By Judith Tarr, Vail, AZ <strong>Lipizzan</strong> owners are always looking for tack and training equipment that will fit their Baroque “masterpieces.” Recently on the Yahoo! <strong>Lipizzan</strong>er 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 <strong>United</strong> <strong>States</strong> 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 <strong>Lipizzan</strong>s, 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 <strong>Fall</strong>, <strong>2007</strong> 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 <strong>Lipizzan</strong>s 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 <strong>Lipizzan</strong>s 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 <strong>Lipizzan</strong> 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
LINDEN LANE LIPIZZANS PRESENT: Maestoso II Precocia I 1993 <strong>Lipizzan</strong> Stallion USLR# M484-00 Piber and Raflyn Lines Super Temperament, Stunning Movement Breeding to approved mares Photo--Yvonne Kitchen, 2006 Contact Kris York at 541-770-5414 linden lane@charter.net USLR News <strong>Fall</strong>, <strong>2007</strong> - 27
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