Anatomical/ergonomic bridle

Caol Ila

Caol Ila

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I think new pony will benefit from one, as he's quite sensitive around his poll and face. Of course, once you go down that internet rabbit hole, you find that there are lots of them, and they are all slightly different.

Who uses one here? Are there any which seem particularly good?

Are there any companies that essentially let you hire them out first?
 
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I have the Collegiate Comfitec bridle which I was able to hire in Ireland from a local company but I loved it from the first use! Its nicely designed and the leather is decent - not top quality but decent enough & I do like how it looks on my lads face! Plus its not mental money!

I would definitely recommend it though!
 
I have a sensitive one who is very happy in a very plain hunter type (it's a jeffries) bridle .. I don't use a noseband at all but the key is having a brow band that is wide enough to allow the headpiece to sit properly behind the ears and not pressing on their bases. If the browband is even marginally (mm) too small it will pull the headpiece onto the base of the ears.
 
I've got a Horsemanship saddlery saturn one, a Micklem, and a Shires one, they each suit different horses. The Horsemanship saddlery one is lovely leather and beautifully made. The Shires one is very, very good for the price. The Micklem is pretty rubbish, a huge pain to get it to fit properly, and ugly to look at. That said, the boy goes better in it than anything else. I don't know of anywhere that trials bridles, it would be great if you can find somewhere. I tend to buy used on Ebay , if they like it then you can always buy new on the right colour.
 
Like a lot of Highlands, he's really wide around his ears and forehead. I wonder if that's part of his issue with a standard bridle. And some horses are just sensitive.

Some of them, like the Comfitec, have a flash-type strap that sits in front of the bit. In principle, I'm against flashes, but does that arrangement actually help some horses?
 
I have an anatomical headpiece as a lot of the nosebands have two fastenings which my horse hates. I have a PSOS headpiece which he loves - he can't abide a normal bridle now and made it very clear when I tried to use his old one to avoid switching bits.
 
Don't mind how it looks. I kind of like the weird, quirky ones, to be honest (weirder the better!), but I'm not the one who has to wear it. It seems impossible to guess what the horse will like without dropping lots of cash and putting bridle on horse.
 
You used to be able to try the Fairfax bridles before you bought .
I am big fan of Fairfax bridles .
If I had a horse with poll pressure issue I would certainly try a dy’on difference bridle While I like tradition I think it’s good tack design moves on .
 
Oh in that case there is another brand that comes up on these threads regularly that are also very non-trad but look comfortable - I can't for the life of me remember so hoping someone else is along soon...
 
I have an older version of this which is lovely. I agree that having a long enough browband is essential.

https://www.kieffer.net/en/bridles/snaffle-bridles/3142-kieffer-ultrasoft-sue.html

3142-kieffer-ultrasoft-sue-horse-0-5fee7567.jpg
 
Caol Ila said:
Like a lot of Highlands, he's really wide around his ears and forehead. I wonder if that's part of his issue with a standard bridle. And some horses are just sensitive.

Some of them, like the Comfitec, have a flash-type strap that sits in front of the bit. In principle, I'm against flashes, but does that arrangement actually help some horses?
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I think you are far better off buying a bridle you can buy different size pieces for.. I know the Jeffries ones you can buy the different elements separately so you could in theory have a full size browband with a cob size headpiece. .. it is worth measuring things like foreheads as the good makes will give measurements for the different sized elements of a bridle.
 
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With Fairfax you build your bridle using different sizes .
Mine are a mixture of standard and large parts .
The pads for the back of the nosebands are available in several sizes .
 
Zuzan said:
I think you are far better off buying a bridle you can buy different size pieces for.. I know the Jeffries ones you can by the different elements separately so you could in theory have a full size browband with a cob size headpiece. .. it is worth measuring things like foreheads as the good makes will give measurements for the different sized elements of a bridle.
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yup, all of mine are a combination of different sized parts and several brands allow you to do this.
 
rextherobber said:
I've got a Horsemanship saddlery saturn one, a Micklem, and a Shires one, they each suit different horses. The Horsemanship saddlery one is lovely leather and beautifully made. The Shires one is very, very good for the price. The Micklem is pretty rubbish, a huge pain to get it to fit properly, and ugly to look at. That said, the boy goes better in it than anything else. I don't know of anywhere that trials bridles, it would be great if you can find somewhere. I tend to buy used on Ebay , if they like it then you can always buy new on the right colour.
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I have the Saturn too and the Micklem. I would definitely go with the Saturn over the Micklem, much nice leather and you can choose the size of everything so it really fits. It doesn't break the bank either. The only (very slight downside) to it is if you want the plain hunter style and you need anything more than a full, the smallest noseband is very wide. I would have liked it a bit thinner give the choice. The raised noseband is much thinner but looked odd on Charlie. Same with the browband - the pain hunter one sticks out a long way in front of his head. He's very comfortable but it does look a bit odd. The scooped one sits much better. I had a bit and bridle consultant out to fit mine and think it was well worth the £65 to have it all measured properly and to have the expert advice on the bit.
 
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The Comfitec one works similar to that one https://www.eliteequestrian.org/?product=presteq-faysport-anatomical-bridle Where the straps lie even out the pressure and dont sit on nerve points on the face, the way the Comfitec one fits my horse, I woudnt ever be able to overtighten it though - look I'm sure you could but the way it sits, its like a even pressure all around - my horse really seems to like it & he couldnt abide by a flash!

I do like the EcoRider Freedom Comfort Bridle aswell cause the flash is completely removeable and looks very like it would have an even pressure type thing going on aswell!
 
I have a eco rider bridle which my mare loves and i also have a POS bridle for my gelding. They definitely go better in these bridles than others I have tried.
I would suggest having a proper look at your horses head and comparing that to others. As although the ecorider is cut away from the ears, it would not be profound enough for a horse with a larger ear socket thing (Friday afternoon brain is in full swing ?)
My friend has recently bought a horsemanship saddlery bridle and it’s lovely. It is more cut back than the eco, to a similar extent to the POS. The leather is really good quality too. If I was buying again that’s what I would be going for.
 
Once I’ve got him home, would pics and/ or measurements of his head be useful?

His current owner is sending us off with the bridle I’ve been using. Not a perfect bridle, but something we can get by with while I figure out a better one. It has a myler bit with Boucher cheeks, which seems the best one out of the ones she had on hand to try.
 
The horsemanship saddlery and the kieffer are both lovely with the optional noseband.

I did get a decathlon anatomical one super cheap (under £40) new, that is actually surprisingly good, shaping and fit is good and you can completely detach the flash leaving it as a totally plain noseband. For the money its a good bridle.
 
Caol Ila said:
Some of them, like the Comfitec, have a flash-type strap that sits in front of the bit. In principle, I'm against flashes, but does that arrangement actually help some horses?
Click to expand...

There's a massive common misconception that this strap is there to 'tie their mouth shut', I read a post on Facebook about it the other day where someone couldn't be convinced otherwise.
In actuality this strap is supposed to help support and lift the bit in the horses mouth, keeping it stiller in combination with the bit cradles/clips that are also usually found in this type of bridle.

I have a Micklem on two of mine (the Highland is the only one in a conventional bridle) for different reasons and one in particular goes much nicer in it. If I had the cash I'd be splashing out on a couple of PS bridles for them instead though, maybe the Nirak.
 
I wanted a anatomical headpiece with a simple cavesson/crank noseband. Trying to find something without a flash or goes below the bit is impossible.
I ended up with a shockemohle slimford bridle.
 
depends how shaped the headpiece needs to be, but I've been very happy with my Sabre bridles, the Cordoba Sensitive is shaped and you can mix and match the sizes with them, the measurements of all the pieces are online and I just emailed them and told them what I needed. Plus the full choice of nosebands. I have a drop and a cavesson for mine.
 
atropa said:
There's a massive common misconception that this strap is there to 'tie their mouth shut', I read a post on Facebook about it the other day where someone couldn't be convinced otherwise.
In actuality this strap is supposed to help support and lift the bit in the horses mouth, keeping it stiller in combination with the bit cradles/clips that are also usually found in this type of bridle.

I have a Micklem on two of mine (the Highland is the only one in a conventional bridle) for different reasons and one in particular goes much nicer in it. If I had the cash I'd be splashing out on a couple of PS bridles for them instead though, maybe the Nirak.
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That’s why I asked. My instinctive aversion to flash-looking straps might be wrong. That’s the sort of thing that might actually be helpful for this horse.
 
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