Noseband With a Bad Reputation?

[Goldshot Ron]

I had to look twice to see if you actually installed a crank or pulley on the nose band.  Like usual Tom, your work is flawless.  Keep posting for us "want to be's". Thumbs up.

Ron

[JDFred]

Beautiful work as always.  Don’t let the keyboard warriors get you down the bridle is just a tool like any other, in the wrong or inexperienced hands it can cause problems.  As you and Jonas already pointed out it is the riders responsibility to ensure proper tack and gear fitment.  Keep up the good work.

[TomE]

On 9/9/2025 at 8:54 PM, Goldshot Ron said:

I had to look twice to see if you actually installed a crank or pulley on the nose band.  Like usual Tom, your work is flawless.  Keep posting for us "want to be's". Thumbs up.

Ron

Ha, ha!  I guess it lives up to the name in the hands of some riders.  Thanks for your kind words, Ron.

 

14 hours ago, JDFred said:

Beautiful work as always.  Don’t let the keyboard warriors get you down the bridle is just a tool like any other, in the wrong or inexperienced hands it can cause problems.  As you and Jonas already pointed out it is the riders responsibility to ensure proper tack and gear fitment.  Keep up the good work.

Thank you, @JDFred.  Already planning the next one in my head.

[Tove09Tilda]

Really great and inspiring work! 

As someone who rode in such a bridle for years (they are very common here in Germany!), I can say that I made no bad experiences with them, maybe as I was amongst the last generation of riding school kids, who were taught the two finger rule. Mine was never too big nor too tight. If you follow the rule of putting two fingers upright underneath the noseband when tightening you can't do anything wrong! That btw applies to all nosebands, as I was taught. So it's a lot of fuzz about nothing and a lot of wrong information, in my opinion. But look around on social media and pay attention to how tight the nosebands really are. Most are too tight. My instructor always said: "If you need to tighten anything so much, that your animal can't comfortably breathe anymore, the answer is easy. You are the problem, and maybe you should take a step back". 

The bad rep comes from people using this type of bridle as its very easy to "over-tighten" due to the "pulley-effect". As with most things in equestrian sports, if used as intended/correctly there is nothing grim about it! This type of bridle is often misused in dressage to make the horse more "controllable" in my experience. 

And I love that you don't have a snaffel strap and how comfortable you have designed it. I only know it, that the padding is a bit thicker and "overhanging" where Dee rings are build in, but I actually like your design more, as sometimes, especially after the leather got softer the padding was becoming a bit fiddly to place correctly within the pull area (especially with cheap bridles, like most riding schools used). 

 

[TomE]

Thank you, @Tove09Tilda for your kind words.  Welcome to the forum.  Hope to see your work here.  For the dee rings, these are a bit heavier than needed and I welcome ideas about different designs to pad them.  I have seen a crank using a small ring with a tab that was buried between the end of the strap and the padding.  It appeared that the tab had a slot and the stitching was placed into the slot to secure the ring.  The underlying padding extended past the ring, similar to what you described, but it was a short overhang that looked tidy.   I haven't found this type of ring/tab/slot at my usual hardware suppliers.  

[Tove09Tilda]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

Thank you, @Tove09Tilda for your kind words.  Welcome to the forum.  Hope to see your work here.  For the dee rings, these are a bit heavier than needed and I welcome ideas about different designs to pad them.  I have seen a crank using a small ring with a tab that was buried between the end of the strap and the padding.  It appeared that the tab had a slot and the stitching was placed into the slot to secure the ring.  The underlying padding extended past the ring, similar to what you described, but it was a short overhang that looked tidy.   I haven't found this type of ring/tab/slot at my usual hardware suppliers.  

You're welcome. 
Have you checked HS Sprenger? I don't know where you can get them in the US, but here in Germany they are amongst THE suppliers for hardware for saddlers. You can only get it with a registered business as far as I know - maybe that's different in the US. I think they might have what you are searching for as they are more specialised in english tack. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Tove09Tilda

[BlackDragon]

So is this nose band essentially like what a curb strap does, adding extra pressure around the muzzle instead of chin for better control?

[TomE]

38 minutes ago, BlackDragon said:

So is this nose band essentially like what a curb strap does, adding extra pressure around the muzzle instead of chin for better control?

Ideally the crank, like any noseband, simply helps to keep the bridle in place.  However, it can be (over)tightened to prevent the horse from opening its jaw and evading the bit. I am less familiar with how curb straps are used. 

[Tove09Tilda]

32 minutes ago, BlackDragon said:

So is this nose band essentially like what a curb strap does, adding extra pressure around the muzzle instead of chin for better control?

Not exactly. A Swedish noseband lies in the same place as a regular cavesson or English noseband — on the nasal bone, about two fingers below the zygomatic arch — and it is closed under the chin. The concern comes from how this design is often used: to create more control by applying strong pressure.

The nasal bone gets thinner towards the end, and with this type of fastening mechanism it is possible to cause real damage — in extreme cases even a fracture — if the noseband is tightened too much.

It can also interfere with the horse’s breathing. The nasal septum lies just beneath the noseband, and restricting the nostrils prevents them from flaring properly. If you watch eventing or racehorses at full speed, you’ll notice how much their nostrils expand to take in air. Limiting that ability puts unnecessary stress on the horse.

Hope my explanation helped a bit. 

[BlackDragon]

57 minutes ago, TomE said:

Ideally the crank, like any noseband, simply helps to keep the bridle in place.  However, it can be (over)tightened to prevent the horse from opening its jaw and evading the bit. I am less familiar with how curb straps are used. 

The curb strap attaches to each side of the bit and sits under the mouth to apply leverage when the reins are pulled, amplifying the rider's signal.

 

55 minutes ago, Tove09Tilda said:

 

Not exactly. A Swedish noseband lies in the same place as a regular cavesson or English noseband — on the nasal bone, about two fingers below the zygomatic arch — and it is closed under the chin. The concern comes from how this design is often used: to create more control by applying strong pressure.

The nasal bone gets thinner towards the end, and with this type of fastening mechanism it is possible to cause real damage — in extreme cases even a fracture — if the noseband is tightened too much.

It can also interfere with the horse’s breathing. The nasal septum lies just beneath the noseband, and restricting the nostrils prevents them from flaring properly. If you watch eventing or racehorses at full speed, you’ll notice how much their nostrils expand to take in air. Limiting that ability puts unnecessary stress on the horse.

Hope my explanation helped a bit. 

Yes, thank you.

Many years ago I rode Hunt seat over fences and was getting into saddle seat but left the sport because life got in the way.