Your First Pony - Learning to put a Bridle on with Catherine Shelley

This article is from the September 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Learning to put a bridle on at first can be difficult, particularly if you have not had any experience. Get an experienced person to check the fit of the bridle and that the bit is facing the correct way and fits his mouth comfortably.
Putting on your pony’s bridle is the first stage of getting him tacked up and ready for your ride. (Tack is a word used for any gear that you place on him to ride with, eg. saddle, bridle, etc).
So to try and help make it easier for you, I have put together a step-by-step guide with the help of Keeley and her pony Toby, to help get
you started. 

Step 1.

Safely tie your pony up in a safe environment and give him a good groom before putting any tack on him. Once this is done you are ready to put his bridle on. Undo the nose band of your head collar and leave the headpiece attached behind his ears, leave his face free to put your bridle on. This will prevent him from walking away.

Step 2.

Always make sure that the noseband and the throat lash of your bridle is undone before you start, and do not let your reins drag on the ground. Put the reins over your pony’s neck or put your arm through the reins and let the buckle rest in the crease of your elbow.

Step 3.

Stand beside your pony’s neck on his near side (left) and hold the bridle with your right hand by the headpiece, the part that goes over his ears and the noseband if you can. Slide your left hand gently around the front of his face to help to steady his head as you begin to put his bridle on.

Step 4.

Now you need to get the bit into your pony’s mouth. Once you begin to lift the bridle over his nose, release your left hand, use your left hand to cradle the bit and gently slide the bit into his mouth. Be careful not to bang his teeth with the metal bit or put your fingers in his mouth between his teeth.

If your pony does not want to open his mouth to accept the bit, it is a good idea to put your thumb in the very corner of his mouth where there are no teeth, to gently encourage him to open his mouth.

Once your pony accepts the bit and you have got it in his mouth, lift the bridle quietly up towards his ears. 

Step 5.

Take the top of the bridle and gently push your pony’s ears through, first the right ear and then the left, so that the headpiece of the bridle sits behind his ears and the browband rests evenly across his forehead. Once this action has been completed, make sure that his forelock and his mane are not bunched up under the browband and headpiece.

Step 6.

It’s time to buckle up. When you fasten the throat lash, tilt your hand sideways against your horse’s cheek so that you can slip the width of your hand through, making sure that it is not too tight.

If your pony has a noseband do it up, but not too tight either. You should be able to fit one or two fingers between the noseband and his cheekbone.

Step 7.

If your pony is to remain tied up it’s important to safety rein him so the reins are not hanging down around his front legs. There are a few ways to safety rein your horse. One way is to unbuckle the reins and loop them around your pony’s neck, thread one rein around the other and do the buckle back up.

Never tie your horse by the reins as he may pull back and break the reins or injure his mouth.

Tip: In the winter time, warm his bit up so it’s not too cold in his mouth.

Until next month, happy horsing around!

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