Suffolk Bridle Review

Alright! I finally got a break so I could go try my new bridles on Pigeon yesterday. 

Bridle 1: Suffolk premier dressage bridle

Black/black

Horse/full size

Alright, let's move on from the fact that I'm using a massive western O ring bit until my new bits get here. (Should be a few days!) This picture really shows the bloody red mare's good side.. Except for that bad mane day she's got going on there. Doesn't look half bad.. You can see where I had to readjust the throat latch after realizing it adjusts on both sides and it still ended up getting caught on her gigantic furry cheek of doom. You'll be able to see better in the next picture, her fur literally made adjusting this thing the worst.

And here's where I'm not happy. The thick browband + thick noseband makes her look like an anime pony or something. I'm working on getting a new browband as I type this.. Granted, this is mostly because Pigeon has really big eyes and an oddly shaped head, but I don't think I'll put this on Riley or Ray. It'll just swallow their faces. 

"I'm a grumpy mare and I'm mad at you for taking me away from the hay, but I'll still ground tie" 

So what's my overview here? I'd reccomend this bridle. Maybe not for super serious showing every day on expensive-fancy horses, but for the average backwoods equestrian, it's great! I plan on getting David (Amish tack maker down the road from my house, he basically remade my western saddle last year and is really patient with my tack needs.) to see about making me some plain leather reins. I think I'd like it a lot better with that and a new browband. We'll see. 

Things I love: 

The padding. So much padding. It's a really good quality and it's like everywhere.

The webbing on the reins is really comfy for me and I'm excited to try them out! 

The flash was really supple and good quality leather

The whole bridle seems to be great quality, but is kind of stiff.

The hook closures (where the bit attaches) fought me a little, but were easy enough to use. 

Things I hate:

The leather is nowhere near as soft as I'd like it. I think oiling it will help a ton. 

The browband should be thinner, in my opinion.

I don't have a good bit for it yet so it looks kinda dumb.

The nosepiece adjustment thing above the bit is a major pain. Again, oiling should help.

Some keepers were plasticky feeling and slid down instead of keeping excess leather in place.

The leather on the reins is stiff and doesn't let them move that much.

Bridle 2: Suffolk premier fancy snaffle bridle (that's a mouthful) 

Brown 

Horse/full size

I'm telling you, she makes tack look way better from this side... I didn't adjust the cheek pieces correctly because I pretty much couldn't feel my hands by this point. Whoops. I really pretty much hate this bridle, I'll say that right now. If it gets better with oiling, I'll be really surprised. 

Even the bloody red mare hates it! (Nah, Ray was being a jerk to Riley behind her.) Okay, so I don't want to just beat this bridle up on here so.. I do love how it looks much thinner/simpler and refined on Pidge (except for where my numb hands messed up), I love the stitching, and the color isn't bad. That's about it. It looks good on the birdy girl and I'd put it on Ray, but I'm afraid to use it on Riley in case it breaks.. 

Here is the comparison between suffolk's stitching (top) and crown's stitching (bottom). My crown bridle got in an oil accident so it's not bright white anymore, but it still serves its purpose. Suffolk has thicker stitching on the binding, but a less fancy design overall. This also shows the color difference, my crown bridle is like a dark chocolate brown and my Suffolk bridle is more of a red-brown-bay color. They're about the same thickness, but I ordered a padded crown bridle and a non-padded Suffolk bridle so it looks a lot worse than it really is. (NOTE: these are the nosebands of both. Not the browbands. I was way too lazy to go get my crown bridle from the trailer for that, but I never use its noseband so it was in my room.)

Hahaha Pigeon looks so evil! It's because we both hate this bridle. If it hadn't been $30, I would have sent it back and asked for a refund with a lengthy complaint attached. I would not reccomend this bridle at all, unless I can soften it up some. Then I'd only recommend it for what I plan on using it for - shows only.

Things I love:

The stitching. It's so bright and prominent! It really looks good against the dark leather.

The thickness of the leather, both ways. I think the designers knocked this one out of the park.

The color. It's different than most bridles I've seen, and would match my Stübben well.

The one good keeper it had

The fact that I could actually work the hook closures. 

Things I hate:

The whole bridle feels cheaply made/plastic/fake/awful. Like the skin of people who go to tanning beds their whole lives.

It's stiff. Really stiff. Like... I don't know if I can fix it stiff.

The keepers slide down and don't help keep excess leather down. I think there was one good keeper.

The laced reins are so high/stiff I can compare them to Mount Everest. They'll be useful if I want to amputate my fingers. I thought my crown ones were bad until I broke them in, but no.

The fancy stitching wasn't fancy enough for this tack whore.

The fact that I could work the hook closures scares me.