headstall

9.1

Part of a bridle that fits around a horse's head and holds the bit and reins

noun
/ˈhɛdˌstɔl/

Jargon

: cabezal

He held his sweating horse with a firm hand on the headstall.

Examples

Before mounting the horse, she checked the headstall to make sure the reins were securely attached.
I could no more turn or stop it with my rope tied to its headstall (to the best of my memory, the bit was broken through) than I could have pulled it out of the muck by hand.

Fiction book (1990)
When I looked at Bienvenu, I still saw him as he had looked before, wearing the headstall and thrashing his head around like a wild cow crazed for water.

Fiction book (1994)
The rider adjusted the headstall of the bridle to ensure it fit properly around the horse's head.
He gently pulled on the headstall to guide the horse toward the gate for their next adventure.

Synonyms

headpiece

vsheadstall

Specialized

1 7.5

A leather band that fits around a horse's head to hold the bridle

is the part that attaches the bit and reins to the horse

Surface Forms

headstall singular

headstalls plural

Morphology

headstall = head + stall (semi-transparent) = head + stall

The components 'head' + 'stall' are recognisable, but 'stall' here reflects an older/specialized sense and the term names a technical bridle part, so the meaning is not fully obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Headstall comes from two simple English parts: head meaning 'head' and stall meaning 'place'. So a headstall is literally the 'place for the head' — the straps that sit on a horse's head and hold the bit and reins.