Micklem bridles/Grackle bridles

[chunky monkey]

Who uses one. For what issues. Good/bad points. Or should one stay well clear.
Thinking of buying another bridle as i need to address the headshaking issue and lately he is not happy about the bridle going over the ears.
Currently doing clicker training and working on dropping the head for bridling but wonder if these bridles might help in and way.

 

[MrC]

I use a Micklem bridle for comfort on Kia, he had started headtossing and getting fidgety about his head with a standard bridle. Tried this and he loves it. No ear issues and no head tossing and that's the issues solved.

 

[Lissie]

Grackle for jumping, he's a bit buzzy jumping and locks/crosses his jaw in a cavesson, I can jump in one but he goes better in a grackle. Hacking and schooling he goes in a cavesson with no flash.

 

[SeeingSpots]

I use a Mexican Grackle and I love it. He started opening his mouth and crossing his jaw when he got buzzy out on hacks and then it progressed to in the school. I initially put the grackle on him as a temporary measure with the intention of trying to train it out of him. In the year he's had it on, I've worked solidly on his brakes and lateral flexion. Lateral flexion is very good now but he still lacks brakes when he gets excited. Don't get me wrong, he does have brakes but they're not great at times so the grackle has stayed. It's looser for schooling (I thought about putting him in a flash bridle for schooling but not got round to it) and goes up a hole for hacking.

Tried him in a cavesson last year and oh my lordy, not doing that again. It was funny yes but I was whizzing about with no control whatsoever and non existent brakes. Clearly not a cavesson pony!

I think bridles like this are only bad when they are used to mask signs that are a problem with something else. I have had everything with him checked multiple times by multiple people and he's fine, just likes to be a pain in the butt sometimes. So a grackle is fine for him.

 

[eml]

We use a Micklem for schooling occasionally but not in competition as some judges see it as a sign of contact problems! A grackle is another question altogether and we would reserve it for strong horses after trying lots of other bitting/noseband options.