How to Bridle a Horse

Video Transcript

"We're going to bridle this horse for what we would consider a training session. A training session usually means that we're going to incorporate some type of a snaffle bit. If we were taking her to the show ring, there would probably be a different bit, something a little more competitive, shank style. But we always like to work with our horses in the most simple method here at home. So I have here a snaffle bit. It does though incorporate some leverage, which gives me a curb chain so that I can talk about and describe some of the different parts as we bridle. I'm going to take this horse's halter off, and let it be free of her so she can't step in it, I'll place her rings around her neck. I have the advantage that I know this horse is going to be a quiet and easy horse to bridle. If I had something more difficult, I might have to be in the enclosed area of a stall perhaps. But I don't want to keep her tied, because if she were to pull back with that around her neck, it may frighten her enough to put me in some kind of harm. My bridle needs to be positioned. I like to do this in this fashion. There are a number of ways to bridle a horse, this just happens to work best for me and for the students that I work with. It's positioned, so everything is straight and ready to apply. I take my right hand and I stroke her nose gently. It not only makes it a pleasant experience, but it kind of tells her she needs to stay right here within my arm. Then I can replace my right hand with my left, which continues to put a little pressure on her, just enough, and then I inch this up to her mouth. Sometimes horses are reluctant to open their mouth, and my right thumb is positioned in a spot where I can easily get her to open her mouth as I bring that bit up. I have to share, she had her teeth floated yesterday, which she's usually real easy and drops her nose right in there, I think she still feels and is reminded of that procedure. Once we have the bit in place, and it fits her well, I've got two things I need to consider. I have a throat latch strap that's going to go fastened here behind her jaw, and we're going to put that in place in a loose way so that I can still get a hand in there. And then my curb chain needs to be lying flat. So I may have to twist it to create a flat shape there against her jaw. This is what provides the leverage to any bit that has any kind of what we call a shank to it. So this bit requiring a little bit of leverage, I'm going to use a curb chain as I put this in place. So with that I check my keepers, make sure everything is neat and tidy, take my reins up, and we're ready to go on and start our session."