Where have all the cavesson bridles gone?!

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LibbyL

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Why am I finding it so hard to find a decent quality black cavesson bridle with comfort headpiece without a crank/flash?!
Didn't realise it was such a fashion to have flashes on everything, so frustrating that hardly any of them are detachable.
Has anyone got any ideas of where I could find one (without fancy decorative stitching everywhere too) or failing that how easy is it to remove a flash loop?
 
Ive got Evison equine cavesson bridles and really happy with them. Not too expensive and have comfort headpieces and always Polish up really well. Used to have a Caldene one which the flash attachment came fully off that was also a nice bridle, more expensive I think but I actually prefer the Evison ones I have

Sorry didn't read the no crank bit- both of these have cranks, but I never do them up tight at all and prefer the padding they give,mine gets rubbed by a normal noseband
 
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I just bought a flash one and removed the strap. It looks a little odd with the bit on the noseband but who cares? It is a crank too but I leave it a bit loose as he doesn't like anything tight on his nose.
 
I have a Jaguar. It has a comfort headpiece, a completely remove able flash (no hideous dangling loop!), two versions of noseband tightening (it comes with a crank and a normal buckle version), no flashy stitching, substantial but not heavy. I've had mine a couple of years now and still like it.
 
I got the Caldene bridles, one in black and one in Havana because I like the comfort headpiece and the noseband can be converted to a cavesson as the flash loop is removable. I have a nice Shockemohle bridle too on which I can completely remove the flash loop.

I personally like the cranks nosebands because of the padding. I, like the other poster, simply don't 'crank' the noseband as tight as it'll go but make sure it's fits my chap comfortably.

My saddler said she'd always remove flash loops for me if I ever needed her to.

It would be nice if all bridles were offered with a choice of cavesson or flash though.
 
I got a lovely one from ShadowHorse, padded and shaped headpiece, with nose band sewn onto the headpiece so no pressure under or hole through. It is soft and slim.

I have a heavyweight one also from Sabre. Also a padded headpiece witn sewn in nose band hanger, bit it is a bit more chunky, not as good for fine ears!
 
If you have a chunk of money to spend the CWD ones are absolutely gorgeous.

I paid a saddler to remove the flash loop from my one noseband, it wasn't expensive. I still need to get the other one done though.
 
Thanks for the ideas, clearly I haven't been looking hard enough!
Unfortunately I don't have a chunk of money to spend but will see what my budget will stretch too.
Love the caldene ones but didn't know how good the quality was because a pair of fetlock boots I have had perished pretty much straight away meaning I was wary of overall quality.
Deltaflyer which Schockemohle one is it please? I love the Londonderry one but can't find a seller in the UK for that bridle?
The Jaguar one sounds ideal, thank you, I will have a search
 
As much as I would love a Fairfax, Albion, Jeffries etc my budget won't stretch that far but thank you. Looking around the £80 mark but thinking I will be able to stretch for an English Bridle or Evison :)
 
I've got the hunter bridle from Evision, no crank and lovely headpiece with no holes cut in it like some of the 'comfort' bridles seem to have. Nice bridle I just wish they did an option for a lighter shade of brown (not an issue if you are after black!).
 
It's very easy to take the flash loop off, you can just cut it off (carefully!) with a stanley knife, or if you can thread a needle at all it's not difficult to open the stitching, remove the loop and re-stitch through the stitch holes.

I've always repaired (and made) my own tack, but then I do leatherwork as part of our business, it might be a bit daunting if you're not "crafty".
 
What about 2nd hand? I picked up a nice Sabre bridle in the 2nd hand section of a local saddlery. I sold a new Jeffries bridle on ebay for £25 the buyer was really pleased with it.
 
and if you find one with a flat noseband it will be too narrow.

Somebody needs to make hunter weight flat leather bridles with decent width browband and wide cavesson nosebands, there is nothing more ridiculous than a a big handsome head in an arty farty bridle.
 
AdorableAlice said:
and if you find one with a flat noseband it will be too narrow.

Somebody needs to make hunter weight flat leather bridles with decent width browband and wide cavesson nosebands, there is nothing more ridiculous than a a big handsome head in an arty farty bridle.
Click to expand...

Are Fylde nosebands suitable?
 
I bought a Shires Avignon comfort bridle recently, the flash and loop are completely removable, it looks reasonably smart and was very cheap!
 
It's a world wide problem!

I ended up getting one made - I know I could have cut the loop off and just ridden with the crank loose, but they are so godamn ugly that I wasn't going there.
 
The other thing is all this white stitching on Shires and similar, which is frustrating. I like the look of a john whitaker one but dont know about quality and it has white stitching...who knew shopping could be so difficult?!
 
I have just bought a windor bridle without a flash Noseband. They do a range of other styles as well. Cheapo make but I'm impressed with the quality of it for what I paid!
 
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