What kind of bridle is this?

[Keith_Beef]

So President Macron (whose Chinese name is apparently 马克龙, pronounced Mǎkèlóng, meaning "Horse conquers dragon) has given Xi Jinping an 8-yr old gelding named Vesuvius.

I'm intrigued by the tack on this horse...

I can see the double bridle, what looks like a Pelham bit and curb chain. But is this horse wearing both a bridle and a head collar? It looks like it could be... with the white lead rope attached to the large rind under the chin, looped around his neck.

It looks like the French cavalry's "Licol de parade" ("licol" is French for head collar), at the link below is a picture of the model used around the time of the Great War.

http://imagesia.com/fh6l3ngpxi_jlh

 

[albeg]

Looks like a military bridle, but set up for a double instead of a military bit:

http://www.militaryhistoryworkshop.co.uk/shop/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=21

http://www.uiscesaddlery.com/2011/12/military-bridles.html

 

[ycbm]

It's just a double bridle with exceptionally thick straps, Keith. And a extra strap under the jaw so the horse can be tied up on the 'headcollar part of it. On single bit versions, the cheek pieces can unclip, leaving the horse just in a headcollar. I used to use one for hunting, it was very useful not to have to faff around at a hunt meet trying to get a bridle on an excited over-fit horse.

 

[Pippity]

As Ailbhe says, a military bridle. It's a neat version of riding with a headcollar underneath your bridle. The basis is pretty much a straightforward leather headcollar, but with the addition of a browband, with lead rope tied around the horse's neck. You then put on your headstall, and would usually use a stud on the browband to connect the two together, but Vesuvius' bridle doesn't seem to have that - possibly a difference between French and British tack? This is a British military bridle: http://www.uiscesaddlery.com/2011/12/military-bridles.html

 

[ycbm]

As Ailbhe says, a military bridle. It's a neat version of riding with a headcollar underneath your bridle. The basis is pretty much a straightforward leather headcollar, but with the addition of a browband, with lead rope tied around the horse's neck. You then put on your headstall, and would usually use a stud on the browband to connect the two together, but Vesuvius' bridle doesn't seem to have that - possibly a difference between French and British tack? This is a British military bridle: http://www.uiscesaddlery.com/2011/12/military-bridles.html

Great. I wondered where the 'bit removal' thing had gone

Modern long distance military bridles clip on to the cheek pieces.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Thanks. Really useful information in there.

In fact, I had been looking at the Military History Workshop a bit, these last couple of weeks, to see if I could find good pictures of 1914 pattern leather equipment of the Colonial Rifles, which is what I think is worn by the Captain in the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special.

 

[GTRJazz]

A thin straight sword guess that makes him Light Cavalry

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

it looks odd because we're used to seeing the throat strap of the headcollar connected to the side of the headcollar whereas this one is attached at the poll, I guess so the headcollar sides sit in a vertical line down the face for neatness and not the broken vertical line that a usual headcollar gives. The bradoon is connected in an unusual way too. With a normal double bridle the bradoon is usually on a separate slip-head which runs through the browband over the poll and down the other side of the face, but this one is connected via a chain and T bar pushed through a small loop on the bridle's cheekpiece, again I guess it's been done for neatness, there's no way that horse needs another leather strap running up it's face. The separate double girths isn't something usually seen these days either, though I think they might be joined together by the leather pieces rather than totally separate.

 

[Auslander]

I can see the double bridle, what looks like a Pelham bit and curb chain.

Not being picky here - but mentioning it just because I know you want to learn. The double bridle doesn't use a pelham bit - it has two bits - a weymouth (curb - the curbchain is attached to hooks at the top, and a single rein attaches to the ring at the bottom of the shank) and a bradoon (a small ringed snaffle).
A pelham is a single bit, with two reins and a curb chain

 

[Keith_Beef]

Not being picky here - but mentioning it just because I know you want to learn. The double bridle doesn't use a pelham bit - it has two bits - a weymouth (curb - the curbchain is attached to hooks at the top, and a single rein attaches to the ring at the bottom of the shank) and a bradoon (a small ringed snaffle).
A pelham is a single bit, with two reins and a curb chain

Thanks for that; yes, I'm trying to learn everything I can, knowing that I can't possibly learn everything that there is to know.

And I'm trying to learn it in French at the same time as in English, too. And some of my informants for French seem to be a bit slack in their terminology. Or it could just be that my books are too old and that the terminology has changed.

oh, and I made a couple of mistakes in my original post.

I intended to type "I can see the double reins" and of course, meant to type that the lead rope is "attached to the large ring under the chin".