evolution of the circus bridle

And by "circus bridle," obviously I'm referring to my beloved hackamore snackamore, our dedicated trail and hacking bridle.

Because why not, let's drill down into the life cycle of this one particular piece of tack that started its time with me mostly as a joke, but has morphed into our go-to, everyday bridle.

memories of the good ol' days, when life was simpler and bridles were nylon webbing

You all might remember back two winters ago when I impulsively snatched up this hideous unique exquisite bright red pony-sized nylon webbing headstall and hackamore from the consignment section at Maryland Saddlery for the rock bottom price of $16.

could the mare be any more thrilled?!?

And naturally, bc I am a very sick individual with a very sick sense of humor, I added in the multi-colored reins too - just to get that full effect, ya know?

The nylon webbing had issues tho, mostly related to actually staying where it was supposed to on the horse's face. First adaptation was switching out the browband to some nasty old horse-sized leather part from yet another bridle (visible in the first pic).

regal?

When just that one change didn't seem to quite do the trick for keeping the headstall where it needed to be, eventually the whole shebang got switched out to aforementioned nasty old horse-sized bridle (alas, much too big for the horse's petite face).

beeeeeeeyootiful

Still, obviously, naturally, with the particolored reins and bright red hackamore noseband. Truly, Isabel was a sight to behold. Especially with added overly-fringed full-sized bonnet.

Can you feel the love emanating from Isabel's gaze in that pic? Doesn't she look exactly as if she feels like a million bucks?!? lol...

ok, that's finally a little better

Finally, tho, I took pity mercy on the mare. After buying the quite lovely statement PS bridle from Aimee as our full time dressage bridle, our former dressage go-to pony-sized Horseware of Ireland bridle (also bought consignment) and full-size black webbed reins were repurposed to the hackamore.

This had the dual benefit of a headstall that fit her better, and reins long enough to actually let the mare snack unfettered by the pony-sized color-blocked reins. Details, ya know?

still doesn't change mare's occasionally dopey gaze

While I didn't love that the black bridle didn't match my brown jump saddle (used in most trail rides bc sometimes a girl's gotta gallop or jump some logs and stuff), it felt like the overall picture had finally settled into something mostly fairly permanent.

aha - there we go!

That is, until the latest iteration, wherein I DIY-ed a brand new navy padded noseband.

And so it has come to pass that what started as a hideous joke (meant to test just how ridiculously I could dress the mare without totally distracting from her truly quite pretty face) has now become actually a pretty respectable everyday use bridle.

Of course the only original pieces are the hackamore plates and curb chain... and the memories are fading of that bright red nylon webbing that first called to me from across the consignment store.... But eh. Whatever. I'm pleased with the final product. And Isabel always knows that she's in for a tasting tour of the countryside whenever I pop this sucker on. So it's all good haha.

Have you ever had a piece of tack that you couldn't bear to let go of, and just kept tinkering with until it finally turned into something useful? Or are you like me - do you get a somewhat sick kick out of dressing your horse up?