Fall 2007 - United States Lipizzan Federation

By Judith Tarr, Vail, AZ
Lipizzan owners are always looking
for tack and training equipment that will
fit their Baroque “masterpieces.” Recently
on the Yahoo! Lipizzaner group, members
engaged in a lively discussion of longeing
cavessons, and specifically the type used by
the Spanish Riding School.
Most cavessons sold in the United
States are either a “longeing halter” made
of nylon webbing, or a leather or nylon
headstall with a jointed metal piece over the
nose. Usually the halter has three dee rings
attached to the lightly padded noseband.
It is not designed to fit snugly and there is
no significant amount of control. It doesn’t
do much but allow the horse to run around
with the longeline attached to the top of his
nose rather than underneath.
The more elaborate version offers
considerably more control, thanks to the
metal nosepiece (padded with leather
or nylon to prevent damage to the skin),
but it can be difficult to find one that fits
properly. In my experience, most of these
cavessons are designed for a long, narrow
head. Our Lipizzans, with their deep, wide,
relatively short heads and convex noses,
just don’t fit the template. The cheek straps
end up sliding into the horse’s eye, and the
nosepiece rotates excessively, which makes
precise longeing difficult to say the least.
The Spanish Riding School uses a
different kind of cavesson. The nosepiece is
an open V of solid metal covered with light
leather padding. There is no browband,
although there is a jaw strap that keeps
the cheek pieces from slipping up into the
horse’s eyes. The new Spanish Riding School
line from Albion, sold also by Dover Saddlery,
offers this cavesson for a not-inconsiderable
price, complete with imprimatur from the
SRS itself.
There are numerous other sources of
this style of cavesson, most manufactured
in Spain and Portugal. Sites recommended
by list members include The Iberian
Connection, http://www.iberianconnection.
com/spanish-harness.html#halters and
Ruitersport, http://www.animoruitersport.
nl/portserretadetail.htm. Their products
may be referred to as “training halters” or
“serretas,” and are the same design as that
of the SRS, with the solid nosepiece and
the three rings over the nose. Most have a
browband, but this can be removed. A few
have attachments for the bit.
The solid nosepiece offers superior
precision and control, without being
actively coercive. It is a powerful and precise
piece of equipment, designed for controlling
26 - USLR News Fall, 2007
A Cavesson for All Seasons
Pluto Carrma III (aka “Pooka”), models his cavesson.
stallions. It is also lighter and easier to fit
than the usual design of leather cavesson.
The problem I ran into personally
was that the standard size is still too
long or large for two of my Lipizzans
who have exceptionally short, wide, deep
heads. For that reason I went looking
for a custom version, preferably for an
affordable price, and found one offered
by a lady from Portugal: http://www.
enlightenedequitation.com/public/
featured_maria.html .
Maria Manuel Bringel works with a
saddler to make tack and equipment for
the Baroque horse. Her prices are extremely
reasonable, and most important for me, her
products can be made to measure for no
additional cost.
Like other list members who purchased
this cavesson, I found it quite nice for the
price (low enough that if you have several
different horses of widely varied sizes, you
can get several for the price of one Albion/
SRS model), very functional, and of course
made to measure. Like many other Spanish
and Portuguese bridles and halters, the
cavesson has large, square buckles that
some members found “annoying” or difficult
to manipulate. They recommend taking
the cavesson to a saddler and having the
buckles replaced – my preference, when I
do this, will be for roller buckles. But since
I have a custom-fitted, nicely designed
cavesson for under $100 including shipping, I
don’t find this to be too much of a problem.
The last word of course goes to the
horses. My mares find the cavesson a little
bit strong – they slightly prefer the jointed
metal nosepiece of the old Cottage Craft.
One of them, who is much larger than the
others, has too long a head for the custom
cavesson, which I had made to measure for
the stallion and his full sister, but it does
fit her over the nose. (Some list members
remarked that very wide-nosed Lipizzans
may need another model, or recommended
taking the nosepiece to a blacksmith or
metalworker and having it reshaped.)
My stallion, however, loves this
cavesson. The jointed nosepiece of the more
familiar style of cavesson makes him fussy,
and the Cottage Craft was slightly too large
for him all around, except for the browband
–he’s very wide across the forehead. He
clearly likes the quiet control of the serreta,
responds softly to it and does not pull or
fight when I apply pressure. He respects
it without feeling the need to challenge it
– not a trivial issue for a stallion. So for him
it’s a win, and we are happy.
Judith Tarr breeds and trains Lipizzan
horses at her Dancing Horse Farm near
Tucson, AZ.
She writes, avidly and eloquently, about
what she loves – her white horses! She can
be contacted at capriole@gmail.com