Is the honeymoon period over for Micklem bridles??

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Muddywellies

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I’ve noticed recently, an awful lot of second hand Micklem bridles being advertised for sale. A dressage judge a few years ago said to me she thought they were a fad. Are people now reverting back to traditional bridles?? Are they not all they are cracked up to be?
 
Going by the number of horses seen out and about in them I think it is more likely to be that there are more second-hand ones available as people change horses or upgrade to a newer version. Elements of the design have been copied by other manufacturers but at present, I don't think they can be beaten for comfort.
 
At a previous yard everything got put into a micklem bridle on day one, it was the resident instructor's favourite hobby horse :p
I am sure they are a great solution for some horses but IMO any well fitted, well made bridle is fine for most horses and I would say in most cases that contact or way of going issues are fixed by training and good practice, not a bit of tack :)

I think research and producing new designs is a good thing but sometimes I think they get sold as the answer to all your ridden problems, things are rarely that simple.

I think sometimes people move on to the next thing, maybe the 2nd hand ones are sold by people moving on to the newer designs of comfort bridles.
 
I thought they were just a fad and resisted trying one but after a conversation with a friend with a very similar horse she persuaded me to borrow hers to try. I was fully prepared for it not to work (I probably even wanted it not to work so I could be proved right!) but the difference in A was amazing. He was light, he didn't argue and because he wasn't constantly leaning on it, when I used my rein he reacted to it and I had brakes! My instructor has a theory that it's nothing to do with nerves and anatomical design but that it holds the bit incredibly still in the mouth and if that's what your horse likes it makes a huge difference. This is why it seems to have a miracle effect on some and no effect on others. No idea why there are lots of second hand ones on the market - maybe as some have said people have changed/lost horses or are doing different things with them.

As good as mine is in terms of performance, I don't particularly like the leather. I bought mine second hand about 7 years ago so it's a pretty old one but it's cheap leather and took lots and lots of conditioning to get it nice and soft and supple. From what I've seen, the newer ones are even worse unless you go for the very expensive English leather one and I've heard some people say even that's not great quality.
 
annagain said:
My instructor has a theory that it's nothing to do with nerves and anatomical design but that it holds the bit incredibly still in the mouth and if that's what your horse likes it makes a huge difference.
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I think this can make a big difference to some horses, and even though they are a bit unfashionable I have seen similar when people swap to a hanging cheek version of their loose ring snaffle :)
 
I've always thought that the flash element of it (and the knock-off versions) looks ill fitting. It seems to interfere with the placement of the bit and looks more cumbersome/bulky than a normal flash.

I don't really get the need to use a design like that - if your flash is making the horse uncomfortable or making it difficult to breathe, it's too tight and you can easily fix that issue by loosening it.
 
they are more akin to a drop noseband IMO than to a flash, but you're right, it does need the horse to have the right dimensions from the cheekstrap to the noseband to fit well. But then, you see a lot of poorly fitted normal bridles around so there are potential problems all over ;)

I dunno, I know lots of people swear by them. The only horse I ever actually rode with a normal bridle that was then swapped to the micklem felt worse in the hand to me, she was in a cavesson before and didn't appreciate the strap under the bit.
 
I have just bought one! I was fed of trying to find a traditional bridle that would fit her in between pony and cob head and that would have a decent length of noseband. The Micklem fits her like a glove. 😁
 
SpringArising said:
I've always thought that the flash element of it (and the knock-off versions) looks ill fitting. It seems to interfere with the placement of the bit and looks more cumbersome/bulky than a normal flash.

I don't really get the need to use a design like that - if your flash is making the horse uncomfortable or making it difficult to breathe, it's too tight and you can easily fix that issue by loosening it.
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It's more about moving the pressure points. Bear in mind when they tested nosebands, flashes came out worse with cavessons second. Grackles and Drops did best.

My now retired tb hated a cavesson no matter how loosely it was done up and was best in drop, not done up tightly at all, it wasn't about tightness but where the straps were. Current horse doesn't fit a traditional bridle, mix and match headpiece, browband and straps and neither a cob or full noseband worked. However a Micklem fits so he gets that. If he was easier to fit then I may have ended up with a drop.

I actually think there are more around, saw loads on Monday at a local venue that was running combined training and dressage and I don't get so many people coming up to me asking about it so it's no longer a curiosity.

I think now there are lots of alternatives that are being sold as ergonomic or comfort to suit all budgets. Plus more Micklems around means more on the second hand market being sold for the usual reasons - no longer fit, wrong colour, no horse etc
 
milliepops said:
I think this can make a big difference to some horses, and even though they are a bit unfashionable I have seen similar when people swap to a hanging cheek version of their loose ring snaffle :)
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That's interesting. Bisto went better in a micklem, then he broke it (long story) I intended to get it repaired but moved him into a double. I later went back to a snaffle and changed to a hanging cheek TT which really suited him. I do like the micklems though, once I'd got the fit right it just seemed "right" on him and I like the theory behind them.
 
annagain said:
A has a hanging cheek AND a Micklem so we're talking VERY VERY still :D
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Yep, we use a Micklem and a hanging cheek snaffle too. TBH, I like the ergonomic set-up because of the reduction of pressure on nerves etc, the bit stability is just an added bonus.

Same as shaped girths - I use a prolite for the ergonomic design around the legs with a forward girth groove - the added stability is again just an added bonus!
 
I had a micklem my last horse loved it. One of my current horses will not tolerate it at all :( and the other one has a WEB bridle WHICH I LOVE and fits her like a glove. I think they have their place but it is not a one shoe fits all senario
 
I don't love how they look but they still popular as see a lot of them around. My instructor uses one on her horse and she's a very experienced horse person who I respect, so I assume she knows what she's doing. I'm about to try mine in a grackle, mainly because I have it hanging around and he does cross his jaw when jumping, although I prefer to try and work with a snaffle and cavesson and address it via training etc. But he does get itchy around his nose when I take the bridle off, so want to see if a change in noseband might help.
 
Bernster said:
That's cos you have an 'andsome 'orse Criso :)
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Thank you, his nickname is the Throroughtwat though so looks only get you so far.

Joking aside I think they look better on horses like him that have shorter heads, wide foreheads and little noses, almost arab in profile or ponyish. I'm not so keen on them on horses with longer heads.
 
I think they're hideous on any horse tbh - very unflattering - as are all the anatomical/comfort bridles.
I know there are horses that they suit, but personally, I have yet to ride a horse that goes better in one than when ridden well in a more conventional bridle.

As I have said before on this forum, seeing a horse for sale advert with the horse being ridden in one, puts me off the horse.
 
The rise of ps of Sweden and its copycats along with research showing flashes and cavessons are the worst from a pressure point of view makes me think people aren't going back to more traditional bridles. There's been a lot more innovation in bridles recently, I think it's just the case that the market is a lot larger so micklem doesn't hold the monopoly on pressure relieving bridles anymore.

Micklems were a bit of a fad at one point, too many people looking for a magic shortcut but I don't think that's really changed, they just have more choices in bits, nosebands and bridles now. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the micklem users have swapped to whatever the new latest and greatest is. At the same time some have found they really help their horse and have stuck with them, the good thing is all the fashion people have helped make the untraditional bridle more normal, no-one is going to ask you what a micklem is as there's more awareness and it isn't unusual.
 
I love mine. I just think they are a rational design and that standard bridles with a floppy throat lash aren't.

I use one of mine without the bottom part of the noseband and it works just fine. The youngster currently needs his mouth held more closed than he sometimes chooses to have it but I hope to remove it soon.

I don't use them because I need to, but because I like them. However, on horses where they make a difference I think it's because the design stops the cheek piece moving on the face with every movement of the bit. The only other way to do that is to hoik the bit so far up the face that the cheek pieces stay under tension no matter what. I see a lot of dressage horses bitted like that, whose mouths look twice as long in a bridle than where it naturally rests without a bit in their mouth. I would choose a Micklem over that every time even if it was the ugliest bridle on the planet.


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I like them as exercise bridles quick to adjust and super if you are leading a horse from another horse.
I am going to try H in one for hunting this winter I hate sending him out in the grackle .
My favourite however is the fairfax.
It’s a good thing that design moves forwards it gives us more options for making horses happy in their work .
The biggest difference I have ever seen was using the fairfax brestplate it’s made an astonishing difference .
 
I like the look of them when well fitted, I don't think they fit every horse well, just with any bridle. I have one on my 6yo exracer, fits him perfectly. It was my 22yo's bridle did fit him but not quite as well as it fits the 6yo. I got it not to make a difference, but because I liked the idea behind it.
 
I try to keep an open mind about new pieces of tack and find the research behind some of the innovations very helpful. I understood that you used a grackle on a horse that was strong so was very surprised to see the research that suggested the grackle (along with drop) caused less pressure than a a cavesson or a flash. It made me wonder if the horse who was strong/crossed his jaw in a cavesson was just more comfortable in a grackle rather than yielding to stronger pressure. Most of our horses have gone well in french link snaffles but two hated them. One went beautifully in a nathe straight bar and the other who had a particuarly difficult mouth went so much better in a hanging cheek TT. I think we are lucky these days to have more options to try if your horse seems uncomfortable whether it be bridles, bits or saddles.
 
I think the lack of care over bit and bridle fit is a bigger problem than is given credit for so many one size fits all bridles but not so many one size fits all saddles I do wonder if bridles were fitted by pros as often as saddles are there would be fewer ridden issues
 
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