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| WELCOME!!! We have put together this page to help you understand OUR bridles better. Our SHF LINE of bridles is completely custom from the leather to the designs to the sizes. SHF has been making bridles for about 2 years, and we have made thousands of them. From Miniature horses, to Draft Horses and Draft Mules, we have even outfitted some Mini burros! We hope that this informational page will help you decide what size you will need, and what style. If you have any questions we do not cover here, please feel free to contact us! Sizes- Standard and Custom While you might have been told, or are under the notion that your draft (or other breed) takes a true draft size, that might not be the case. There is "industry" standards for all sizes, and most (70%) of horses do not fit into those industry standards. As with all breeds, not just the drafts, there are many variations of sizes. Due to different demands on a breed, i.e. pulling drafts, crossed drafts, dressage drafts, hitch drafts, halter horses, etc. there are as many variations. Our company carries in stock the Xavier line of tack that is geared to the LARGE drafts. These are the hitch and pulling type of drafts. While some 16 hand drafts have the larger heads, some require a size smaller (Small Draft). That's nothing to be ashamed of, in the olden days all drafts were 16 hands. If you think about it, what farmer in the right mind would want to harness 17-18 hand horses everyday?!? So now we know there are two sizes, large and small drafts (some manufacturers call them warmbloods, but allot of smaller drafts fit into these!). There are some SHF Standard sizes for the large drafts they are: Bit 2 Bit over the poll- 47"-58" Throatlatch- 49"-54" Browband- 21" Noseband- 25"-32" Now the smaller drafts (warmblood) fall into this size range: Bit 2 Bit- 44-48" Throatlatch- 42"-48" Browband- 18" Noseband- 24"-28" Since each of our bridles are custom hand made, and not machine cut, they will vary. Most of the time when you order if you specify small draft or large draft we do not charge the extra $10. The extra $10 is for our time figuring out the truly custom sizes. Example: 17" browband, and a bit to bit of 42", a throat of 44" is a truly custom bridle. It doesn't fit the "standards" at all. The browband is large horse, the bit to bit large horse and the throatlatch is a small draft or Warmblood size. With the strange breeding practices that are going on these days, your best bet for a great fitting bridle is to email the measurements to the manufacturer. Now if your measurements are off, so will the bridle be off and adjustments are very expensive due to the extra time involved. Another note of interest is where the throatlatch and browband should go. Browbands should sit down below the ear (not rubbing the base of the ear) and should reach far enough back BEHIND the ear that the throatlatch is actually... under the throat and not the cheek! I have seen TONS AND TONS of bridles that do NOT fit the horse correctly! The throatlatch is called that because it sits around the throatlatch!!! Can you tell this is a pet-peeve with me? A horse can rub that bridle right off if they do not fit correctly. Defeats the whole idea of a throatlatch and is very much a safety issue!!!!!!!!! Be safe, be careful and measure correctly! |