How to Make an English Bridle

Materials you will need:
– 24” of material. Either Ribbon or Leather 1/8” or 1/16th thick.
– Small Hair Clips (To hold Glued Areas)
– Tweezers (For ease of buckling)
– Model Horse
– Two Metal Rings (5mm or 7mm)
– Three Buckles (made from wire or Rio Rondo Buckles)
– Narrow End Pliers
– Craft Glue
– Scissors

(Alternatively, you can purchase a Rio Rondo/Unicorn Women Tack Making Set which includes all the materials you need to create a Bridle. These sets are available from Utterly Horses. Have a look on our website)

Adult Supervision is Required
Once you have gathered all the required materials, (see above) we are ready to start. There is a illustration (located at the bottom of this page) to help.

Step 1: Buckle Construction- First, make the buckles by bending the wire around the narrow-ended pliers. The buckles should be the same width, slightly wider than the leather/ribbon that you are using. Alternatively, purchasing ready-made buckles are a option.

Step 2: Noseband- To create the noseband, measure the length all the way around your horses nose, slightly behind the corner of the mouth. Glue the centre bar of one of the buckles to the end, securing it with a clip. To prevent the ribbon from unravelling and to make this and all buckling easier, put a thin coat of glue on the other end, let it dry and then cut it to a point. If you are using leather you do not have to coat it with glue. When buckled it will look like a tiny belt and can be put around the horse’s nose.

Step 3: Left Cheek piece- With your Breyer horse facing to your left and with the noseband on, measure the length from the leftside of the noseband to the point of the cheekbone, or to just beneath the eye. Be sure to allow extra room for glue at both ends.

Step 4: Left Bit Ring- Loop one end of the left sidepiece around the side of the noseband. Put one 5mm or 7mm bit ring in the loop, then glue the tab shut. Make sure it is not stuck to the noseband or bit.

Step 5: Glue the centre bar of the buckle to the left cheek piece.

Step 6: Right Bit Ring- When making the right bit ring, follow the same instructions as you did for the left bit ring (4). Glue it in the same way while holding both the noseband and other bit ring. The bridle can now be buckled at the left cheekpiece and it will stay in place on your horse.

Step 7: Throatlatch- When attempting the throatlatch, drape the length of material behind the ears and under the jaw. Allow extra material because it will be taken up when it is held by the broadband. Coat it with glue and cut the left end to a point. Glue the centre bar of the last buckle to the other end.

Step 8: Browband- With the bridle on, measure the length for the browband across the forehead. Browbands vary with each model because of the size of the head or the size of the horse’s forelock. Allow extra material at each end because both the headstall and the throatlatch will be held by it. The buckle end will hang on the right side of the head, well below the jawline.
This will eventually be lifted up and buckled on the left side.

Step 9: Glue each end of the browband around the headstall and throatlatch pieces. Don’t make them too tight! They need tobe able to slide and adjust. When held by the browband, the headstall and throatlatch can either be side-by-side or overlapped.

Step 10: Reins- Cut about a 12” piece of material and glue each end to each bit ring. With the horse facing left, slide the already bucked noseband on. Buckle each cheekpiece and throatlatch. Arrange the bit rings at each corner of the mouth.
Congratulations you have created your own custom bridle!