Shires Avignon Hunter Cavesson-Zaumzeug

A beautiful bridle for a great price. Fitted my 17hh cob type perfectly.

Bridle as expected for the price . It fits well , I like the shape of the cut back headpiece . The overall quality of the leather is acceptable although I would advise you to apply several coats of neatsfoot oil before use. I did at least three heavy coats and left mine wrapped in brown paper for two days to really get the oil to penetrate the leather . The overall quality of the stitching is ok, just a shame that where the leather is turned and stitched to make the headpiece loop and where the ends are turned and stitched on the underside by the buckles and the billets that the leather isn’t spliced flat . Not only would that be a neater finish but it would probably be more comfortable for the horse . Unfortunately this practice is now only seen on well crafted expensive bridles or bridles that were made by master craftsmen many years ago as a matter of course. I guess in this modern age it has become a matter of you get what you pay for? And mass production means cutting corners ...shame . The only thing I did not like at all about this bridle was the rubber reins that it came with . I do not think that they are strong enough ,the rubber is very flimsy and I suspect that there is no webbing in between the rubber which would should then be stitched to the leather part of the reins and act as reinforcement in case of an accident or as the rubber ages and perishes ,it may break . I am tempted to take a knife to it to see if I am right? So I replaced those with a a set of well made English rubber reins that I have . Again you get what you pay for . The reins I replaced them with cost nearly the price of the bridle ! But I will not compromise on quality with items like bits , reins or stirrup leathers as they take the most wear and tear and that to me is a safety issue . So in summary the bridle is ok and looks smart enough . Shires have attempted to offer a range of bridles that mimic the more expensive brands and it is what it is . I’m not unhappy with my purchase , but am old enough and wise enough to realise that if it’s cheap then there will have been some short cuts in quality along the way .