Horse skull with Plains-style rope bridle

3D Model

Across the western United States, Indigenous peoples developed new ways of caring for – and riding - their domestic horses. This included the innovation of rawhide rope bridles, like this one, looped over the animal’s lower jaw. Simple bridles like this could be easily produced using rawhide rope, and enabled effective horsemanship even when metal, European-style bridle mouthpieces were not available through trade.

Exhibit: https://bit.ly/3p1q7qu