Micklem bridles - are they worth it? Alternatives?

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This is the traditional Doma Vaquera bridle I use. It has no throatlash, and the noseband is a simple strap that goes through the cheekpieces. Would seem to do most of the things that the Micklem does, and it's been around for hundreds of years.
 
What low noseband? The micklem noseband shown above sits lower than a standard cavesson; it's about where a drop would go (or should go properly adjusted). Properly adjusted and constructed normal bridles should not cause pain to the average horse IF they are not over-tightened - I fully understand that many bridles are not either adjusted nor made correctly. There are horses that have abnormal pressure reactions; these are the ones that MAY be helped by this bridle design. If people just knew how to check the fit properly then many problems would not occur (mostly too small browbands, also too low/high/tight nosebands, and too tight throatlashes).
 
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Have a look at the video if you'd like it explained : ) The facial anatomy is made clear and although your noseband is higher below the jaw it falls down to a drop position on top.

I think it is really interesting and I'm not averse to finding out and trying something new as I believe we can always improve on design as we learn more.
 
ozpoz said:
Have a look at the video if you'd like it explained : ) The facial anatomy is made clear and although your noseband is higher below the jaw it falls down to a drop position on top.
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......as does the micklem. The point is that whilst knowing all about pressure points, facial nerves, etc. is a very good thing and something that everyone should acquaint themselves with, there is no need to change something unless it is causing a problem.

I have not only seen the video, I have also been on panels with William discussing various aspects of training, technology and marketing, the latter being the most pertinent in this case :-)
 
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ozpoz said:
The Micklem design seems to be all about comfort though, so I don't see how a low noseband would do the same thing?

Bill Micklem explains the reasons for the design in this short video, "Overcoming the 5 main areas of pain caused by a bridle". I learned quite a lot from it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4UvzfI31Eo
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Yes great marketing video, seen it when I tried one...

Notice that the "normal bridle" shown is an overtightened one... how you see most riders use a normal bridles these days.

The "problems" with a bridle in this day and age it seems is that people have stopped teaching how to use one with correctly fitted browband and noseband that isn't tightened to such a degree as to interfere with any nerves whatsoever.

I get the design (or else I wouldn't have tried one) but really, if riders just learnt how to ride a horse without strapping it's face closed, there wouldn't be a problem in the first place....

It's great it works for some horses but the ones I've seen it used on, still over-tighten it...
 
I'm sure that that is not a marketing video - it was made by Equitopia, a charitable organisation from California and they are not involved with selling or marketing anything.

Anyway, I'm about to try one and I don't have my horse strapped or cranked into anything, just a normal,well made snaffle bridle that fits him and a cavesson at the moment, so I'll let you know.
 
ozpoz said:
I'm sure that that is not a marketing video - it was made by Equitopia, a charitable organisation from California and they are not involved with selling or marketing anything.

Anyway, I'm about to try one and I don't have my horse strapped or cranked into anything, just a normal,well made snaffle bridle that fits him and a cavesson at the moment, so I'll let you know.
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I like equitopia don't get me wrong, I've shared some of their videos and agree with the philosophy - W.Micklem is a regular contributor though ;) and they do also do videos about other things they like e.g. hoof boots, other training equipment etc... they are a charity after all and they need the money.

Yes, let us know how you get on.
 
I use one on my horse. He is a bit of a sensitive flower and really dislikes nosebands. He sort of screws his face up when he has one on (or used to anyway, I think he's getting a bit more tolerant as he gets older, I can now brush his face without complete hystrionics), and so I used to ride him in a normal bridle without a noseband and a hanging cheek bit, which he was happy with but obviously isn't dressage competition legal. So I tried a Micklem (not really expecting it to work), and got basically the same result as the normal bridle without noseband for whatever reason, so happy days.

I do think though that dressage judges don't particularly like Micklem bridles. Rightly or wrongly it does invite a judge to wonder whether there is an underlying contact issue there.

My 16.2 has a normal horse size that is only just big enough - bottom holes all round
 
tallyho! said:
Yes great marketing video, seen it when I tried one...

Notice that the "normal bridle" shown is an overtightened one... how you see most riders use a normal bridles these days.

The "problems" with a bridle in this day and age it seems is that people have stopped teaching how to use one with correctly fitted browband and noseband that isn't tightened to such a degree as to interfere with any nerves whatsoever.

I get the design (or else I wouldn't have tried one) but really, if riders just learnt how to ride a horse without strapping it's face closed, there wouldn't be a problem in the first place....

It's great it works for some horses but the ones I've seen it used on, still over-tighten it...
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Agreed, there are a few on my yard that use them and they seem to be done up like the traditional lunge cavessons, which the BHS trained me to do up really tight so they wouldn't slip round the horse's face ;)

I watched the video and just got irritated with the ill-fitting normal bridles that they used to demonstrate...none of mine fit like that, I have flash, crank and drop nosebands on various bridles and I don't believe any of them subject the horse to the problems illustrated. So I am inclined to agree that for the average horse it probably makes little difference what you use, provided it is well fitted.

I tend to assemble bridles from individual parts to get the perfect fit since all of my horses have been broad around the top of their heads and less so elsewhere. I usually find cheekpieces are too long and browbands are too short. That's not the fault of the traditional bridle design per se, it's the end user's job to fit it appropriately :)
 
cauda equina said:
I'm interested to see that you've done away with the back portion of the noseband. Does everything stay put without it?
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Perfectly, but you probably do need a horse with a fairly wide nose to stop it looking gappy.

For dressage competitions where a noseband is mandatory, I have a flash strap that I can double back through the rings and buckle loosely under his chin.
 
This may or may not be accurate but my first thought when I see a horse in one of these is that the rider and / or the horse probably has contact issues and are happier to spend money on a new bridle than work on the contact.

From what I have seen it doesn't really help any of those riders but they think it does.

Now I'm sure there are some horses who do go better so might be worth a try but there was a bit of a micklem explosion a few years ago where everyone seemed to be using them but not so much now.
 
ycbm said:
Perfectly, but you probably do need a horse with a fairly wide nose to stop it looking gappy.

For dressage competitions where a noseband is mandatory, I have a flash strap that I can double back through the rings and buckle loosely under his chin.
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I see, thanks.
My gripe with Micklems is that they are so narrow; my cob needed a different browband 2 sizes up, and I got a saddler to put a new strap, 4'' longer, on the back of the nose. It didn't occur to me to just get rid of it
 
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