English Bridle Tutorial

Materials I use to make a bridle

 

This is a simple step by step model horse English bridle tutorial. If this is your first time making a bridle I would suggest to stick to every step in the directions. Otherwise you can change things that you would like to be different. If you have any questions, just ask.

Materials that will be needed:

1/8th inch leather lace or narrow ribbon.

Craft glue or a hot glue gun.

Scissors

Model horse

Measuring the Headstall

Clamps if you are not using hot glue.

Step 1: The Headstall
Take you model horse and your materials that you will be using to make your bridle

(leather lacing or ribbon.) and measure from one side of the horse's mouth to the other side of the horse's mouth. Cut the material where as needed.

Step 2: The Nose Band.

Take your horse again and measure your leather or ribbon around the horse's nose. This should be a little loose on your horse's nose otherwise it may break when you are tacking and untacking him or her. Cut the material and then glue the beginning of the material to the end of it.

Step 3: Attaching The Headstall to the Nose Band.

Take your headstall and your nose band which now should be close to dry. Take one end of your headstall and glue it to the side of your nose band. Take the other end of your headstall and glue it to the other side of your nose band.

Finished Headstall

Step 4: Making your Brow Band.

For this step your nose band and headstall arrangement needs to be dry. Otherwise, you may get glue on you model. Fit your headstall and nose band on your model and take your leather or ribbon and measure for a brow band. The brow band should rest between the ears and the eyes of your model horse. Cut the material as needed. Take the partly finished bridle off your horse and glue your brow band onto the head stall.

Note:

You can mark where the brow band should go but I prefer to just eyeball it.

Step 5: Making your Reins.

For this step your bridle needs to be dry. Take your partly finished bridle and put it on your model. Take your material that you are using and measure your reins. The reins for this bridle should be able to go over the horse's mane and they should rest far enough away from your model's neck that your rider could grab them.

Step 6: Making sure Everything Fits.

For this step the bridle has to be dry. Take your bridle and put it on your horse. Check to make sure nothing is too small. If something is too big or small. can fix it or use it on another horse. Have fun with your new bridle!

My model with her new bridle.

Trouble shooting

Glue won't stick to your material
If you are using ribbon sometimes glue doesn't like to stick. For ribbon, I would recommend using hot glue.

Glue gets on your model
Please do not try the bridle on your model before the glue is dry or this may result in glue rubbing off on your horse. I can not be held responsible for this. Some warm water and soap might get it off if you rub it gently.

Bridle keeps falling off your horse
Something on your bridle needs to be smaller. For example, if the the nose band keeps falling off your model, make a smaller nose band for your bridle if you wish to continue using it for that horse.

Here are some bridle kits that I have made. They are very realistic and fun to construct. If you would rather  buy a premade Breyer bridle there are some links below.

Rio Rondo bridle kits

Traditional show bridle

Classic English jumping accessory

Tips for Purchasing a Model Horse

Purchasing your model horse is very similar to purchasing a live horse. Before purchasing your model there are many things to consider like brand, size, color, gender, and breed. Here are my tips on how to purchase your horse from different venues.

Purchasing from a store: Schleich

When buying a Schleich you want to make sure that the horse doesn't have any factory scuffs or marks on it's body. It can be very frustrating if you go home with your new horse and find marks on it.

Purchasing from a store: Breyer

Mini Whinnies,Stablemate,Classic,and Traditional Scale

When you are buying a Breyer from a store you want to make sure that the horse is free of major marks on it's body. You also want to confirm it is the correct size for your horses or stabling. For Breyer, there are five different sizes. I currently have four in my collection.

The smallest Breyers are Mini Whinnies which for an adult horse is only one inch tall, Stablemates are a bit bigger than Mini Whinnies standing at around 3 inches tall at the tips of the horse's ears. Classics stand much taller than Stablemates or Mini Whinnies, but shorter than the Traditional size model. They stand at around 6 inches tall from the top of the model's ear the the bottom of it's hoof. Traditional Breyers stand at about 10 inches tall, much taller than all the rest.

Purchasing from Ebay: Schleich

When you are purchasing a model from the Internet, ALWAYS make sure there is a photo of the entire model. It is not uncommon for sellers to show a picture of a specific part of the model and not mention that it is only that part of the model that they are selling. I can image that it would be extremely disappointing to be expecting a model and only end up with a piece of the horse.

You always want to look at pictures up close to make sure there are no visible marks on the horse's body. Always read the description of the model to make sure that you aren't overlooking something in the pictures or the listing. 

Purchasing from Ebay: Breyer

Ear Rubs on my Breyer Model Dreamer

When you are buying a Breyer model horse from Ebay, make sure there is a picture otherwise you may end up with a mangled mess of a horse that's missing a leg. If you have a certain size in mind make sure that it is the correct size for the amount of space for your horse. Look over the horse in the pictures and make sure it has all of it's legs and if it's ears are intact. It is not uncommon for a horse's ears to be missing or partially chipped off.

A few of my horses have what are called "ear rubs." which means some of the paint on the ears is partially missing, but not all gone. If you want to stay clear of ear rubs, you would be best off asking the seller if the horse's ears are missing any paint.  You also want to decide with a Breyer if you are buying a vintage or a newer generation horse. The classic scale is a personal favorite of mine.

Tips:

1. If a model is being purchased for a small child, I would suggest buying either a Schleich or a Traditional scale Breyer as they are the more sturdy of the bunch. I would not suggest buying Breyer foals,as their legs snap easily, making the horse almost useless unless you know how to fix the broken model's leg.
2. Schleich is the toughest brand of model horse out there. I have had them for many years and they have endured rough play and never broken.
3. Don't overlook the price of shipping and handling when considering bidding on a horse. Sometimes an inexpensively priced horse has a very high shipping cost.

Do you have any great tips for buying model horses? If you do, please leave me a comment below. I'd love to hear about your experience buying a horse!