{"id":95727,"date":"2026-10-22T00:21:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T22:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/?post_type=product&#038;p=95727"},"modified":"2026-10-25T17:03:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T16:03:29","slug":"balotade-darco-anatomical-headpiece","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/en\/balotade-darco-anatomical-headpiece\/","title":{"rendered":"Balotade\u00ae Darco Anatomical Headpiece"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hardly anyone gives the headpiece a second thought. You slip it behind the ears and that is that. Yet the whole bridle hangs from it: the cheekpieces with the bit, the noseband and the throatlash. And all of that lands on one narrow spot just behind the ears.<\/p>\n<p>Darco is wide, soft and shaped exactly there, and it clears the base of the ears neatly.<\/p>\n<h3>Why it is worth changing the headpiece<\/h3>\n<p>A narrow, flat headpiece presses on skin and nerves along a single line, and if it is stiff as well and buckled tight, the horse starts to defend itself: it throws its head up, goes behind the vertical, fidgets while being bridled. Before you start changing bits, look at what your horse has behind its ears.<\/p>\n<h3>How the Darco headpiece is made<\/h3>\n<p>All natural buffalo leather. Widened through the middle, it moves away from the base of the ears instead of pressing on them. Underneath it carries a thick, soft lining.<\/p>\n<h3>It fits the bridle you already own<\/h3>\n<p>The Darco is a perfect fit for every Balotade&reg; bridle. Changing it over takes a moment and a few deft movements. If your bridle fits well everywhere except at the poll, this is the cheapest way to save it &mdash; cheaper than buying a whole new one.<\/p>\n<h3>What you get<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Natural buffalo leather<\/strong> &mdash; top quality, soft from the first day.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A wide, shaped strap<\/strong> &mdash; the weight of the bridle is spread wider and clears the base of the ears.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A thick lining on the horse&rsquo;s side<\/strong> &mdash; in natural leather.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A free-moving centre<\/strong> &mdash; the strap adapts to the shape of the head instead of stiffening it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A wide, softly lined headpiece in natural buffalo leather. Shaped in a wave so that it clears the base of the ears, with a free-moving centre that settles to the shape of the horse&rsquo;s head. It buckles onto the cheekpieces of the bridle you already own. Pony, Cob and Full.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":93743,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[1296,1294,1509],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-95727","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-bridle-accessories-en-fix","product_cat-bridles-accessories-en-fix","product_cat-headpieces","first","instock","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-variable"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/95727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=95727"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=95727"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balotade.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=95727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}