bridoon

American  

[brahy-doon, bri-] / braɪˈdun, brɪ- /

noun

1. a snaffle when used with a curb on a full bridle.

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bridoon British  

/ brɪˈduːn /

noun

1. a horse's bit: a small snaffle used in double bridles

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Etymology

Origin of bridoon

1745–55; < French, Middle French bridon, equivalent to bride bridle ( see bride ²) + -on noun suffix

Example Sentences

In bygone days, when a family tree was a ticket of admission to the National and most spectators knew a martingale from a bridoon, harness and saddle horses held the audiences spellbound.

From Time Magazine Archive

Anyone who knows a martingale from a bridoon knows that show jumpers are seldom good mounts for the hunting field, that not one steeplechaser in 100 is fit to enter a show ring.

From Time Magazine Archive

Inspection of recruits on the bridoon, and of the Second Ride Second Class shortly before Christmas.

From Cavalry in Future Wars by Goldman, Charles Sydney

This particular application of the word is from custom allowable in the expression “bit and bridoon,” in which the bit signifies a curb, and the bridoon a snaffle.

From The Horsewoman A Practical Guide to Side-Saddle Riding, 2nd. Ed. by Hayes, M. Horace (Matthew Horace)

Of course, to achieve this they must not be put back every autumn to the very ABC of their work—riding on the bridoon.

From Cavalry in Future Wars by Goldman, Charles Sydney