Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Buying bridles and leather quality

From: Anne

Dear Jessica, I know that you do lectures and clinics all about tack, so you'll probably be able to tell me what I need to know here. I have been saving since last fall to buy a show bridle for my hunter. I wanted a bridle with either raised or else a square raised noseband because I think they are beautiful. Now I am perplexed! I went to a tack shop to look for my new bridle. I found two that I thought would be good, and I checked them out. The owner yelled at me, well not precisely yelled but he sure raised his voice. He told me that I shouldn't squeeze and twist the leather unless I had already bought the bridle. My friend Jeremy says you always need to twist the leather around and bend it in half, then you can know if it's flexible enough, and if you see cracks or bubbles it's bad leather. The guy in the tack shop said that's not true and that you aren't supposed to twist your straps. He said that a raised noseband can break if you bend it, and you can only bend it a little bit so that it fits your horse, but you shouldn't bend it any more than that, because it can crack. I said that I knew it could crack, that's why I had to bend it, to see if it was bad leather. He said that it's the bending that causes the problem. Jessica, please help me here, I don't know who is right, the tack store guy or my friend, and I really want to buy a new bridle but I don't want to make a mistake because I saved up for a long time for this bridle! Thank you in advance, please answer this. Anne

Hi Anne! Bending and twisting strap goods is guaranteed to make you unpopular at any tack store - and in any barn. The store owner was right. Bending and twisting leather is a good way to destroy leather. Nosebands, especially the raised ones, need to be treated with care. They've been designed to hold a curve - not to be folded in half! Cheap leather may tear when you do this, but good leather will stretch, can crack, and WILL be damaged.

The next time you're in the tack shop, ask to see different quality bridles. The cheapest and least sturdy are usually the softest and most flexible - they've been over-dried in the tanning process, then saturated with oil. They're dark and soft and tremendously flexible - and just about guaranteed to break at the slightest provocation, or just fall apart with no provocation at all. The better-quality bridles will not be as dark or oily or soft - in fact, they may be a little bit stiff at first. Cleaning and using and storing them correctly will make them more flexible - twisting and bending them will only ruin them.

Think about it: What exactly IS leather? It's skin, and it's not alive. Unlike the skin on your arm, the leather of your bridle will not heal if it's damaged. If your bridle leather is strong and has been tanned and then conditioned in a way that replaces the fats and oils, the leather may last for many years IF it is treated well, and treating it well does NOT include twisting and folding it. Those actions will cause the fibers to be stretched, pulled apart, and torn, and the skin will then lose its integrity. Twisting, pinching, and pulling leather will weaken and damage it.

Have you ever wondered why bridle hangers are always round and wide? It's so that the top of the crownpiece can stay in a gentle curve, just as it will when the bridle is on the horse - and it's so that the top of the crownpiece doesn't get folded and damaged, as it would if the bridle were hung on a nail or a hook instead of a wide, rounded bridle hanger.

By the way, if you don't have bridle hangers at home, you can make them very cheaply from empty, clean tunafish cans. If you want a safe way to hang four bridles, just line up four cans along a piece of two-by-four, with the bottoms of the cans against the board. Nail through the cans into the board, and then hang or nail the board high on a wall, wherever you want it. Paint the whole thing in your colours, and you'll have a free, customized hanger that will keep your bridles in good shape. ;-)

Jessica

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