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How To Bridle A Horse - Page 2 of 2
How to bridle a horse in step by step photos. This
page covers opening the horse's mouth, finishing bridling, and how to remove a
bridle.
<<< continued from page 1
Bridling, Step Three
| Use your thumb to encourage the horse to open his mouth
to accept the
bit. Do this by sliding your thumb into the interdental
space, as shown in the photo. Horses that have been bridled a great deal
will open their mouth when when your thumb slides in. If the horse does
not open its mouth, you can wiggle your thumb around or gently tap the
tongue or gums as a reminder of what he is supposed to do. |
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This photo clearly shows sliding
the thumb into the inderdental space. |
Bridling, Step Four
When the horse opens its mouth, raise your right hand up
and back (toward the horse's ears) to
lift the bit inside and past the front (incisor) teeth. Use your left
hand to guide the bit, and keep the curb strap behind the chin. In this
step, as in the previous one, be careful not to bump the horse's teeth
with the bit as it enters the mouth.
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The bit is just entering the
horse's mouth. The fingers of the left hand are guiding the curb strap
and the bit,
and the right hand is slowly lifting the bridle. |
Bridling, Step Five
| Now slide the crown of the
bridle over the horse's
ears. Do NOT scrunch or smash the horse's ears in this step - they don't
like it, and it could cause them to pull away, or hit you in the face
with their head. Instead, fold the ears straight forward or straight
back. In
the photo the handler has opted to fold the ears back. The right side of the crown has already been slid over the
horse's right ear. The handler is now just about to slide the crown over
the left ear. Notice how the handler is gently pushing the horse's left
ear down and back. |
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The bridle in the photo is a style
with a brow band. Some bridles are a "one ear" or "two ear" style,
meaning they have small loops for the ears to fit through instead of the
brow band. When bridling, the principal is the same: fold the ears
forward or back to fit behind the brow band or through the ear loops,
and avoid smashing the ears. |
You're Done!
| After the horse's ears are in front of the crown,
straighten and neaten the forelock, making sure there aren't any tangled
hairs. It's also a good idea at this point to just step back for a
second and look things over, making sure there are not any buckles or
cheek pieces too close to the eye, etc. It's also a good idea to step to
the other side of the horse and make sure everything looks OK on that
side, too. When you're sure everything is fine, buckle the throatlatch
(if the bridle has one) and you're finished! |
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How To Bridle A Horse (you are on page 2 of 2)
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Tips
- If the weather is cold, warm
the bit before putting it into the horse's mouth. You can take the bridle
inside a warm building or vehicle, or simple slide it beneath your coat
close to your body for a few minutes.
- If you have to reach way high
to bridle your horse do the obvious thing and stand on something secure to
make yourself taller during bridling. You can also lead the horse to a low
spot. In addition, you can train your horse to lower its head on command.
Removing A Horse's Bridle
- Plan ahead on how you are
going to control the horse when the bridle is removed. For example, you can
loop the
reins around the horse's neck, or buckle a
halter around his neck.
- To remove a bridle, first
unfasten any throatlatches, etc. Then use your right hand to grasp the crown
of the
bridle between the horse's ears, and push it forward over the ears.
While doing this you can put your left hand on the horse's cheek to keep the
horse from swinging its face into yours, or you can use your left hand to
help bend the ears forward. When the crown of the bridle has cleared the
ears lower the bridle carefully, giving the horse an opportunity to open
its mouth so the bit can be lowered slowly and gently back out over the
horse's teeth.
- Unbridling a horse too fast
could cause you to bang the bit into the horse's teeth. This is painful
to the horse which is not only unkind, the horse could react by throwing his head
and possibly hitting you in the face and causing serious injury.
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