Bridles for showing a coloured?

[Sammii]

For those of you who don't know Red (where have you been the past two years, :rolleyes: ), he is a 14.3hh coloured cob 'type'.

The shows I will be competing him in this year are:
Ridden & In-Hand horse.
Ridden family horse.
In hand Best Condition.
Tack and Turnout
Walk & Trot Dressage Test (where any tack is permitted).

He has quite an angelic head, with distinct markings. His saddle and other tack is brown, I have enclosed a picture of his new saddle, as it's a dark brown colour, so would like to match as close as possible.

His current bridle looks as if it's (in the words of Poohsmate) just been brought from a jumble sale. :D It'll look good when it's all scrubbed up and the colour it's supposed to be (brown, not grey!) but it's still got some general wear and tear, keepers broken etc. PLUS, the bit rings are attached to that bridle and I am NOT fighting them back off just to put them back on after the show! (I do realise it's the bit they're attached to, but I want to buy a new bridle so SHHH :p)

Current Bridle:
http://img5.uploadhouse.com/fileuploads/1717/171763532f5f43936b32c345d3787954e452d7d.jpg

A Red headshot:
http://img3.uploadhouse.com/fileuploads/1717/17176369abd7a6009c11b1925b41e94a2cf3cca.jpg

And the saddle which he will be wearing, a really nice dark brown colour:
http://img0.uploadhouse.com/fileuploads/1717/1717650be1c5ca2efaf511c1ffab82add8dc1b2.jpg

So what style bridle would you recommend buying for him?

Also, what kind of reins goes best with him? At the moment i'm using normal rubber reins, but they're also very worn. Do you think plaited, or just plain leater, something like that? :)
Thanks!

[coyote]

do you like Nellys new show bridle? (look at pics in album)
its only a Kinkade hunter bridle,it came with the headslip and two sets of reins,1 plaited and 1 plain,so it becomes a double when needed, it was only £25,BARGAIN!!!!

[Mehitabel]

plain hunter type - something like this one. you want a fairly wide noseband, although i would say not as wide as the one in the pic as he has a different head shape, and with billets, not buckles, for the bit.
http://rehorses.com/cappu_head.jpg

ETA reins are a personal choice. i like plain ones, but the laced ones or the ones with rubber just on the inside are popular too. i wear roeckle light n grip gloves and my hands get stuck on anything other than plain reins!

[coyote]

Thats the one,mine is like that one.;)

[Sammii]

Wondered when you'd pop in Mehitabel :D

Shall I get a 1/2" noseband then? or 3/4?

Thanks Sam & M :D

[ashlingm]

id got for an inch wide.

[rtk]

I wouldn't go smaller than 1", our cob mare wear 1" and its a bit thin, when she gets a new bridle I will go for 1.25".

Here is her 1"

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a17/rockiesmum/bspa4-06002.jpg

And here is a bit of very bad editing showing her with a wider one

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a17/rockiesmum/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg

Why not borrow a few to try

It would also be better if you used a Pelham bit (if you dont want a double bridle) if your horse doesn't like a straight bit with a curb there are ways round it. When we first started showing our coloured I got a jointed pelham and left the curb chain very loose, she barely noticed it wasn't a snaffle.

[mogadoga]

do you like Nellys new show bridle? (look at pics in album)
its only a Kinkade hunter bridle,it came with the headslip and two sets of reins,1 plaited and 1 plain,so it becomes a double when needed, it was only £25,BARGAIN!!!!


Yep i second that. They are lovley for the price. Wont last as long as an english leather one but definatley value for money! Id get a flat caverson 'hunter' bridle for him :)

ETA You dont NEED a pellham/double, even for county level. I thought you did for that level but apparently not..

[chickflick1066]

do you like Nellys new show bridle? (look at pics in album)
its only a Kinkade hunter bridle,it came with the headslip and two sets of reins,1 plaited and 1 plain,so it becomes a double when needed, it was only £25,BARGAIN!!!!
Stumpy has the same show bridle Coyote. My old RI bought for me as our Christmas present in 2006 :D

Here she is modeling it, cept I don't use the headslip or second rein ;)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/chickflick1066/Widmershowbeforeitwentwrong.jpg

[Pink's lady]

Echo what others have said - he should be in a proper cob bridle with a flat plain noseband. A really wide one would swamp his face but a 1" would look good. The narrower ones just look flimsy.

And double echo the kincade weymouth bridle - it's really really good value for money!! Not quite as nice a proper english leather but for £25-£30 it's amazing! I bought one last week for Pink and after a bit of work with leather oil and conditioner you'd never tell it's not top quality english leather. AND you get two pairs of reins.

The brown one would match your saddle well and the reins are plain (1/2") and plaited (3/4") so you could chose which ones you liked better. I prefer plain but I'm rather taken with the plaited ones now and slowly being converted (or would be if they were long enough and I could actually reach the plaited bits:rolleyes: )

As for a pelham - if he goes nicely in a snaffle I'd stick with it. I'd also try and get him going in a plain eggbutt/loose ring as the full cheeks don't look good and the rubber bit rings aren't allowed.

Pink in her cheap and cheerful kincade and Kalli in her stupidly expensive custom made bridle. Not a lot of difference!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Pinkslady/Pink/nosebands.jpg

[Daffy Dilly]

I would go for at least an inch on the noseband, probably more.

Daffy is in a 1.25", before that we had 1 1/8th"

[coyote]

Here is Nelly sporting his hunter bridle,i thinks its lovely tbh.:D
have dropped the noseband down a hole ,it was a little too high all because of this pic.;)

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t209/coyotegreyhounds/nellys%20shows/IMG_2313.jpg

[Sammii]

I must either be a mind-reader, or just a soft spot for something that looks the best.

I bought him a dark brown kincade hunter bridle, with a 1.25" (i think :o) noseband. As PL says, it comes with two sets of reins, either plain or plaited.

All for £29.99, bargain :D
I love it! I'm down today so will try it on him and adjust size (and take pictures :rolleyes: ) and fight his bit rings off. :D

I also bought rather alot of other stuff. :o

[Pink's lady]

Nice isn't it!

Once you know it fits I would highly recommend you spend a while suppling it. Use good leather conditioner (not neatsfoot, which will just make it weak and slimey I LOVE the Effax lederbalm - smell of honey:D) until it's saturated and then gently supple (bend and flex) the leather with lots of good saddle glycerin soap (the Carr day and martin stuff's good).

I spent a whole day doing Pink's bridle and it now looks, feels and smells like Kallis expensive custom made one:D

[Sammii]

Nice isn't it!

Once you know it fits I would highly recommend you spend a while suppling it. Use good leather conditioner (not neatsfoot, which will just make it weak and slimey I LOVE the Effax lederbalm - smell of honey:D) until it's saturated and then gently supple (bend and flex) the leather with lots of good saddle glycerin soap (the Carr day and martin stuff's good).

I spent a whole day doing Pink's bridle and it now looks, feels and smells like Kallis expensive custom made one:D

Thanks! I love cleaning bridles, so i'll do it tonight, i'm always looking for something to do on a Sunday night. :D I think I have the roll on carr day and martin stuff, so will use that.

Thanks Mel. :)