Why A Good Leather Bridle Is Like Your Favourite Felt Hat

A bridle is not just there to hold the bit for a horse to carry. A good leather bridle is like your favourite felt hat or leather watch band. The beauty of a leather bridle is its ability to mould and fit to become one with the animal on the journey it takes. You buy a bridle, break and train a horse in it, then cross rivers and roads together. Many a dusty mile is travelled together with that bridle and horse.

You end up with a relationship and memories, and the bridle is the carrier of those memories. It’s nearly impossible to pick up a bridle that has weathered the journey of life with your favourite horse and not remember that old mare or cheeky gelding (and there are not many horses that outlive an Angus Barrett bridle!)

We created one such memory when we went to Hall’s Stock Horses in Goondiwindi for a photo shoot for our range of bridles. We were extremely privileged to be able to use the legendary Hazelwood Conman and  the impressive Hazelwood Mantic. What an honour it was to work with stallions of such renowned breeding and proven legacy.

Our bridle range is made from a leather that has been specifically tanned to Angus’ specifications from only selected hides. It is a vege-tanned leather that is very dense, heavy in weight, incredibly uniform, and with a near perfect finish on both the grain and flesh sides. Because the leather is so uniform and made from only selected hides, we have the ability to create a product without secondary splitting of the leather. This helps to maintain the leather's integrity and strength.

Angus only uses solid brass or stainless steel buckles and all the brass buckles have a stainless steel tongue. The conchos on the La Pin are stainless steel, while the conchos on the Tassas are cast using zinc as the base metal and then hand polished with an antique silver finish.

We do all the braiding on the brows in Kangaroo lace, over a filler, to give the braid a striking depth. The back of the braided brow is lined with a soft harness leather, giving it the finish it so deserves.

Our Station Bridle design also features a very special keeper at the top of the cheek strap, which is hand-stitched onto the ring to prevent the keeper from sliding down the cheek strap.

What sizes are our bridles?

We only make one sized bridle. Angus designs our bridle range to fit the average horse from 13 to16 hands.

The Station Bridles have a fixed poll and brow. The Sure Fit Bridles (the Tassas and the La Pin) have a sliding brow, giving you the ability to fit a larger range of horses more accurately. And the One-Ear Bridle is just very cool and by far Angus’ favourite to ride in!

All of Angus Barrett Saddlery products are handmade in Australia from the workshop located just outside of Orange NSW.

CLICK HERE to browse our full range of Australian made leather bridles available to buy online or by phoning our Customer Service team on 0408 980 896.