Cob Jockey

Somehow, I managed to write a product review post about buying a browband for the Fairfax bridle I bought last May without ever having written a post about the Fairfax? Thanks to Nicole for pointing that out!

PC: Austen

I've long lusted after the Fairfax Performance Bridle. To design it, Fairfax spent nearly two years analyzing pressure point data and gait analysis data from all the classic bridle designs, and they used what they learned to develop this bridle.

I won't go through all their findings here, but you should read them even if you don't plan to buy one. For example, they found a flash noseband was the most detrimental to movement, drops and figure 8's performed best in terms of pressure reduction and freedom of movement, and cranks actually exerted LESS pressure on the nose than a regular caveson! This is because they learned that any articulation point allows that part of the bridle to move independently as the horse moves, which reduces pressure, and a crank has an articulation point in the noseband while a traditional caveson does not.

Yes, this is their own research, but who else is going to study this stuff? In the horse world, any data is better than no data, IMO.

Baby Connor in our first Micklem, June of 2013

So last May I took half of my truck deposit that I never ended up buying and worked with Hastilow to order the Fairfax Drop. If you get one of these bridles, I highly recommend working with a fitter, which they do at no cost to you: DO NOT order off the rack. I thought I knew something about bridle fit before, but wow, Fairfax takes bridle fitting to a whole new level of precision.

Your fitter will keep sending you different sized parts until everything fits just right, and will evaluate measurements and photos along the way. For example, they initially sent me the full-sized noseband because Connor was borderline between full and fine. 

Compare the fit of the full here with the fine in the first photo in this post. This was my first attempt at fitting it myself, and it wasn't good enough for them! They had me adjust several buckles from these positions. Note that it buckles on both sides of every strap, so that the fit is precisely symmetric.

While the full worked, we all realized that the fine would fit better, but it took them six months to get one in due to supply chain issues. So I rode with that full-sized noseband for half a year before sending it back to them (quite used) once the fine got in, and they didn't charge me a dime for that.

Comes with a bag and a small bottle of leather cleaner/conditioner

So what did Connor and I think of it? I'll put it this way: Over the years, I've had him in four different Micklems, a PSoS Flying Change Revolution both with and without the flash, standard cavesons with and without a flash, figure 8's, and standard drops, and this is the first time I've felt a difference from a bridle. 

Did it fix everything about the contact? No. But both Mary and I noticed with amazement that he was immediately more willing to go into the bridle, right from the first ride with it.

From Mary's first ride with it and Connor's second ride with it in June of 2021

It's also, no surprise, much easier to get a precise fit with it than any other bridle I've owned, especially the Micklems. On the Fairfax, the holes are fairly close together on all of the straps, and my fitter took advantage of that, telling me things like "your throatlatch buckle should be one hole lower on both sides", incredibly tiny adjustments that I would never have thought would make a difference to the horse.

PC: Austen

I know, everyone's next question: how's the leather quality on a $650 bridle? It's not going to impress you out of the box, but it sure will over time. As its broken in (and that's taken a while) the leather has gotten incredibly soft, but I get the impression that they prioritized building it to last vs building it with the softest, most delicate leather in the world, and I'm very okay with that. A $650 bridle SHOULD last.

Brand new out of the bag, not yet oiled

What don't I like about this bridle? Very little, but a few things. The look does take some getting used to, although I think the drop I have is one of the best looking iterations of it. With the big pads on the noseband and crown, some people really don't like the look.

The pads do have a purpose - their pressure testing showed they reduce pressure over the most sensitive structures of the face

Noseband pad, from the full-sized drop noseband that we ended up sending back

The leather keepers underneath the chin are intentionally shipped too tight, and will break in over time, but in the meantime it's very difficult to get both straps from either side of the noseband into them. The fitters can stretch these for you, but I've chosen not to since I don't want them to stretch too much.

One of the two leather pads that go under the chin on the drop are visible here. They have a loop of leather on the other side of the pad to hold both straps from both sides of the bridle.

The last thing I don't like: you can only use Fairfax browbands with it because the browband actually screws into the bridle. As with all things Fairfax, there's a data-driven reason for this, but if you've got a thousand dollar browband collection (not me, lol) be aware you won't be able to use them anymore. I soothed this pain by having Amelia at Dark Jewel Designs take a plain Fairfax browband and make me a custom one.

Straight out of the bag, not yet oiled, showing the browband attachment point underneath the leather pad. You cannot, at all, use a non-Fairfax browband with this bridle. It's just not possible. Also not possible to use a show number on your bridle with it either, which is by design - their testing showed that horses are more sensitive than we realize to asymmetries in the bridle, including numbers only being on one side.

All that said, I'm so in love with this bridle and I think Connor is too. For the first time, I don't find myself lusting after any other bridle on the market, we're both just happy with this one.

Bottom line: Yes, it's expensive, but for us it's been worth it. No other bridle that I'm aware of has data to prove its effectiveness, and it's not like the bridle will fix all your contact issues, but at least for Connor, it's been a big improvement.

What: Fairfax Performance Bridle (I have the drop noseband, but several styles are available)

Where: I got mine remotely fitted through Hastilow, although there are several options.

Price: Starting at $530

Color: Black or brown

Disclaimer: Hoo boy, yes I did pay for this myself and it hurt a little, haha. All opinions are my own and are not influenced by anything.

Several months into owning a Fairfax bridle, I still love it, aside from the fact that I'm STILL waiting on the right size noseband to come in. Stupid supply chain. 

My only annoyance with it is that because the browband actually screws into the bridle in order to be as horse-comfort-friendly as possible, you can only use Fairfax browbands with it.

And even in normal times, when they aren't having massive supply chain issues, their selection is rather limited, especially on color. Lots of blues, whites and reds, but definitely no purple, like the Schockemohle I loved and sadly sold when I got the Fairfax.

Miss you

I've never done the custom browband rodeo before, but I know a lot of friends who have, and everyone I talked to liked Dark Jewel Designs, so I reached out to her on Instagram to see if she would be willing to do an experiment with me. She was, so I mailed her the spare plain Fairfax browband that came with the bridle.

In the end, she decided she couldn't make interchangeable strands work on it (because it's curved, as all Fairfax browbands are), but she could rip out the center and insert whatever I wanted into it permanently, so that's exactly what we did.

Fairfax's beaded browbands are over $100, but this plain one is only $30, so I told Amelia to go nuts and don't worry if it got damaged in the course of experimenting.

 
We spent a lot of time going back and forth on the design, and she was great to work with. She looked at my inspiration photo and a photo of my show outfit, and mocked up some options that ranged from "exactly the same as the Schockemohle" to "in the same color family" to "wildly different". 

She also asked if I wanted a different pattern, like a gradient, which I declined because of Connor's asymmetric blaze! That would just be asking judges to check out his often-crooked head.

In the end, I decided on an alternating pattern of three different shades of purple, rather than the white stones the Schockemohle had, and I absolutely love it:

Honestly, I didn't expect to say this, but I like it better than the Schockemohle. Without the white stones it seems smoother visually, and these catch the sunlight and sparkle in a way the Schockemohle stones didn't.

Even just sitting in our dimly lit tackroom, when you open the door it's like there's a disco ball hanging from my bridle rack, and I am here for that, lol.

I'd be more annoyed that ordering a new browband is now like a four step process for me going forward, but 1. I love the Fairfax, 2. I'm not really a dedicated outfit person and 3. I'm lazy. I tend to find what I like and stick with that for the long haul, and as much as I'm in love with this purple one, I don't think it's ever coming off my bridle!

Purple is really his color

Thanks for all the hard work, Amelia!