Comfort bridles

[Janette]

I've been looking at the 'Elevator Bridle' website and their claims are quite phenomenal..... They seem to solve the problems we have been experiencing - tension, hollowing, inconsistent contact...

Does anybody have any experiences of these bridles, or the cheaper versions from ebay?

 

[sillygillyhorse]

See if you can borrow one to try before spending a fortune on an elevator. In my opinion the Rhinegold or Heritage copies off ebay just as good if not better. Horse on my yard have both and several people have commented that the leather on the Heritage one is better quality. Have to say I didnt notice any difference in my horses way of going in a comfort bridle.

If you do go for a Heritage one watch the sizes they tend to come up rather large, I bought a full size for a horse who always wore a normal f/s bridle and it was a little large for him!

 

[flyingfeet]

We sell a very similar version

To be honest, unless you did a crank noseband up super tight, it won't have much impact, as most horses have little pressure on the poll anyway!

However for dressage peeps who like to bondage up their horse using super tight cranks they found improvement, as at least the poor beast gets some relief from the thin noseband strap digging in.

That said, the poll is sensitive so cannot hurt to give extra padding, plus they are terribly fashionable (obviously better with coloured leather!!)

 

[spaniel]

I have bought the Heritage bridle and am pleased with the quality. Whether the headpiece makes any difference is debateable but all in all much cheaper than the same result from the Elevator!

 

[SirenaXVI]

Echo that, I have the Heritage (and yes, it does come up big) love the bridle, whether it has made any difference, like spaniel, I think it's debateable.

 

[Stella]

I liked the sound of them too. When I bought my mare 3 years ago, I decided to treat her to the Albion version. Very strangely, she hated it, tossed her head around, lost all steering (I don't rely on my hands to steer). This reaction didn't seem very logical, but she definately didn't like the feel of it in some way

I expect some horses would really like them though, but it does show that they are not a panacea doesn't it?

 

[Dreckly]

I bought the Elevator version a little while ago.

My new boy has problems in the poll area and is very sensitive. He was not really bad with a normal bridle, but would always take ages to settle in his head when schooling, the bridle almost seemed a distraction to his concentration.

The first time he wore it, I can honestly say it almost seemed like a relief to him. He walked into the school without the usual head tossing and seemed more readily to accept my hand and concentrate on his work.

Unfortunately he only got to wear it about 3 times before being off work for 7 weeks following a kick and we are now just getting back to riding, but the times we did use it I and my instructor would definately say he was "happier" in it and worked very well.

 

[beaconhorse]

agree with the others that the copies are JUST as good I have the heritage one, well 2 actually and love them. Made a big difference to my horse too who used to headshake

 

[Alibear]

I have an elevator and it made the world of difference to my old boy, and the bonus is they are lovely and soft and give big eared horses more room and less ear rubs!
Fits my new boy apart from the noseband so have just emailed off to find out if I can just buy a smaller nose band.

Definitly a fan.

 

[SpottedCat]

I have one - can't say it has made any difference - it's not an elevator one, but is an equally expensive comfort bridle.

My only thoughts on them is I have never understood why people use them with bits designed to give poll pressure - seems totally pointless to me!

 

[BeckyD]

I have bought a Sabre Cordoba, and it's made not a huge, but certainly a noticeable difference to my horse's way of going. He's very sensitive around the poll, he doesn't like anything there really. He accepts the contact much more happily in the Cordoba, plus I'm happier as it's nice and squishy

 

[KatB]

If you are worried about poll pressure, try running the noseband strap over the headpiece first, to see if it makes a difference, if so, it maybe worth getting a comfort bridle, if not it wont make a difference, but doing this it makes the weight bearing area on the poll larger instead of just having the noseband strap digging in. The only difference with the comfort ones is they are more padded, but it is the same principle for short term use.

 

[vicm2509]

I got the heritage one and was very pleased with the quality. However my horse seems to go worse in it than he does in his normal kieffer bridle. Hes getting used to it but does not soften as easily in it and tends to lean a lot more

 

[Janette]

Thankyou folks.

I agree about putting a poll action bit on a comfort bridle - strange....

I'll run the noseband up over the head piece - good idea that, and I'll add the gel cushion I've bought from a web shop belonging to a certain member of this forum when it lands.

Thanks CSJ.

 

[Judie]

I have both the Elevator (double) and Cliff Barnsby Comfort bridle (snaffle) and they are both very good leather, look smart but make no difference to my horse's way of going - not that I have a problem with his poll area anyway, I just bought them because I liked the leather. If Ihad to choose between the two I would go for the Cliff Barnsby comfort, there is only one peice of leather over the poll, the nose band has two buckles that do up to a second strap like the cheekpeices and they do all types of nose bands, I have both the flash and caveson and I just change them over depending on what I'm doing. Nice company to deal with as well.

 

[Tempi]

Archie has an elevator, and im afriad he still gets tense, overbends and hollows when he wants to! However they are lovely quality bridles - but they are not a miracle cure for good old fashioned proper schooling im afraid!

Blossy has a sabre cordoba comfort which is lovely aswell

 

[Pasha]

I've just brought the Elevator - my boy is definately more relaxed in it and warms up into an outline a lot quicker than he did with his other bridles.... at the end of the day a bridle can not change a horses going or his temperament, but if you have to stick something on them, why not make it as comfortable as possible x