Here it is, after forty-five years’ trying them all. This is the ULTIMATE CAVESSON™.
What makes it so? Well, I’ve owned bulky, expensive European cavessons that feature stiff leather and extraneous straps, with multiple jangly nose rings for the side reins I never use.
I’ve tried very slender, expensive Spanish cavessons that feature one-size-fits-all solid metal nosebands that do not actually fit most of our North American ponies and stock horses.
I’ve tried inexpensive nylon web cavessons from discount shops and online stores that are padded with faux sheepskin, slipping and sliding every which way, their holes lined with metal eyelets that disallow the undoing of their buckles.
I’ve worked with regular halters and lunged horses in bridles, too. Most everything had one good thing going for it and yet, there was enough wrong that I watched my horses twist at the poll and resist in discomfort.
These English bridle leather cavessons were made in my own shop, based on the best of the usual designs, while leaving out all the worst bits. This is the result:
• Elegant styling with solid nickel hardware that is easy to buckle and undo.
• A design that comfortably fits ponies and horses from 12:2 to 17:2.
• Quality stitching with smooth burnished edges, snug runners and keepers for all straps.
• No bulky browband or throatlatch but an easy-to-adjust noseband and jowl strap to keep the cheekpieces in place.
• No bulky shaped ‘anatomical’ crownpieces that disallow one-buckle size adjustment, or the ability to ‘stack’ neatly with a bridle.
• A hinged, correct cavesson frame with one central nose ring to support the horse, while encouraging it to remain level through the poll. No twisting or discomfort, for the frame is padded with just the right amount for both comfort and responsiveness.
• Tidy support pieces that keep the noseband from sagging.
• Well-conditioned, quality leather that requires only the usual maintenance.
• Hand-made, in Canada using leather tanned in the U.S.
• In my opinion, this is the best, kindest cavesson for the price.
-Lee McLean, Keystone Equine
