How to Bridle Horses
- 1). Halter your horse and tie the lead rope someplace secure, or place the animal in crossties.
- 2). Remove the dust and dirt from your horse's face, behind its ears, over the poll -- the top of the head between the ears --- and under the throatlatch area by grooming with a soft brush or clean rag.
- 3). Unbuckle the halter and place it around your horse's neck so that the animal can't move away.
- 4). Stand on your mount's left side with the crownpiece and reins of the bridle in your left hand. Place your reins around your horse's neck. If you are using Western split reins, you can drape them over the left side of the neck.
- 5). Turn your body so that you face in the same direction as your horse and move your back into your animal's chest, allowing its head to rest on your right shoulder.
- 6). Position your right hand on the animal's nasal bones on the front of its face and gently pull down. This forces the horse to lower its head for easier placement of the bit and bridle.
- 7). Switch the bridle's crownpiece to your right hand while still maintaining contact between your right arm and your horse's head. This contact ensures that you can control the animal if it attempts to back away, move forward or attempt to raise its head.
- 8). Grasp the bit in the flat of your left hand, and move the entire bridle up the horse's head until the bit just touches your mount's lips.
- 9). Guide the bit gently into the horse's mouth when it opens its teeth, setting the mouthpiece into the "bars" on the animal's gums. The bars are the open spaces on the lower jaw between the horse's pre-molars and molars where the bit normally rests.
- 10
Pull the crownpiece over your horse's ears so that it rests squarely on the top of the head between the ears. Separate the mane from the crownpiece. - 11
Position the bridle's browband in a straight line across the animal's forehead, bringing the forelock over the browband's strap. You may need to adjust the browband higher or lower on the crownpiece so that it rests in the indentation on the animal's skull between the ears and the eye socket. - 12
Fasten the noseband so that you can fit two fingers between it and your horse's jaw. Run the ends of the band through its keepers. If you use a Western bridle, it may not have a noseband. - 13
Buckle the throatlatch and pass the ends of it through its keepers. The throatlatch needs to be loose enough that you can fit four flat fingers between it and your horse's cheeks.
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