While on the subject....what tack are your horses in and what do you do with them?

Cavesson noseband with ns tranz angled lozenge hanging cheek bit. Will put on bandages for schooling and brushing boots for hacking.

Jumping will use cavesson noseband, breastplate with martingale attachment, ns universal bit and tendon boots.

11yo 16hh bought to SJ & event but only done dressage with me so far. Unaff at the mo, but hopefully next year will affiliate in SJ.
 
As title.
What ages, tack and discipline (include level) are your horses?

Seems there are a few threads where snaffles and plain nosebands are the way to go....
but what do you do..

I have a 5 year old ex racer who I school and hack bitless, started jumping a little bitless and plan to compete next year, remaining bitless hopefully. When ridden she just wears a saddle and bridle or rope halter, no extras atm anyway :)
 
my horse is 19 anglo arab, ex eventer,schools ,jumps and hacks in a loose ring snaffle and martingale ,snaffle bridle no flash. x country ,team chasing, hunting and fun rides etc he has snaffle bridle no flash with cheltenham gag,and no martingale . hes a saint:D:D
 
I put mine too

4 year old is in

NS lose ring snaffle, mexican noseband, martingale attached to breast plate, I wear roller ball spurs. Working in outline on flat and few lateral movements, starting flying changes, jumping up to 80cm at home working towards BN in the new year

9 year old

D ring snaffle with copper rollers, rope nose band, martingale, I wear spurs to jump. Jumped up to 1.10/1.20 in the ring, jumps 1.40 at home. Going in foal next year

Thats how I ride mine at the moment :)
 
14hh Irish cob 13yrs old. Jumping BS national classes upto 1.15m, in a Waterford 3 ring gag, flash bridle & martingale. Wears the same for PC, unaffil eventing & hacking.

Also does unafil dressage in a full cheek with a lozenge. He despises single joints.
 
6yr old connie schools in a loose ring sweet iron lozenge snaffle and cavesson. Hacking, show jumping and xc has a martingale on.

Do riding club show jumping up to 2ft9 and affiliated novice working hunter, occasionaly dressage at prelim moving up to novice next year.

Will be playing around with noseband and bit for hacking though as getting a bit excited at the moment and can't stop very well.
 
5 year old TB working novice, and capable of jumping 1metre tracks (I prefer to stick to 90cm :p ) in just a plain cavesson noseband and eggbutt snaffle. Sometimes put a martingale on if we're going for a particularly fast hack. Carry a whip but rarely have to use it, quite basic really :)
 
My 4yo was being ridden with no noseband and a french link loose ring snaffle, have now added a cavesson noseband out hunting and a breastplate. Same bit.

When racing she has a plain snaffle, drop noseband, overcheck, breast plate and crupper, and hobbles (although not whilst jogging at home).
 
Asbo, 14.3hh new forest eventung at intro: Mexican nose and and full cheek kk for dressage. 2 ring Dutch gag with Mexican noseband and hunter breastplate with martingale attachment for sj and xc. Also wears this for hunting.

Cow horse, 15.2hh ish x cob previously evented at PN: French link loose ring snaffle with loose flash noseband for dressage.The above with hunter breastplate and martingale attachment for sj and xc. Goes in a 2 ring dutch gag for hunting.
 
My 19 year old thoroughbred dressage horse is in:

Premiera double bridle with cavesson noseband (done up loose) with Neue schule mors l'hotte weymouth and neue schule team up.
Morris and Nolan dressage saddle.

my 5 year old dressage horse (training elem) is in:

Sabre cordoba bridle with cavesson noseband (again done up loosely) with Sprenger KK ultra loose ring snaffle.
harry dabbs made to measure dressage snaffle

my 3 year old connie x is in:

elevator head piece with sprenger kk ultra loose ring
Wintec 500 dressage snaffle.
 
15.2hh 11 year old welsh cob.

Schooling: Cavesson noseband, gp saddle, french link 2 ring gag on the main ring.

Jumping/hacking: As above but rein on the 2nd ring.

Wears brushing boots behind because he's very close.
 
My ridden horses ages are between 3 years old and 36 years old. The breeds of my horses are TBs, Hanoverians, Holsteiners, Oldenburgs and Quarter Horses. Some are hunters, some eventers, some working cattle horses and some are pleasure riding horses.

1 is ridden in a rubber straight bar D-ring Happy Mouth
The rest (about 16 or 17 of them) are ridden in sprenger lozenge snaffles

1 horse wears a running martingale

All of mine either wear cavesson nosebands or no nosebands

Lambskin numnahs or saddle pads and sheepskin girths

Saddle for whichever discipline the individual horse is ridden in

I do own almost every piece of tack imaginable; flash nosebands, grackles, standings, breastplates etc but they are tucked away in trunks which never get opened any more. My horses are ridden in the same tack at home as they are away from home.
 
On the flat . . . dressage saddle with dressage square and neoprene girth, grackle bridle with a sweet iron bit with a lozenge.

Jumping . . . eventing saddle with dead sheep half pad and neoprene girth, grackle bridle with waterford bit.

GD is a Polish sporthorse, 16.2hh gelding, we think he's about 12/13'ish and he does some low level ODEs (unaffiliated), showjumping and is restarting his dressage career (also unaffiliated). At home he can jump 1 metre easily but we're taking it easier when out and about.

When we bought him he came with a crank cavesson, with a flash and a single-jointed snaffle and a running martingale. We've played about with different nosebands and bits and what he currently wears really is the best for encouraging him to seek and keep a consistent contact with a nice, still head carriage.

P
 
4 year old
NS Full Cheek Trans Angled Lozenge
Plain cavesson
Only boots for jumping/xc
Martingale/breastplate for xc only at the moment
Jumping 85cm and just started xc schooling in prep for first BE80 in able and British Novice afterwards.
She is 16.2hh ish

14 year old
Also uses same NS bit as 4 year old or loose ring French link snaffle
Grackle Noseband
No martingale or boots apart from xc
Jumping discovery (1m)

14
 
My 15 yr old tb is a happy hacker and wears a grackle noseband & hanging cheek Waterford snaffle. Plain gp saddle, sheepskin half pad, fleece girth cover.
 
6yo thoroughbred being re-schooled. Still trying to find a bit that she suits but is currently rode in eggbut snaffle, flash noseband, GP saddle, saddlecloth and bandages/brushing boots.
 
After chopping, changing, and getting nowhere with bits, my boy Darcy (15.3hh Exracer) is in an english hackamore with leather curb and sheepskin wrapped nose.
oh and a forward cut GP saddle, with wool lined half pad, leather anatomical girth backed with wool and a five point breastplate.

He wears this for everything:
jumping, but not over 3' as im a wimp! rofl
Hacking, wherever the fancy takes us
galloping randomly over the moors and jumping walls lol :D
schooling and gridwork

and hes not always an easy ride, but i feel i can more than cope with him in a hackamore, in fact i have way more control than with a bit in his mouth. well for stopping and turning, it doesnt have any effect on the bucking, bunny rears and flinging his legs randomly in diferent directions when hes excited :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
My horse pretty much wears the same bridle for everything.

He wears a NS full cheek snaffle and cavesson noseband for schooling. For hacking and jumping I add a martingale. He wears a dressage saddle for flatwork and a forward cut GP for jumping and hacking.

He doesn't really need the martingale for hacking but i'm pregnant so I put on as an extra safety thing for me more than anything. Jumping he adores and gets quite keen and it just prevents him from throwing his head up and trying to dictate the pace too much into the fence. I don't always use it for jumping though either.

Normally we compete in dressage, eventing and showjumping.
 
L irish heinz retired. Used to school in straight rubber snaffle and compete local level and trailblazers in 3 ring rubber continental snaffle with cavesson as she used to pull head down and go.

B1 schools in hackamore or french link snaffle or waterford loose ring as I find changing from time to time lifts her. Competes in waterford or french link continental snaffle. Usually with cavesson always with martingale

B2 straight rubber snaffle and cavesson with running martingale for everything.
 
ISH has bauchner (spelling?) snaffle for everything, loves a peanut link happy mouth but chewed it on his last schooling session, so now in a metal French link! plain cavesson usually used but put on a flash for jumping if hes a bit fresh. I have put him in a kimberwick a couple of times for jumping when he was being a bit silly! Just use saddle with no other bits and bobs, and normal tendon boots/xc boots. He's always easy to pull up but can get excited.

Dutch pony is a little *** most of the time :p well behaved but very strong and prefers to do everything at 100mph. School her in a loose ring snaffle but have to take a good hold on her, no different in any other bit so might as well just use the snaffle. Jumping and hacking she wears a kimberwick- which just about controls her in a flat out gallop!
 
Knobberpony is 22,she wears a running martingale and a sweet iron french link snaffle for everything,including cross country and hunting.The first time my 9 year old took her to cross country,she went like a rocket,but was still fine in her snaffle.

Our new pony is in a Tom Thumb,which makes me cringe every time I look at it,but as she is still on trial,I don't want to change it yet,as her owners say she likes it and goes well in it.However,I have taken off the flash as I hate seeing little ponies strapped down.Hopefully she'll work out well and I can look at trying a milder bit.
 
Tb no.1 sweet-iron loose-ring, drop noseband. Grackle noseband, dexter and standing martingale for xc/hunting-required as resembles a tank with head in your face!. (race exercise saddle)
Tb no.2 eggbutt French link snaffle, hunter noseband purely for looks! (jump or race saddle depending on work)
Tb no.3 (4y/o) French link fulmer with grackle/drop depending on which bridle I've used on the last horse. (Jump saddle)
Though all go in the 'happy hacker' bridle half the time as I'm too lazy to change between horses; which is a synthetic cavesson bridle with French link fulmer. Saves on time!
 
bridle - grackle with straight metal pelham and roundings

martingale/ hunter breast plate with martingale attachment

GP/jump saddle (kent and masters)

leather girth with a numnah

over reach boots on front (protects a large scare which he has no feeling in) and brushing boots behind (sometimes in front too as he strikes him self)

17.2hh 11 year old ISH gelding (all rounder)

he isnt a competition horse (stubborn and argumentative at shows cant get him over any jumps yet at home will jump anything stuck infront of him) but he is hacked out, jumped, xc and schooled when in regular work. when he is doing very little then i just stick him in a straight snaffle with a cavason nose band and just the saddle :)



bridle - cavason bridle with a snaffle (changing quite a bit at the moment as we havent found one he likes yet)

dressage saddle (black country)

sheepskin half pad and dressage square and thorogood dressage girth

bandages all round and over reach boots all round as he strikes him self a lot and stands on his own feet

jumping breastplate (elastic one across the chest) for when he throws a wobbler

15.2hh 8 year old Andalusian Stallion (to be a dressage horse)

currently reschooling him to dressage but mainly trying to get him to relax under saddle after spending the last 5 years with a high ported pelham in ridden on the bottom ring so he is super sensitive with his mouth so finding a bit he likes is difficult :o
 
Last edited:
5 year WBxTB mare, NS Verbindend, canvason noseband and running martingale. Hacking and light schooling. She was only lightly backed last year, turned away and only just being brought back into work this year (due to my health problems).
 
I have a six year old arab who wears a Zilco marathon bridle, a loose ring NS lozenge snaffle (soon to try swapping for an eggbutt french link), and a VSD Reactor Panel saddle. We do hacking, schooling, fun rides, stuff like that. :)
 
Highland wears bombers happy tongue, cavesson bridle with ideal H&C. KK for dressage.

Trad mare. At the mo jointed Pelham with two reins to hack or compete in. Dressage in a hanging Myler. Saddle is a made to measure ideal based on a ideal Josephine with doe skin.
 
Top