Instructions on How to Make Horsehair Bridles

Horsehair work has been an art form for centuries, used to create items as diverse as ropes, belts, hatbands and bridles. The hair is twisted, braided or hitched---a technique in which you tie a long series of half-hitch knots---to form a strong, colorful and often intricately patterned strand, which can then be used for almost any purpose. Making a horsehair bridle is a challenging project, but one that can end up with beautiful results.

Things You'll Need

  • Horsehair
  • Shampoo
  • Comb
  • Dowel
  • String
  • 4 buckles
  • Bit
  • Chicago screws
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Instructions

    • 1

      Measure the horse for whom you are constructing the bridle. You need to know the diameter of both the nose and the neck just behind the ears, as well as the width of the forehead from ear-base to ear-base and the distance from one corner of the mouth, over the poll and down to the other corner.

    • 2

      Wash the horsehair and comb out any debris, as well as the shorter hairs. The longer the hair you use, the better.

    • 3

      Lay several hairs side by side and tie one end of the cluster to the dowel. Twist the hairs together, adding in more hair as you go, to form what is called a "pull," the basic building block of a hitched or braided bridle. The exact number of hairs per pull is up to you. Fewer hairs will result in a more intricate design, but will require more work. Remove the pull from the dowel and tie off the ends to prevent unraveling. Repeat this step many times; you will need a large quantity of pulls to make a bridle.

    • 4

      Braid or hitch the pulls to create the component parts of the bridle. Bridles were historically almost always hitched, rather than braided, and a hitched item will last much longer than one that is braided. However, if you don't already know the technique, learning to hitch can be difficult, and hitching is a time-consuming process.

    • 5

      Make all six pieces of the bridle. These are the throatlatch, which should be 6 inches longer than your horse's neck measurement; the crownpiece; two cheekpieces, which should have a combined length of your mouth-corner-to-corner measurement plus 6 inches for each piece and another extra 6 inches for the crownpiece; the browband, which should be 6 inches longer than the forehead measurement; and the noseband, which should be 6 inches longer than the nose measurement.

    • 6

      Tie one end of each cheekpiece into a small loop and make one on both ends of the browband as well. Tie a buckle onto the other end of the two cheekpieces and to one end of both the noseband and throatlatch.

    • 7

      Assemble the parts into a completed bridle. Slide both the throatlatch and crownpiece through the two loops of the browband and buckle the throatlatch to its own end. You should be able to stick the tongue of the buckle through the braided or hitched cord, removing the requirement for having buckle-holes in your bridle. Buckle the cheekpieces to the ends of the crownpiece. Slide the noseband through the loops of the cheekpieces and buckle it to itself. Attach the bit to the cheekpiece loops with Chicago screws to finish.