A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the Oxford English Dictionary, the "bridle" includes both the headstall that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit.
Headgear without a bit that uses a noseband to control a horse is called a hackamore, or, in some areas, a bitless bridle. There are many different designs with many different name variations, but all use a noseband that is designed to exert pressure on sensitive areas of the animal's face to provide direction and control.
Read more about Bridle: Parts of The Bridle, Hackamores and Bitless Bridles, Harness Bridles, Fitting A Bridle, Dangers of Tying With A Bridle
Famous quotes containing the word bridle:
“You can no more bridle passions with logic than you can justify them in the law courts. Passions are facts and not dogmas.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
“Thou madest loose grace unkind;
Gavest bridle to their words, art to their pace.
O Honour, it is thou
That makest that stealth, which Love doth free allow.”
—Torquato Tasso (1544–1595)
“And found on the dove-grey edge of the sea
A pearl-pale, high-born lady, who rode
On a horse with bridle of findrinny;
And like a sunset were her lips,
A stormy sunset on doomed ships....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)