Putting on a horse bridle requires standing near the shoulder of the animal, stroking the horse's nose to get the head in the right position and gently inching the bridle on, making sure all straps are flat and comfortable. Get a horse used to wearing a bridle and bit with advice from a riding instructor in this video on equestrian living.
We're going to show today how I like to put on a horse bridal. Now today we're going to use a standard western bridal with a curved chain and your typical kind of curved bit with a port. I like to be certain that I have my bridal prepared where the curved chain is undone from one side, so we give the horse all that freedom to be able to put this piece in his mouth without any restriction. I found most horses are difficult to bridal because we haven't helped them and prepared the equipment properly. I'm going to take his halter off. Keeping myself next to him at his shoulder. When I bring my hand around and I put a little bit of pressure as I stroke his nose to put him in a position where it's comfortable. I then replace my right hand with my left applying a little more pressure as I inch the bridal up to him, he either will except it and open his mouth or I may have to put my right thumb into that corner where there are no teeth. I slowly bring the bit up as I continue to maintain pressure with my left hand, fold his right ear over, fold his left ear over and get everything organized. Then I like to make sure the chain is not twisted, it's lying flat against his curve. I place the end where it needs to be properly placed. Your curved strap or chain is always placed in the same hole or near the hole where the cheek piece is. That's important for the leverage and the working function of that bridal and bit. So that's how I would apply that bridal. We have a number of different kinds of bridals and the way that they're designed. But this is a very simple working kind of bridal and the technique works very well for me.
