Heritage bridles - couple of ?'s

There's 2 Heritages
This one http://www.heritagesaddlery.co.uk/ is Matt who makes bespoke bridles, 100% English leather and English made, they are very good,the whole thing is made here in the UK
The second one is a cheap massed produced English leather bridle, made yes, with English leather but the leather is shipped out to India where it is then made up into bridles using Indian manufacturing methods and Indian Buckles and fittings.
Such as this one http://snowhilltradesaddlery.co.uk/productpage.php?Product=85

If you shy away from economy and Indian bridlework for what ever reason/s then the man who makes those bridles in India is making the second Heritage bridle I have shown you as well and yes I have been at loggerheads with the wholesalers in the country who do this, they have imported bridles made in India with English leather and label them "English" it is somewhat vague in it's description and I think it should be stopped, meaning they should label them "made in India using english leather" that would be far more informative!
It's not largely known in the retail trade as most don't think to ask the wholesalers where the actual bridle is made, just assume the WHOLE THING is made in England NOT JUST the leather!
Indian economy bridles have their place and yes I have sold them in the past and have some still to sell BUT I tell people where it comes from and then they can make an educated decision about buying it!
You will get people on here who swear by the imported Heritage and yes they are ok alot of the time but I am seeing an increased amount of imported "English leather" bridlework of various makes in my workshop that is new and broken due to being VERY dry, the leather has been out to India, sitting around waiting to be made into a bridle in the heat, then shipped back here again, sits in a wholesalers warehouse for god knows how long, then a shop shelf so no wonder it is dry when you the public buy it, remember leather new or old, loses moisture everyday whether it is used or not and has a shelf life unless it is fed with leatherfood of some sorts.Most retailers would not have the time to do this..I see alot with broken fittings too, again they are imported fittings.
You decide!
Oz
 
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Hi,
I have both snaffles and doubles in the Heritage range, and would buy another one tomorrow. They size up quite large - I have an 18h boy who is on the top hole in a full size, so measure first, but kept oiled they are fantastic...
 
I've got one - think its the second one listed by Unicorn Leather. I wasnt overly keen on it - its okay for a cheap bridle but it looks and feels cheap. It does come up big sized. It looks and feels nothing like a Stubben bridle.
 
I had a heritage bridle for my lad,only cost £40,the quality is pretty good!
They are fab,but when you stand them next to the likes of jeffries and stubben you can see the difference :)
 
Have read unicornleathers post,and i had no problem with quality on the leather front,can honestly say it has cleaned up every time very well,and softened and is now very supple :)
 
The quality is the main difference.You can feel the difference between the English leather we use to make bridles and the imported bridles using English leather.

The imported heritage did have the green bridle badge on the browband with the name heritage on it. Matts Heritage range has red bridle badges with Marlow written on it.
He uses all English made stainless steel fittings or brass to match whatever the style of bridlework is.

Matt sells his bridlework mainly on ebay look:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Heritage-Custom-made-saddles-Tack?_rdc=1

Oz
 
unicornleather said:
The quality is the main difference.You can feel the difference between the English leather we use to make bridles and the imported bridles using English leather.

The imported heritage did have the green bridle badge on the browband with the name heritage on it. Matts Heritage range has red bridle badges with Marlow written on it.
He uses all English made stainless steel fittings or brass to match whatever the style of bridlework is.

Matt sells his bridlework mainly on ebay look:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Heritage-Custom-made-saddles-Tack?_rdc=1

Oz
Click to expand...
My bridle has the silver heritage badge? x
 
Maybe they have changed the badges now, the green ones are on old stock I had in my workshop.I haven't had any in for a while.On some of the cheaper Heritage they have the name heritage stamped on the buckles, they went through a phase of it, some have, some haven't.
Oz
 
Haven't got the bridles but did buy 2 of the headcollars. One is great and I still use it, the other snapped where the lead rope clips on about the 2nd time I used it. It was the hardware that broke and not the leather and the horse it was on does not pull.
Not sure exactly how it happened as I was at a show, in the ring on one horse and the other was tied up outside the trailer. (First I knew of it was when she appeared at the ringside amongst the spectators calling to her friend lol.)
 
I had a headcollar break too, the clip broke without much strain on it,luckily I was on hand to catch my mare before she legged it.
I had a Heritage bridle,I bought it off of ebay and by what I have read by Unicorn Leather it is the imported version.The seller was advertising them as English leather and yes, I thought that meant the bridle was made in England. I would never have another one, unicorn is right it was very dry right even brand new and the keepers kept breaking.The man who mended it in a saddlery shop said that the leather was too dry and likely to break again, yet I had oiled it when I bought it.
Then the buckle that holds the bit in broke, snapped in half, luckily I was only just leaving my yard and not out on a fast hack sometwhere miles from home!
After that I threw it away and got a stubben bridle, so much better!
 
I have one of matts and I think it is great! The leather has softened up really well and it cleans up like new every time (been using it every day for nearly a year and a half now!). Would really reccomend them, I have the comfort one and it does look very professional, I also have a stuben one for competitions but no longer use it as my horse pefers the comfort heritage! :)
 
Hmm now I'm abit confused as to which Heritage bridles I have!!
I was very pleased with mine, I loved it, and after horse was sold I bought one for my new lad. Was just as pleased until the badge came off after one day! :mad:
That aside though, very pleased with it, and the quality.
 
I bought a proper Heritage bridle a couple of years ago and it is gorgeous. I then decided to get a full size headpiece and browband for the new horse. The leather is dreadful and I am very disappointed. Not good!!
 
I have 2, my brown 1 is fab I love it, is presumerably one of 'Matt's' but the badge came off so it has a plain silver oval there now, the other, the black one has a slightly 'scaly' sort of look to parts of the leather and the keepers and noseband don't work properly. Can't remember what colour badge that has but I was disappointed only because of how fab the brown 1 is, for the price it wasn't too disappointing.
 
Hi all

I know it's an old post but.....

Any badge that is silver if it has the badge still on it or not is not mine

I have only ever used Brass badges and the name doesn't come off mine, because they are made in England and great quality

The only badge I have ever used on bridles (99% of the time on comfort bridles not hunter/show bridles because they should be plain IMHO) has "Marlow" on it and is either red or green

Hope this helps

Kind Regards, Matt Marlow
Heritage Equestrian Supplies
Heritage Bespoke Saddles Ltd
"The Custom Made English Saddle Company"
www.heritagesaddlery.co.uk
0161 442 0354/07930 840 780
matt@heritagesaddlery.co.uk
 
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