Colt's New Bridle

Colter has needed a new bridle since I met him. He's a big boy, clocking in at 17.2 hands tall, and his head is gargantuan. For reference, here is a picture of Colt standing beside me. I am 5'9".

The horse's head is the size of my torso, y'all. Notice he isn't wearing a noseband in the picture. That's because I removed it from that bridle- it was too small. The bridle he is wearing is a full/horse-sized bridle, and it didn't fit him at all. The browband was too narrow and the cheekpieces were set one hole up from the bottom. The throatlatch was always buckled on the last hole. Colt hated this bridle- he was reluctant to let me put it on him, and once it was on, he spent his time flipping and shaking his head in an effort to remove it.

Sharing a bridle with Moe or Gina was out of the question. Moe wears a cob-sized bridle that fits Gina reasonably well; they share a bit that is far too narrow for Colt's mouth. I have a couple of other bridles floating around in tack trunks and trailers, but all are horse-sized, as none of my horses have been giant warmbloods.

I emailed Colt's owner a few months ago about buying him a new bridle; he emailed me back to say he'd work on it. Colt's owner is a busy attorney with young children, so I don't hold it against him at all that he didn't find time to get a bridle shipped to the rider of his sat-in-a-pasture-for-five-years horse. 

I finally got around to buying Colt an inexpensive bridle from SmartPak about a month ago. It's the Plymouth Padded Fancy Stitch Bridle; at $70, I didn't feel like I was breaking the bank to buy a bridle for a horse that I don't own. (I don't foresee myself reusing this bridle on another mount; I don't plan to acquire any large warmbloods in the future.) I bought the over-sized, figuring it would be perfect for Colt.

Out of the box, it was soft, supple, and a beautiful color. It looked big, but so does Colter's head. When I took it out to the barn to fit it to him, I was extremely surprised at just how big it is. This bridle is legitimately huge. The browband juts out about an inch from Colt's forehead, but I think that's due to it being new and needing to be broken in some more. The throatlatch and cheekpieces are on the top holes; the bit seems a little low in Colt's mouth, but he appears to enjoy it. The noseband is adjusted about two holes from the top, but buckles perfectly around his nose. The reins are very, very long. 

Um, who knew Colter was so freaking cute?

Notice the browband. And the catalog-model pose he has.

Buckles at/near the top.

Ridiculously long reins.

The fancy stitching is very fancy.

Overall, I'm happy with the bridle. It fits Colter well enough (though I'll probably punch some holes in it all the same) and looks good on him. The leather is holding up well and is nice and supple. I'd recommend this bridle, but would definitely advise buying a smaller size than what your horse normally wears. I imagine the over-sized would fit a draft horse or very large warmblood just fine. I can't fault SmartPak for the size, really- I ordered it, and it is definitely oversized. They make a damn fine bridle for a damn good price.

As mentioned, I bought this bridle; SmartPak didn't compensate me to write this, but they did reply to my Tweeted picture of Colt in the bridle. That makes me internet-famous, right?