# All of a sudden things become more interesting when your bridle breaks (with pics)



## ThatNinjaHorse (Jul 26, 2009)

:lol:
This happened to me last weekend, a couple of kilometres from home! The leather around one of the buckles snapped (yeah..i think ive only oiled it once, its cheap indian stuff to so that wouldnt help) 
i was like :shock: um..hmm....what to do...
Tried to fix it but i couldnt. I can make a bridle/halter out of rope but of course i didnt have any! 
So i clipped the reins onto his noseband and rode him back home like that, he was pretty good about it actually! 

Anyways, my invention:


















The pieces:










So yeah, just thought id share the photos


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## roro (Aug 14, 2009)

Scary! Clever idea though.

A few days ago, I was taking care of someone else's horse for them. I was leading their horse back from turn out when he tried to grab at some grass. I yanked, and the lead rope broke at the snap. I was able to run into the barn and get another lead (couldn't have been more than 30 ft) while he grazed, thank goodness that grass was there.


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## PumpkinzMyBaby22 (Jul 5, 2009)

ha ha same thing had happened to my old bridal. (very old bridal i should add) Pumpkin was still in his naughty days and he bolted for the gate. half way down the paddock, my reins suddenly become loose and floppy. i lean forward and there is his bit, hanging by on leather strap (out of his mouth). I can tell you it wasn't that funny. I can tell you now, about every 2nd weekend, my bridal gets oiled. WELL oiled


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## HorseOfCourse (Jul 20, 2009)

this happened to me once, except my bridle didnt break, and nothing snapped, it just plain fell off. I'm not even sure how it happened, but the bit hit her teeth and she bucked me off anf ran around for a bit.


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## paintsrule (Aug 20, 2009)

My bridle fell off my horse a couple times one day, and all he did was stop immediatly and put his head up so I could fix it. I love him


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

That is always a scary thing. Good thing he is trained well enough that you could pull that off. Well done.


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## thunderhooves (Aug 9, 2009)

roro said:


> Scary! Clever idea though.
> 
> A few days ago, I was taking care of someone else's horse for them. I was leading their horse back from turn out when he tried to grab at some grass. I yanked, and the lead rope broke at the snap. I was able to run into the barn and get another lead (couldn't have been more than 30 ft) while he grazed, thank goodness that grass was there.


Wouldn't you just take the other end and loop it through?


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## roro (Aug 14, 2009)

^ it was a very old lead rope and it nearly completely unwinded when it broke, so I didn't consider it safe to lead him back with, especially since he would probably try to dart into the grass.


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## PechosGoldenChance (Aug 23, 2009)

That happened to my fiance' and it happened when the horse was freaking out. One of the srew-on bolts came loose and fell off. I hate those bolts, they're always loose no matter what you do, you can just replace the screw itself because the inside of the cap becomes where the thread is becomes stripped so you have to replace the whole thing!!


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## PechosGoldenChance (Aug 23, 2009)

in the second sentence I meant to say..."you CAN'T just replace the screw", I put "you can" instead...sorry lol


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## thunderhooves (Aug 9, 2009)

PechosGoldenChance said:


> That happened to my fiance' and it happened when the horse was freaking out. One of the srew-on bolts came loose and fell off. I hate those bolts, they're always loose no matter what you do, you can just replace the screw itself because the inside of the cap becomes where the thread is becomes stripped so you have to replace the whole thing!!


I those,too.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

I was riding down the trail and I looked down and saw my bit hanging under my horses chin. The bit had broken in half.


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## bethsone (Feb 22, 2010)

we have a cheeky stock horse mare who has some strange ability to remove her own bridal when your riding its a stockmens bridal so no noseband she does this weird shake and then will rub her head slightly against the neck of one of the other horses and wammo it's off'' no matter how tight the throat lash is (within reason) she always does it lucky shes so cruisy you just jump of and put it back on but its a regular occurrence


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## PechosGoldenChance (Aug 23, 2009)

Bethsone: Maybe try using a noseband?? Thats real weird how she can take it off like that haha, I would get frustrated dude.


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## masatisan (Jan 12, 2009)

When I go out on trail rides his halter stays on under his bridle and so does his leadrope, I tie it to a makeshift buck-strap on my saddle. I also tuck the throatlach through the rings on his halter.

Looks like this (I use a bit now though):


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

I ride out on my younger horse with the halter & lead rope on also. Your very lucky. I've had the screws holding the bridle together come apart, but I never had the bit come apart.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

I undid the chicago screws off the reins and reatached them to the rope halter. I always leave the halter on when I ride. Keep the horse to a nice walk and didn't let him get excited and we made it back to the trailer with no problems.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Concerning Chicago screws, if you use Loctite (any hardware, automotive, or Walmart will carry it) or even clear nail polish, it will never come loose on the trail. After a near wreck years ago, I take apart all my tack with those screws once per year and redo them.


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## PechosGoldenChance (Aug 23, 2009)

Iride: Thanks for that tip man!!! I'm going to do that today! My fiance' spends most of his time in the garage working on cars (mine mostly haha) and anyother type of machinery so he has plenty of loctite. And I have plenty of clear polish. I'm going to use the loctite though, that stuff works real good. I don't know why I didn't think about that before.


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## ThatNinjaHorse (Jul 26, 2009)

Yeah I should probs take a halter just in case :lol: even just a lead rope or something..



bethsone said:


> we have a cheeky stock horse mare who has some strange ability to remove her own bridal when your riding its a stockmens bridal so no noseband she does this weird shake and then will rub her head slightly against the neck of one of the other horses and wammo it's off'' no matter how tight the throat lash is (within reason) she always does it lucky shes so cruisy you just jump of and put it back on but its a regular occurrence


Maybe try one with an extended head?


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## Bitless (Jan 11, 2008)

How annoying, good thing your guy was nice to you about it.

I was on my TB once going down a hill ( large kinda steep ) and he started bucking , and just to add a bit of fun to the situation my cross over bittless bridle broke and slid up his face :shock:. He stopped about half way and I quickly jumped off, the bridle wasnt to bad just some stiching had come loose and broken under pressure. I was just lucky I was still in the paddock when it happened.........Also found out a little later he bucked because he got a small peice of wire wedged under his shoe..proberly quite uncomfortable for him.


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

This thread reminds me of that old Pony Club safety rule that no buckle on your bridle should be on the top hole; that you have to have at least two holes above the buckle. That way, when your bridle breaks when you're riding out (they usually break at the buckle) you can buckle the bridle back together and have something to ride home with. 

The first couple of days of Pony Club camp; there were always a lot of frantic parents trying to get bridles cut down or have more holes punched.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I've too similar stories.

The first one I was running Annie for the first time last summer and I took he rinto the barrel turn and she tossed her head and freaked out until the bridle slipped off and I couldn't make her stop! LOL I was trying to steer with reins around her neck and panicking with my legs xD

Second time was just a few weeks ago when I was riding Rebel out to the creek and it was in an old bridle (Only one that fit, I left the good one at Toni's on accident) and it broke at the browband. Luckily I had the halter on underneath so I just clipped both ends of the reins to the sides of the halter and rode back. He wasn't too happy about it but at least I survived the ride home 

Clever invention. I like it ^^


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## NittanyEquestrian (Mar 3, 2009)

Haha what sold me on my gelding was when I was riding him and his bridle broke. He was from my trainer at the time and I knew him well before I started riding him. He was a rescue and I had helped with his ground work and then I started taking lessons on him after she started him because there was no other horse for me to ride. I was a decent rider and he was a decently started greenie and we were supervised so it worked. I was doing canter circles and simple transitions and figure eights and my trainer had this weird look on her face for about 10 minutes during my lesson. In those days you did NOT look down at your horse and you did NOT stare at your hands. You looked where you were going unless your trainer was talking and then you looked at them so they knew you were listening. Apparently his bridle separated and I did 10 minutes of school figures in the ring at the walk, trot and canter with his bit hanging around his neck and me steering with my hands but only actually steering with my seat and legs and maybe a little neck reining. I went home and whined, wheedled and coerced my parents into writing the check =P Then I bought a better bridle for him!


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

My only problem came from a borrowed bridle many many years ago but I've been on trail rides where other rider's tack has broken. I always carry a long piece of latigo on my saddle that can be used as a chin strap or in some other fashion to do a temp fix should the need arise.

I can't tell you, over the years, that having a way to make a quick repair has saved a lot of problems when you are miles from the trailer.


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## Jacksmama (Jan 27, 2010)

Been there! About two years ago I was riding a freshly started, um slightly HOT, 4 year old in the pasture and the same thing happened. I felt the reins go slack and looked down and the bit was hanging around her neck. I was SOOOO glad she was having a good day,lol!


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

iridehorses said:


> My only problem came from a borrowed bridle many many years ago but I've been on trail rides where other rider's tack has broken. I always carry a long piece of latigo on my saddle that can be used as a chin strap or in some other fashion to do a temp fix should the need arise.
> 
> I can't tell you, over the years, that having a way to make a quick repair has saved a lot of problems when you are miles from the trailer.


Me too. I keep latigo saddle strings on my saddle all the time and always have a pocket knife handy. There have been several times where I've had to piece together something to get me back home or finish out the work day.


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