Bridle & Ride

21/08/2025

Nieuwe collectie in rrrrrrribfluweel

21/08/2025

Smalle beentjes? Score deze pasmodel laarsjes dan snel :)

18/08/2025

Only a few left! Grabs yours now !

11/08/2025

Another beauty ready to deliver!

09/08/2025

Jaaaaaa… het heeft even geduurd… maar deze springruiter zal blij zijn met deze special order frontriem met subtiele bling 💍

06/07/2025

Knappe ❣️👌🏽

28/06/2025

https://www.bridleandride.com/EQTEC-custom-fB-Equifit7B-uk

Last set! These are gorgeous and now on sale!

Inspired by the Equitation Ring. The unprecedented protection and support of our D-Teq™ Front Boot in an elegant, understated design.

27/06/2025

What is the ideal weight of contact?

What do you suppose the answer to this question should be?

If you ride at a reasonably good standard on a horse you know well you might think that the ideal weight is the one that YOU have. After all – why not, it works for you.

But that means that there are a whole load of ideal rein contact weights that are equally acceptable and that is how we view it at Bridle & Ride.

Q1. Is there an ideal weight in the rein contact? – YES! It’s the one that generates a purposeful response from the horse and a feeling of elastic connection through the reins
Nevertheless once we start to measure contact weights from many situations we start to see a general trend that represents what can be regarded as the AVERAGE rider/horse partnership.

Let’s get more specific by asking further questions:
Q2. Is it possible to have a contact that is too heavy? – YES! The horse may be protecting itself by grasping the bit, or leaning on the forehand or, worse, the rider is forcing the horse in an attempt to teach him who’s boss.
Q3. Is it possible to have a contact that is too light? – YES! The horse may be protecting itself by backing off the bit and coming behind the vertical, or, the rider assumes that this contact is the one they want even though the horse remains unengaged.

In the first case discomfort may be preventing the horse from wanting to engage with you through the reins and good horsemanship must try to get to the root of the problem
In the second case the trainer or coach must decide whether such a light contact is appropriate for your stage of training and ambitions
Q4. But shouldn’t we want to go through the stages of training always with the aim of achieving the lightest possible contact? – YES! but for all practical purposes, particularly when having a goal other than that one as the sole target, it will often be necessary to ride with a firmer contact.
You will start your journey with a light or perhaps even contactless rein aid
You will then aim to achieve independence of the hands so that you may safely take a firmer, yet allowing, contact and achieve consistent communication through the reins
Finally, perhaps over many years, you may return to a light rein aid but returning to it as the seasoned traveller
So, we are saying that there are many acceptable rein contacts that are equally good but there are also bad situations that we want to discourage.
Rhythm, Consistency, Contact and Balance key words to the right contact for you and your horse we add to the list engagementt and relaxation.

It’s not only about the bit or bridle it is about the bigger picture !

26/06/2025

Why is Rein Contact So Important?

Horse and rider connection is crucial and the contact influences the horse’s way of going in many ways:

🌼 Rhythm and regularity of the paces
The rein contact varies with different phases of the horse’s stride – a regular stride pattern results in a regular contact.
🌼 Balance and self-carriage
If the horse can maintain his balance and carry himself consistently, the contact will be more consistent – loss of balance, whether it is dropping onto the forehand during a transition or relying on the rider’s hand for balance through a turn, affects the line of communication between horse and rider and this alters the contact.
🌼 Suppleness and Straightness
If the horse more reliant on one rein for balance, or is stiffer in one direction, this will have an influence on the contact, even before the rider starts to make corrections!
🌼 Acceptance of the contact
Resistance to the bridle will also disrupt contact consistency, whether the horse fixes against the rider, snatches, leans or ducks behind the contact.

Aspects of rider technique which feed into the contact include:-
🌼 Balance and security
Reliance on the hands for balance or instability and excess movement in the rider’s position compromises the rider’s ability to maintain a consistent contact.
🌼 Symmetry
One-sidedness can have a big influence on the nature of the contact – do you know what an identical contact in both reins feels like? Asymmetry in body position can also have a significant impact.
🌼 Independence of the hands
Soft, independent hands which can follow the movement of the horse’s head through the different phases of each stride will enable the maintenance of a more consistent connection between the rider’s hand and the horse’s mouth.
🌼 Refinement of the aids
Subtle aids, to which the horse responds willingly without the need for repetition, will result in smaller variations in the contact
🌼 Correcting issues
Riders are often tempted to rely on the hand to correct way of going issues – this will result in an inconsistent contact and in some cases, may just result in trading one problem for another!

Bridle&Ride Assesses:-
🌼 Rhythm
The pattern of the horse’s stride is reflected in the rein tension. If a regular rhythm is established, contact will be consistent
🌼 Loss of rider position, a fixed, restrictive hand or excessive adjustments will also disrupt the rhythm in the reins.
🌼 Consistency
Our goal is an attentive horse which responds to subtle aids and can sustain a consistent way of going in self-carriage without over reliance on the rider. Where this is achieved, and the rider moves as one with the horse, variations in the contact weight will lie within a narrow range. Where communication requires stronger intervention, the flow will be interrupted
🌼 Contact
There is a range of acceptable levels of rein contact. However, it is possible to have too strong a contact on the horse’s mouth, or at the other end of the scale an absence of any meaningful connection. Excessive use of the hand to force an outline or exercise is an unsustainable method of training, and will lower your contact quality.
At the other end of the scale, it is also problematic for there to be a complete lack of rein contact, whether this is a result of the horse going behind the bit and refusing to take the contact forward or the rider not providing the horse with a clear line of communication.
🌼 Balance
When aiming for suppleness and straightness in our horses, we are seeking to minimise one-sidedness and reach a situation where both horse and rider are symmetrical and able to maintain a balanced, correct picture through a variety of exercises in both directions. One measure of this is the left-right balance in our rein contact. If we ride a symmetrical pattern, such as a complete figure of eight, in an ideal world we would have the same average contact weight in our left and right reins.

Are you always heavier in one hand regardless of the exercise? Very few of us are naturally ambidextrous! We cannot expect our horses to be straight if we are not straight ourselves.

Something to think about…

19/06/2025

True in every sense !