I Bought A War Bridle. What Is That?
Before last summer, I never knew what a war bridle was. Well, maybe I did. I’d seen pictures of Native Americans riding with just a rope wrapped around their horse’s lower jaw. But I didn’t know if it was a real thing or just something we saw in movies. Then Show Jumper Brittni Raflowitz entered the Grand Prix arena in Tryon on her giant warmblood gelding, Hilton, with no headstall.
This big bay show jumper with braids and a rider in the traditional coat and white breeches, but the horse has just a rope in his mouth and a leather strap against his chin. I was intrigued. Brittni, who splits her time between Tryon and Wellington, said her business partner Colle Valdivia made the bridle for her. She started flatting her gelding in it, and found that he jumped even better in it.
Brittni isn’t the first show jumper to try something a little unconventional in the (sometimes quite stuffy) show jump ring. Veteran rider Susie Hutchison rode her gelding, Woodstock, in just a bit with reins in the 90s. Danielle Waldman has been seen using a “liquid titanium compression mask” on some of the horses in her fleet, most notably, the grey Belgian Warmblood mare, Jativia. The mask works as a “thunder shirt” essentially, to help keep tense horses calm.
I had to try it. So I bought one. The simplicity of it was, well, almost overwhelming at first.
I worried my mouthy Thoroughbred gelding would either love it – or spit it right out. Just like with any other gimmick or tool, I knew I had to be gentle with this as I tested it out on my horse’s mouth. Upon first try, I was able to lead my horse around a grassy pasture bareback with it just fine, even if it felt a little funny.
It forced me to constantly have a slight contact with his mouth, because I worried at any moment it would just… fall out. I don’t see this new piece of equipment replacing a real bridle in any sense, but I think it’s something fun and interesting to play around with some more. I think my horse appreciated it too – or at least the break it offered from the monotony of his usual workouts. I owe it to him to mix it up a bit sometimes, right?
Who knows, maybe one day I’ll find out my horse jumps great in it, too.