Show dictionary · Rigging & Staging
Bridle
A bridle is a rigging assembly of two (or more) legs run from separate structural points down to a single apex, used to place a chain motor point where no beam exists: between trusses, at a specific plot coordinate. Leg lengths set the apex position; geometry sets each leg’s tension.
In practice
Arena rigging is substantially the art of bridling: the show’s plot demands points at exact coordinates, the building offers beams where it offers them, and bridles translate between the two. Legs are assembled from wire rope slings ("steel") and adjustable lengths (STAC chain or deck chain) to hit computed lengths.
The physics is unforgiving in one direction: as a bridle flattens, leg tension climbs past the supported load itself. That is why bridle math (the calculator linked here) is a rigger’s daily arithmetic, and why deep bridles are happy bridles.
How you’ll hear it
"Point 14 is a three-and-five bridle off beams C and D; apex lands on the plot line."
Related resources
Part of the eventools.io Show Dictionary, a free glossary of live event production terminology.