# Harnessing up ----------The Bridle



## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

Anatomy of the Harness Bridle


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

The eyes of tye horse should be in the middle of the blinkers.
The blinkers should be far enough away from the eye that no part of the eye toughes the blinkers, eyelashes included.

These first photos shows good placement the blinders.





















This next photo show the blinders in good placement but, I feel, the blinders are too close to the horses eyes.











To correct the closeness of the blinders to the horses eyes you can pull out the blinder stays by hand,( the better bridles have wire in the stays).
or adjust the buckle on the crown piece between the horses ears.
If you tighten the buckle it will pull the blinders in closer to the horses eyes. If you loosten the buckle it will move the blinders further from the horses eyes.

In this photo there is wire in the stays, so I adjusted one blinder away from the eye and left one blinder close to the eye. I hope you can tell which is which.


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

These blinders are too high.












These blinders are too low.












These blinders are one of each, high and low.

See how neither eyeball is in the most concave part of the blinder.












Poor Pilgrim he was getting tired if bridle adjustments!


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## G8tdh0rse (Aug 14, 2012)

Thank you. The bridles seem so heavy with all that leather. Do you keep the throat latch tighter to keep in on the head better:


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

The throatlatch on a driving bridle should be a little tighter than riding bridles, but with care taken that it does not interfere with breathing when the horse flexes at the pole. If you are having trouble with a bulky bridle can you replace your noseband with, say a thinner dog collar, or a noseband from a driving bridle? Also on some horses, like Peruvians and ponies they have a lot of mane; Make sure your bridle path is trimmed short. If you don’t like a bridle path you could just cut an inch exactly where the bridle lays.

There is also a safety piece of leather that goes under the horse’s jaw connecting the noseband to the throatlatch, making it difficult to get the bridle off. Especially good for minis and ponies that slip their bridles easily.

Gullet Strap | Iowa Valley Carriage


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

I wanted to make this the first post.

The number one rule of driving is:

*Never take the bridle off the horse while it is hooked to the vehicle.*

Most places will eliminate you from competition and/or ask you to leave the premises. This is an obviously dangerous practice, without the bridle on and if something happens you have absolutely no control over the horse.
This is also one reason you should not drive bitless.


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

Love this!


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

The main purpose of the noseband on a driving bridle is to keep the cheek pieces of the bridle from bowing out and the horse being able to see behind them.

These photos are of the bridle adjusted the same but the noseband is on different buckle holes, just one hole apart.

In these photos the cheek pieces can bow out causing the horse to see behind him.




















In these photos I tightened the noseband one hole, and I cannot pull the cheek pieces out very far at all, thus prohibiting the horse from seeing behind him.


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

Notice in the above photos the keepers on the bridle "keeping" the noseband in its place. You will need a keeper somewhere above the bit to keep the noseband from moving around, (up and down) above the bit. I order extra keepers to keep on hand because I loose a keeper every time I clean my harness.
Pssst ... Don't tell anyone I said this but in a pinch you can use electrical tape as a keeper.


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

The browband should not be so short as to pull the crown piece and cheek peices forward. The bridle should go straight down from the crown to the bit.

The browband should not be so big that it sticks out in front of the horses forehead.

The browband should not interfear with or pinch the horses ears. Make sure there is enough room at the corner that the browband and crown piece makes to accomidate the ear and all of its movement.

This photo is a bit snug in the ear department. You can't really see it in the photo but in person it is.











In this photo I just slid the browband and rosette further down the crown piece, Be careful though because doing this tightens the throat latch, so adjustments need to be made there. As in life on a harness every action has an equal reaction.


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## wetrain17 (May 25, 2011)

Taffy these are great threads! Its nice to get a refresher course in driving since I hardly ever do it.


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## littrella (Aug 28, 2010)

I swear I'm going to plan a vacation this summer to Missouri for a week. I could learn so much from you!


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

littrella said:


> I swear I'm going to plan a vacation this summer to Missouri for a week. I could learn so much from you!


Come on Down!!


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

This bridle is a better quality bridle than the bridle in the above photos. This has regular keepers on the cheek pieces rather than box keepers. If you look at the cheek pieces the billet from the crown piece and the billet from the cheek piece that holds the bit overlap, with a box keeper they would not be able to overlap inside the box keeper and would have to "pooch out" above and/or below the box keeper, or cut the billets, never a good idea on an expensive bridle.












I always try and get the best bridle I can afford. I got a deluxe harness and a super deluxe bridle. While the upgrade of the entire harness was $500, just the upgraded bridle was $150. It is the first thing people see and what is noticed most. Plus a well fitting bridle is a joy to both horse and driver.

The noseband is patent leather is double buckled instead of a single buckle, making for a more comfortable and better fit.










On the better bridle the noseband does not run through the cheek pieces of the bridle above the bit, but hang on its own headstall. The noseband headstall than attaches to the bridle cheek pieces at the upper buckle.
With this set up the noseband still keeps the bridle snug against the horse but does not interfere with the bit at all.


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