than many of the dressage bridles, and it looks very nice on my cob-sized mare.

[Windy Willow]

What the heck is a harbor chick?

haha My exact thoughts.I just didnt want to ask

[Tiki]

I second the Vespucci bridle in cob size. It is gorgeous, fits perfectly, looks lovely (and, yes, Slick, what the heck is a harbor chick??) and comes with a padded crown - about $200 depending on vendor.

[in_the_zone]

Keiffers are great, but remember they are sized way too big. A cob fits my 16.1hh warmblood whose head is about the same as similarly sized TBs.

[indigoshorses]

Ooo...just have to jump in to say that I'm glad to hear that about the Keiffer Anja...I've been eyeballing it for my mare because she has a really fine head and I love rolled bridles, but something about it looks funny in the pic. :)

[Schiffon]

Thanks for the heads up on FS Saddlery! They sell padded crownpieces/cheekpiece units separately so one can add their own noseband, browband and reins! Only about $50. Since I have a special extra long browband and a drop noseband, this saves me a bundle and keeps me from adding to my unwanted noseband and browband collection on the wall.