Hi guys, I'm Sarah from SmartPak, and I'm
here with my friend, Euros, at Grazing Fields Farm, and we're going to be talking about
how to fit a bridle. We're going to be working with a Harwich Padded
Fancy Stitch Bridle right out of the bag, so it's going to be exactly what you guys
are going to be dealing with when you get your first bridle or your new bridle. You want to start with getting an approximate
size for him, so we'll hold it up right next to his head, extend the bit down, and make
sure that it looks to be just about the right size for him that way when you put it on,
it's not going to be too tight or way too loose. You'll notice that I have all of my keepers
open. That's so that it's really nice and easy for
me to go ahead and make adjustments once the bridle is on. Once you've got your bridle on, you can see
it's not hanging out of his mouth, it's not way too tight, so we're in a pretty good spot
to look at the adjustment of the headstall. The headstall is this portion that runs over
his crown, down, and connects to the bit. Depending on your personal preference, anywhere
from 1 to 3 wrinkles at the side of his mouth is going to be something that you want to
go with. You can see that he's got about two right
here, so that's feeling pretty good. Once you've got your headstall adjusted, you
can move on to the caveson, also called a noseband. The caveson is going to run just in front
of the headstall cheekpiece, and it should end sitting just about two fingers below the
end of his cheekbone, which you can see running right here. When you connect it, you want it to be tight
enough to encourage him to keep his mouth closed so he stays with good contact on the
bit, but you don't want it to be so tight that it causes pressure on the soft tissue
structures of his nose. A good rule of thumb is about two fingers
between a hard surface, not the soft surface under his jaw. Once that is adjusted, you can move on to
your throat latch. The throat latch is designed to keep the bridle
from being pulled off forward. So you do want to have it connected tightly
enough that it's going to stay on and stay in place, but you don't want it to be so tight
that when you start riding and he goes into a frame for you that it's going to interfere
with his air circulation. A good rule of thumb for the throat latch
is a closed fist between his cheek and throat latch. You want to finish up with your brow band. The brow band should ideally fit in the groove
just below his ears. If it's too tight, you might notice pressure
at the back of his ears, which is going to be uncomfortable. If it's too loose, the bridle can start to
slide back. So with the brow band in place, ideally you'd
like to have it at the split of the cheekpiece and the throat latch. So right here is just a perfect height. You want to check and make sure that it's
even from both sides, presenting a nice, clean appearance. You want to check that your brow band and
your nose band are both even. Once you're all set, you can put up your keepers
and enjoy your ride. In addition to having a properly fitting bridle,
it's also important to have a quality bridle. One of our most popular bridles is our very
own Harwich Padded Fancy Stitch Bridle, which you just saw Sarah trying on Euros at the
barn. The entire Harwich line is packed full of
features at an unbeatable price. We're so sure you'll love it that we offer
free return shipping on all bridles in the SmartPak line. Order today and see for yourself.