All You Need to Know About Ergonomic Bridles

So I recently decided that I wanted to get Coco a new bridle. When it comes to bridles, there’s no particular brand that stands out to me so I didn’t really know where to start looking. All I knew was that it was going to be brown. Like most equestrians, I’m constantly online looking at all the nice things that I can’t have and a few weeks ago I started coming across images of bridles with alternative style nosebands and head pieces. It got me curious so I decided to look into what these bridles actually are and the reason behind their existence.

What is an Ergonomic Bridle?

An ergonomic bridle (also referred to as a comfort bridle or an anatomical bridle) is a bridle made to conform to the shape of the horses head to avoid pressure points in order to ensure optimum comfort for your horse. These bridles also tend to have softer, more rounded leather.

A lot of different brands offer their own version of these types of bridles so rather than telling you about them all, I decided to pick out my favourites.

Rambo Micklem Multibridle

When I read into what made a bridle ‘ergonomic’, the first thing I thought of was the Micklem. As their tagline says, these bridles are designed from the inside out. In simple terms, when they were designing the micklem, they decided to look at the bone structure of the horses head and essentially create a bridle which sits around the various sensitive areas. The micklem avoids pressure on the facial nerves, the projecting cheek bones or the upper jaw molar teeth, creating a much more comfortable experience for the horse.

Depending on what type and where you purchase it from, these bridles can be bought for between €120 – €220.

PS of Sweden Jump Off Bridle

I first heard of this bridle on Instagram when I saw it being used by EddiesGun91. I was quite intrigued by the look of it so I decided to do some research. Well these guys just go above and beyond when it comes to ergonomic bridles. Not only are all their bridles anatomical designed in English or Italian ECO-friendly leather, but they also offer a customised fitted bridle, ensuring your bridle is uniquely designed for your horse’s head. The Jump Off bridle specifically offers 3 different comfort features for your horse. The noseband allows full freedom for the cheekbones and sensitive nerve endings. The headpiece reduces pressure behind the ears and top of the horses neck. And finally, the design of the cheekpieces allow the bit to suspend in the horses mouth relieving pressure on the poll.

As you may have guessed, this type of quality demands a serious price tag so for one of these bridles you’re looking at forking out a minimum of $339.

Collegiate Comfitec Training Bridle

This bridle really caught my eye when I was doing my research. It seems like quite a unique design that just screamed comfort for the horse. So what is it about this bridle that makes it ergonomic?

Well, to start the headpiece is anatomically shaped to reduce pressure on the poll, while shaped padding around the ears allows more freedom of movement. The cheek strap and cheek ring relieves pressure on the sensitive facial nerves. And as for the most interesting part of the bridle – the noseband – this is anatomically shaped to relieve pressure on the upper jaw and molar teeth.

The one thing that I liked so much about this bridle was the price tag. If you do some hunting you can have this bridle from €108.

So as you may or may not have guessed, I decided to buy an ergonomic bridle because, why not? I ended up going for the Collegiate Comfitec Training Bridle which arrived last week. I’m hoping Coco will like it but regardless I’ll be sure to let you know how I get on and whether ergonomic is the future of bridles – it’s very possible it could be!

Have you had any experience with ergonomic bridles? If so, let me know which one you went for and how you got on. I’m curious to hear other people’s opinions on them!

Thanks for reading,

Orla