(Saxon bridl, or bridde), the instrument by which a horse is guided and restrained, consisting of a head- stall, a bit and reins, with other appendages, according to its particular form and uses.

Pelithronius, king of the Lapithae, according to Pliny, was the inventor of the bridle and saddle; and Virgil ascribes the invention to the Lapithae, whom he styles Pelithronii, from Pelithronion, a mountain in Thessaly, where horses were first broken.

Horses were originally managed only with a rope or a switch, and by the sound of the voice. This was the practice of the Numidians, Getulians, Libyans, and Massilians. The Roman youth were also taught to ride without bridles, as an exercise in the manege. On Trajan's column soldiers are represented riding on horseback at full speed without bridles.