Your Complete Guide to Horse Gear, Tack & Equestrian Equipment in the UK
Open any UK tack-room door and you’ll find one. Probably three, tangled in a bucket beside the hoof oil. The loose ring snaffle bit is the wellington boot of the bitting world: unfashionable, endlessly practical, and quietly responsible for more happy first rides than anyone could count. Yet “loose ring” isn’t one product. It’s a … Read more
There’s a particular moment every rider of a strong horse knows. You turn into the last line of fences, the horse locks onto the jump like a heat-seeking missile, and your reins stop being communication and start being a tug-of-war you’re losing. A well-chosen gag bit for strong horse work can turn that fight back … Read more
The pelham bit vs snaffle bit question comes down to leverage. A snaffle acts directly, passing rein pressure straight to the mouth. A pelham is a leverage bit: it adds shanks, a curb chain and a second rein, so you can ride on gentle snaffle contact or ask for stronger poll and chin-groove influence when … Read more
Your youngster’s first proper bit is one of those decisions that feels enormous right up until you’re standing in the tack shop holding two nearly identical bits, googling frantically on your phone. A snaffle bit for young horse work is, in plain terms, a direct-pressure mouthpiece with no leverage action — no shanks, no curb … Read more
Somewhere between “my horse just won’t settle in a snaffle” and “I’ve heard bitless is kinder” sits a genuinely tricky decision, and it’s one that a lot of British riders are wrestling with right now. The bitless bridle vs snaffle bridle debate isn’t a new one — Dr Robert Cook was publishing on bit-induced behaviour … Read more
Watch a horse’s ears the moment you swap a traditional bridle for an anatomic bridle for horse comfort, and you’ll often see the difference before you’ve even done the throatlash up. The ears soften, the poll drops, the jaw loosens. That’s not marketing spin — it’s what happens when a headpiece stops squeezing a bundle … Read more
A show bridle for showing is the one bit of kit judges look at before they’ve even clocked your horse’s paces — which feels a little unfair, but that’s the game. A show bridle is a fine, plain (or subtly decorated) leather headpiece designed to frame a horse’s face, sit close to the bone structure, … Read more
A double bridle for dressage carries two bits and four reins: a slim snaffle called the bridoon, plus a curb called the Weymouth bit. Each bit has its own rein, so you can send separate, finer signals. It suits educated horses and quiet, independent hands. Think of a snaffle as a felt-tip pen and a … Read more
There’s a particular kind of dread that creeps in mid-canter when you glance down and notice one stirrup sitting a full hole lower than the other. Nine times out of ten, that’s not you riding crooked — it’s tired leather finally giving up the fight. Finding affordable stirrup leathers that actually hold their length, rather … Read more
There’s a particular kind of dread that comes from glancing down mid-canter and noticing your stirrup iron has gone a bit wobbly at the joint. You don’t want to think about tack failure when you’re three strides from a hedge. And yet stirrups are one of the most overlooked pieces of kit in anyone’s grooming … Read more