Metals & Alloys

Sweet iron and copper snaffle.

New metalls and alloys are invented every year in the horse bit industry. There used to be a time not so long ago when almost all bits were made of nickel, nickel/iron alloys, or simply sweet black iron. The black iron bits are still used today, a lot of them in the western dicipline, and it is still a fine bit metal. Lovely, I would say. Except for the sour fact that it rusts in contact with water, as in saliva. But that can be fixed by simply remembering to wipe it dry after taking the bridle off. Horses usually like the taste of the oxidizing iron in their mouths, and I have tried it myself. Tastes a heck lot better than stainless.

There''''s another problem as well - it''''s black. I have never seen a dressage horse fitted with a black set of bits. Well, a few spaniards, but it was hard to tell because of all the other frills and ruffles that they decorate themselves and the horses with. No FEI dressage combos, anyway. I have never seen an english double bridle bit set in sweet iron in a tack shop, either, so I can''''t blame anyone for not using it. If there was one, I''''d buy it! But maybe I''''m alone in that sentiment...

They found out long ago that nickel doesn''''t rust. So most of the bits from the 20''''s, and 30''''s in my chamber of horrors are made from nickel or nickel alloys of some form. One might be surprised of the absence of nickel allergy in both humans and horses back then. Nickel is a soft, pliable yellowish silvery metal that is tough to get polished up to a shine. In other words, it''''s dull. The bits were also a bit dull, since nickel is difficult to get sturdy if too thin. Needless to say, hardly anyone uses nickel bits anymore, and they are not frequently manufactured either.

Stainless steel is very common today, simply because it''''s stainless, hard, shiny and fairly inexpensive. It is in fact a nickel alloy, even though the nickel is only 8%. The rest is 18% chromium and the rest is iron. Some also have a mere 2% molybdenum. Stainless steel is a bright silvery metal that is relatively easy to get polished up to a shine. Thus the prevalence in dressage bits.

For a while brass became very popular, mainly because of it''''s colour. It is an alloy of copper and zinc and has the colour of gold. Unfortunately, it''''s quite soft, scratches easily and actually warps in you tack box. For example, there are hardly any open side safety stirrups made from brass, because they simply bend out of shape if you post the trot.

But there are other alloys that have better performance strength-wise, and Sprenger''''s aurigan is one such alloy. It has a lot of copper, which oxidizes and tastes good, but it''''s still not very soft. It has no nickel in it, which can be good to know for those with allergy concerns. It also supposedly tastes good.

Then there''''s German Silver which is an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel that is white and shiny like stainless steel. The German Steel has no taste bacause of the nickel content. There are other alloys as well, but they are usually a mix of the above, and have about the same tastes and shines as the above.

Copper is rarely used as it is in bits, because it''''s too soft. It is used in the middle bean for it''''s taste, or in the feared twisted wire bits. I guess because it''''s an easy metal to twist. Anyway, don''''t use twisted bits, they hurt.

Some older bits can be stamped "neverrust" or "never rust". They can be made of either nickel alloys, nickel only, or from stainless steel. Some are even made from chrome plated brass, like one in my chamber of horrors. Needless to say, it''''s very hard to use without it being worn down and blotchy. The "neverrust" label was simply one saying that it wouldn''''t rust. Not specifying any materials.

The Reins

In dressage, the two reins are buckled together at the ends. They are also quite long, long enough for the horse to stretch all the way down to the ground, or possibly, for the rider not to lose them if the horse snatches them with his head. Traditionally, reins were made from flat leather, or if they were of a less expensive kind, from strong canvas band and added on stopper notches of leather to be able to hold on to the reins. The leather reins could also have these stoppers.

New and "improved" riding has invented all kinds of reins, that are readily available in the tack shops. One such thing is rubber reins, which are regular reins with a noduled rubber surface added to give you a really secure grip. They are perfectly suited to their intentional area of use - cross-country riding in rainy weather. I wouldn''''t want to ride that fast in difficult terrain with my daily soaped and oiled leather reins as the only means of contact, if I was galloping and soaked with rain!

But to have to rely on rubber grip to ride schooling exercises in the basking sun ought to tell you there''''s something seriously wrong, either with your hands or with the contact or your horse''''s way of going.

A very common problem, it appears, is the reins slipping out of the hands. This is basically the reason for all the "super grip" products in the tack shops. Long ago, the only aid against the reins slipping were the leather stoppers sewn on at 4 inch intervals on webbed or flat leather reins.

They can help you secure your grip on the rein by either placing it inside your hand so it hinges on your ring finger, or just coming out of your hand so that it hinges on the tip of your thumb.

There are two errors to that idea. 1, continous contact should never be so strong that it becomes problematic to keep the reins in the hand, and 2, the hand must be rotated so that you can see the nails, and relaxed and free of tension. If so, the rein will take a sharp turn inside the hand, and the grip will be sufficient.

The problem of slipping reins cannot be fixed with rubber coating on the reins, super grip golves, stick-on glue smeared over the reins, or sewn on leather notches. Those will only help you to keep training your biceps in this sub-standard fashion!

Tack Fads in General

There are a lot of things that could go under gadgets that I have placed, or will place here, under Tack Fads. I place them here because they have no ill effect on the horse, only your wallet and the fact that you will look suspiciously gullable in some people''''s eyes. Mine included. But there''''s a slim chance you''''ll ever meet me so that I can see you, so nevermind, really.

Oooh, the Padding!

I''''ve already been over the padded nosebands and their not so innocent effects. But a few years ago, bridles started popping up, that had padded browbands (and I don''''t just mean lined with white leather) and padded crownpieces (but not in white, thank God). Suddenly, level-headed people I''''ve known for some time found it necessary to buy these not entirely inexpensive bridles, that were naturally endorsed by some mega-star.

These were half-lined with soft, probably chrome tanned, leather that was filled with rubber foam. Soft and nice, sure. But how long will it keep its shape (chrome tanned leather stretches) and most of all, is it really needed?

On a simple snaffle bridle, the crown piece hardly ever puts pressure on the back of the neck. To make it do that, you need to use a gag or a pelham, to make the lever effect pull the crownpiece down. Or you must tighten the noseband so hard, that the noseband moves further down because of the wedge-shape of the head. The crown piece should never go against the back of the ears, and if it does, the browband is too small (like in this photo to the right).

Have you ever seen a horse with wear behind his ears? Bald patches or even roughed up hair or split ends? I thought not. This is not a rubbing spot...

The Comfort Quirk

Then, we learned, that even the back strap of the noseband is uncomfortable, and needs some fixing. It must go on the outside of the bridle, and for it to do that you must buy a new, big-name endorsed $200 bridle.

No you don''''t. But this bridle is marketed as specially kind, and the same goes for this one as the aforementioned. Ever seen any roughed up hairs behind the ears or maybe the horse becomes bruised under the skin from the pressure? What pressure? Even if it''''s a double bridle, there isn''''t supposed to be that kind of pressure. And the bridoon hanger and the noseband can lie side by side under the crown piece and be just as wide, flat and comfortable as anything. If it''''s a double, you still have the very same problem with the bridoon hanger if you put the noseband on the outside, and what will you do about that?

The best part of this is, that you can make this one yourself. Cut a hole in the sidepiece just above the browband, and put the noseband through it. But then, it will not have some German mega-star''''s signature on it, that''''s true.

This bridle won''''t hurt you or your horse. Hey, if enough people would buy it, it would boost both the American and German economic markets. But I won''''t buy it even if its on sale. Because...

Despite of all the comfort we are talking here, these bridles still come readily equipped with - yes, you guessed it - a CRANK NOSEBAND and RUBBER REINS! The horse''''s poll must be comfortable, while you strap his head shut by tackle action and pull on the rubber-clad reins. Jesus!

A Matter of Taste

If you have a poor complexion and don''''t get much sun, be sure to use a white collared shirt to brighten up and get some contrast. That old 50''''s thing is what must have struck bridle designers 10+ years ago. Let''''s line the bridle with white, to perk things up! White leather, and let''''s puff it up with rubber foam to get some pizzaz and volume. That''''s more 80-ish, like the shoulder pads and fountain hair-do. Thank God it''''s fading now!

Still, it''''s a matter of taste, and if you want the bridle to show more than the horse it''''s great. If you want to show your horse''''s pretty face, don''''t obscure it with fluffy white padding. Or silvery padding, for that matter, which will probably be the new craze. Check out the Salzgeber bridle line.

Leather cannot be made to take on the colour of silver or white. You can paint silver or white on the surface of the leather, but what the eye will see then, is a coat of paint, not the leather with its natural surface. And this white or silver/gold paint coat crackles and chips, and looks fairly plastic in general, if you are at all used to look at leather, or leather quality. Not to mention that it takes the attention away from the face of your horse. I''''d rather hear "What a cute horse" than "What a nice bridle".

Black or Brown?

So what colours can leather have, then? Well, basically, leather can be "anilin dyed" where the pigments go into the leather and thus lets the structure of the leather show, in quite a few colours. It can be yellowish, red, maroon, honey, brown, grayish, black. The anilin in itself is red, and small amounts of other dyes can be added and mix with the leather''''s natural pink/beige/tan colour. So the dyes are not necessarily bright neon colours.

So, we can begin to conclude that there are surface paints on leather (like the white and silver above), and there''''s the anilin type dye that is translucent and goes into the leather, leaving the surface textures natural and "alive". I doubt they use anilin anymore, since it''''s toxic and a carcinogen. I will disregard all of the surface types of dyes, since I find them hideous and they remind me of ladies high heels shoes in the colours of the rainbow. Among those of anilin type, the tack shops basically carry black and quite a few shades of brown.

If you want to match a new noseband to your old bridle, you''''re going to wish you''''d chosen black. Because the varieties of the shades of brown are endless. This is the problem with brown. And the only other problem is that it looks awkward on jet black horses, but that''''s usually not a problem many encounter.

Traditionally, and that''''s a view that I share, black tack is considered inferior in quality and used only for harness driving. This is so, because lesser quality leather could be made to look OK with an all-covering black dye, or even a surface paint layer type colour. The leather''''s own structure can be hidden with massive amounts of black dye, and it will still look OK. To begin with, anyway.

Also, the nicer anilin dyed black leather is actually over-dyed because you need massive amounts of red to make it look black. Sooner or later, usually sooner, some of the dye fades or seeps out, and you have faded tack (and a black/red bum). Some more modern tack does not turn brown on the faded spots, but greenish gray. This is because some other dye has also been used (a dark green ink, or the like) and as the leather is over-loaded with dye some dye goes out during use. Could be the anilin...

This doesn''''t happen with genuine anilin dyed brown tack. As it is worn, it will take on a darker shade of brown, but it will never lose colour. Because it has not been over-loaded from the start. But if you use old tack like I do, be sure not to use the teeth for undoing buckles or other. It is actually a poisonous dye...

Hook Studs, Buckels, Snap Hooks or Eventer Loops

This is usually a matter of esthetical preference. The look seems to be the most deciding factor, while function is basically the same. 50 years ago, there was hardly anything but hook studs, at least on riding tack. Buckes were reserved for driving harnesses or less quality tack because it was considered less stylish. Apparently that is changing, and buckles are becoming increasingly more popular, both because they are considered easier to open and showing more sparkle, as some American rider told me. Well, I''''m Swedish, and prefer the toned down design, instead.

Fashion changes, and just like the black dressage tack fashion, regular buckles are more prevalent in dressage now than ever before. I would guess it has to do with the glitter of shiny metal. Just like the white padding, a regular buckle is visible from the outside and "sparkles" because of the metal. In Brittish traditional showing there is no possibility for a horse with buckle ends on the bridle to be marked well. But that''''s a different story, I guess.

Some bridle designers have even taken that to it''''s extreme, and added metal strap holders instead of leather ones, too. This reminds me a lot of spanish bridlery where more seems to always be better, at least decoration-wise. Maybe it''''s because my Swedish temperament is so different from those southern europeans, maybe I suffer from the "Swedish Grace Syndrome" of stripping all design off until there''''s nothing left. Could be.

Still, that''''s not important. What''''s important to know is that none of this decoration stuff will hurt the horse (albeit my eye) unless they are badly placed or in the way. It''''s simply a matter of taste. And skill...

According to many, the regular buckles seem to be easier to unbuckle. Now, I have arthritis of the fingers, and I still don''''t have a problem with unbuckling hook studs on my bridles. I do have problems with others'''' bridles, though. Strange. But that''''s always because they miserably fail to keep them soft with leather-oli and grease! That''''s the crux of the problem.

There''''s technique involved, too, I guess. Good quality leather that has been well maintained, soaped and oiled with good products at even intervals enough to be butter soft, it can be treated like such:
Hold the fastening with the inside up between thumb and fingers. Push thumb placed on the bottom loop in the direction of opening, as shown in the photo left. Use the other hand to take hold of the leather strap as it un-hooks from the stud. Lift, and pull it out.

There are other fastenings as well. One that has been designed for easy switch of bits and reins is the regular snap hook solution. For me, this is alright for a halter or any other strap that is not involved with the horse''''s mouth. These hooks are made of metal, and metal on metal rattles when it moves. If there was no room to move there''''d be no problem, but in these there is. The rattling in the mouth can be quite annoying to some horses.

There''''s another kind of fastening, popular in eventing and hunter/jumper diciplines, called a eventer loop or even a monkey loop. Here, the metal also is in touch with the bit, but there''''s no space to move. In most of them the bit ring is snug against the leather of the turning back rein as well. This, I guess, could be a choice, if one thinks them chique. I have, however, heard unusually much complaints about them "dissolving" in grit and dirt, and suddenly break in the least expected situation. I don''''t know why that would be so, or if it''''s even statistically significant. But it''''s a thought.