As a harness maker, I developed a driving bridle based on the Australian stockman’s
bridle some years ago. This bridle has a second crown, to which the throat latch is attached.
The design proved to be highly effective, preventing at least one accident when the wearer
rubbed his bridle crown over his ears, but the snug-fitting second crown prevented the bridle
from falling off.
Since one of my horses gets exceedingly itchy under the bridle, I felt it might be a matter
of time before she got her bridle off, if I didn’t do something, and soon! So I worked
out the details of the KRIO (Kant Rub It Off) bridle that I am very happy with.
Fortunately,I have not had cause to test it in the field, but I believe strongly that it could be the
difference between a minor inconvenience and a terrible wreck. I am sharing the details of the
construction of this bridle here, in hopes that it finds acceptance, and that it might prevent
more of these horrible wrecks, which seem to occur all
too frequently.
Here are the primary features:
The remainder of the bridle is made as any other.
Begin with any ordinary crown. The only one I had to “sacrifice” was a die
cut curved crown. A straight piece of BioThane ™ or leather can be used. The throat latch
billets have been cut off, leaving only the cheek billets.
Begin with any ordinary crown. The only one I had to “sacrifice” was a die cut
curved crown. A straight piece of BioThane ™ or leather can be used. The throat latch billets
have been cut off, leaving only the cheek billets.
The throatlatch-crown-browband assembly I am making in these photos is for a horse which normally
takes a 16” brow band (a Morgan). Hopefully these instructions will be clear enough for any
harness maker to adapt the design to his own construction techniques. The safety crown concept is
especially adaptable to ringcrown draft bridles.
The brow band is made about 5 inches longer than an ordinary brow band, and each end terminates in a ring. The "lap" where the browband material folds over the ring is extra long, in order to create "extenders" that will drop the safety crown behind the regular crown, so that the safety crown will sit a few inches farther down the neck than the regular crown.
This is a side view of one end of the brow band. My thumb is on
the short strap that connects the
brow/ crown assembly to the cheek. The short strap is made of thin, hi-flex BioThane. It is stitched
to the INSIDE of the part of the loop through which the crown billet passes. A small spacer of leather
has been inserted into the loop to keep it open for easy insertion of the crown billet. The spacer
is held in place with a Chicago screw. I am using an ordinary rosette here. The loop on the back of
the rosette has been “dimpled” with a cold chisel and hammer to prevent it from sliding
over the Chicago screw. A nice “finish” would be to use a harness ornament with a Chicago
screw on the back, instead of a regular rosette.
The ring is about 1 1⁄8". Making up the unusual browband is the only “trick”
to this bridle.
When assembling the bridle, the short connector strap buckles into the bridle cheek first. Note that it is adjustable, so the brow band can be positioned properly on the horse’s forehead.