Bitless Bridle/Training Halter

[TomE]

Halter or bridle? This training halter has an additional noseband that attaches to reins, functioning as a bitless bridle. The flexible noseband is made from woven rope wrapped in soft leather. A browband was added to secure the crown.  Made from Hermann Oak bridle leather, nappa leather for the padding, stainless steel hardware from Beiler's Manufacturing and Supply, and Equus rubber grips on the reins from Abbey England.

[DieselTech]

Looks nice. Outstanding work as always. 

Do you use a stitching groover for your sew line? Or possibly heat crease a stitch line? 

Or does the stitch just pull in that tight, due to the nappa padding leather when sewn?

Thanks. 

[TomE]

8 hours ago, DieselTech said:

Looks nice. Outstanding work as always. 

Do you use a stitching groover for your sew line? Or possibly heat crease a stitch line? 

Or does the stitch just pull in that tight, due to the nappa padding leather when sewn?

Thanks. 

Thanks, @DieselTech.  I don't use a stitch groover.  I mark the stitch lines with a divider for machine sewing, and use pricking irons for hand sewing.  I tap the stitch lines on the backside to flatten the blowout from the machine needle.  When repairing tack it's typically the leather that breaks, usually where it wraps around hardware, not the thread.  The only thread I've seen fail is old linen thread that rotted.

[DieselTech]

56 minutes ago, TomE said:

Thanks, @DieselTech.  I don't use a stitch groover.  I mark the stitch lines with a divider for machine sewing, and use pricking irons for hand sewing.  I tap the stitch lines on the backside to flatten the blowout from the machine needle.  When repairing tack it's typically the leather that breaks, usually where it wraps around hardware, not the thread.  The only thread I've seen fail is old linen thread that rotted.

Thanks TomE. I appreciate the feedback. I always seem to learn something every time you post a project.

[Goldshot Ron]

Looks very good Tom.  Is the reins strap part of the nose band, or did you sew them together?  And, you may have told me, but I forgot if you did; do you use a filler in the rounded jaw strap?  I had a new halter come into the shop last week, and the jaw strap was kinked.  I tried to round it out, but it seemed like the filler inside the leather was possibly a piece of wire and did not smooth out like I wanted.

Thanks, Ron

[TomE]

3 hours ago, Goldshot Ron said:

Looks very good Tom.  Is the reins strap part of the nose band, or did you sew them together?  And, you may have told me, but I forgot if you did; do you use a filler in the rounded jaw strap?  I had a new halter come into the shop last week, and the jaw strap was kinked.  I tried to round it out, but it seemed like the filler inside the leather was possibly a piece of wire and did not smooth out like I wanted.

Thanks, Ron

Thank you, Ron.  The round nose strap for reins is a separate piece that can slide across the nose.  There is an additional, fixed noseband behind the halter square to support the halter on the nose.  The throatlatch round is 7 oz leather wrapped around a filler strip of 7 oz leather, sewn, trimmed, and shaped in a rein rounder.  It is described in the PDF linked to this post:

 

[Goldshot Ron]

Thanks Tom.  I'll have to check out the link.

[Mulesaw]

Fantastic looking as always!

You do an amazing job on those!

Brgds Jonas

[TomE]

1 hour ago, Mulesaw said:

Fantastic looking as always!

You do an amazing job on those!

Brgds Jonas

Thank you, Jonas.  Replaced the flexible noseband today.  Trainer said my leather covered nose band didn't slide easily with rein pressure, so I swapped it out for braided rope to match the Monty Roberts Dually training halter.  The client has a Dually halter but wanted something nicer looking.  It took me a while to find a rope clamp to match the stainless hardware.  Found stainless steel rope clamps at Beiler's, cut one in two and ground/polished it for looks.  Learned that the steel rope clamps are A LOT harder to close than the brass clamps.

Edited October 18, 2024 by TomE

[Mulesaw]

On 10/18/2024 at 10:42 PM, TomE said:

Thank you, Jonas.  Replaced the flexible noseband today.  Trainer said my leather covered nose band didn't slide easily with rein pressure, so I swapped it out for braided rope to match the Monty Roberts Dually training halter.  The client has a Dually halter but wanted something nicer looking.  It took me a while to find a rope clamp to match the stainless hardware.  Found stainless steel rope clamps at Beiler's, cut one in two and ground/polished it for looks.  Learned that the steel rope clamps are A LOT harder to close than the brass clamps.

Looks lige a very elegang solution, and I would guess that it slides a lot easier compared to the leather. 
Did you sew together the braided rope together?

Brgds Jonas