Review – The Jeffries IR bridle
I'm too sexy for my bridle... Kerry in her new bridle.
Hello everyone! Summer has been insane for me. I have been so busy with farm projects, work, riding, and showing. I have been on a bit of a break from my blogging world. I’m back and my summer experiences have given me a lot to write about! I decided to start back with a review of the new bridle I purchased late spring. Hope you find it helpful if you are doing some bridle shopping of your own!
Can you learn to speak Horse?
Getting to know a new horse is like attempting to learn a new language. You are dealing with a creature with a different mind, feelings, likes, dislikes, different responses to your aids, etc. The most difficult part of this new language you must learn is the fact that there are no words. Instead you must find out about your new friend through different methods of communication – such as subtle body movements and muscle tension. Our horses always have something to say to us. We just have to be clever and quick enough to catch the conversation.
One Size Does Not Fit All
I brought my new mare home this fall. She came with her own bridle, which I used on her for a while. This bridle was a bit older. I will say older does tend to equate with comfiness, however, this bridle was brown and my saddle was black. I decided I probably needed to fix my fashion faux pax. So, before I took my mare for a lesson with my trainer, I figured I should probably switch her to the bridle I had, which was black. I used that bridle (a Kieffer) for many years on the older mare I had. I fitted the bridle to my new mare and size wise it fit great. When I rode her, it was a different story. She developed a strange tendency to try to pull the reins out of my hands. At first, I thought this was maybe just a new behavior. I hadn’t learned all of her quirks yet… she was too new to me. I was doing conditioning work to try to bring her back into shape and I thought possible this was a method to get out of work. I was actually doing a little research on bridles because I had an idea to get her a new one. I did a lot of reading on poll pressure and horse’s sensitivity to it. Then it hit me! Even thought my bridle fit her size, what if she wasn’t comfortable in it? So what did I do?…I switched back to the brown bridle she came with and Wahlla… the behavior was gone.
We did the Shabby Chic thing for a while with a brown bridle and black saddle and I finally decided if I was going to show this year, I would need get her a new bridle. I went on a quest for a nice, comfortable, affordable bridle that would fit her well. The Jeffries IR Comfort Bridle is what I ended up with at the end of my quest.
Picture of the Jeffries padded crown, notice the curve around the ears
So Many Choices…What to do?
I began my search looking for bridles through reading reviews. I don’t believe the bridle ads even the slightest because of course they are trying to sell you the bridle… duh! I looked at bridle review forums. Some of my favorite include www.horsetackreview.com and www.horsegroomingsupplies.com. I knew I wanted one of the new comfort headstalls that were padded and a flash nose-band. I also was a fan of the Vespecci bridles (sold by Dover), however, I read several reviews of stretching problems. I ended up buying the Jeffries comfort IR bridle. The Jeffries was a stretch of my budget. I paid $270.00 for the bridle. I found the best price on Ebay and had to have it shipped from Europe. What I did learn in my quest is that I don’t think you can ever find is the “perfect” bridle, unless you have it custom made.
Jeffries IR Likes and Dislikes
Likes
- Leather is butter soft and there is easy break-in
crank noseband, padded chin barely fits, could be longer
- The crown is padded with the headstall running over top of the pads, it is also curved to allow more room for the ears. This was my favorite part about the bridle! My new girls has ….umm sizable ears. The curve fits her ears much better.
- The leather craft work seems very good with good buckles
- nice sizing chart to get fitted correctly
Dislikes
- Bridle only comes with a crank nose band. The chin piece of the crank is a bit small and could be longer. It barley fit my girl and I would worry about a horse with a larger head.
- The flash nose-band is quite wide. I think it looked too wide especially on my mare who I like to look a bit feminine. I ended up ordering another nose-band and changing it for the one that came with the bridle.
bridle with the larger flash nose-band that came with the bridle
Bridle with the smaller flash nose-band
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