For heaven's sake people, can you imagine the pain this would inflict? A DOUBLE twisted offset mouthpiece, gag action, and what look to be nearly foot-long shanks! You could rip a horse's lower jaw off with this thing. This is NEVER necessary, I don't care WHAT anyone says. If you cannot ride your horse with a humane bit, you damn well don't need to have one. I was reminded of the bits I have seen in my gaited horse tack catalog, I have found a couple of them to show you. These are absolutely the most horrific torture devices I have ever laid eyes on.
I do not understand WHY this was ever created. What sadistic SOB came up with this? In my opinion, if you think you need something like this to ride your horse, you should be banned from ever owning one. This bit is advertised as a TRAINING bit. WTF?! Is that a CHAINSAW chain for a mouthpiece? The shanks are 10 inches long. Can you imagine shoving this into a baby's mouth? Good grief, that makes me shudder.
Here is another lovely thing, it is a correction type bit, the ad reads "If getting your horses head raised and tucked at the same time is a problem, then this is the bit for you. The three-piece mouthpiece gives more pressure to the outside of the bars and often touches new or fresh nerves. It also allows for tongue relief." This is not going to "fix" your horse, training will. There is absolutely no reason to EVER use something like this. For heaven's sake people, can you imagine the pain this would inflict? There is never any reason to use something like this. I hate when I see bits like this advertised as a "miracle fix" or something. Like using a jaw breaking bit will cure your training issues.
Yerk! I can only say that if I put any of those in my horse's mouth, I'd better have also tied his head down, tranquilized him, and dialed 911 so that the ambulance was on it's way before I got on. Either that, or plan on not touching the reins. Because he'd flat kill me.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing what some people think makes a good substitute for a) getting your horse trained properly, and b) learning to ride properly!
You have to wonder if people who use these sorts of bits habitually actually enjoy the cruelty. A friend, long time ago, had her horses boarded w/a saddleseat trainer who gleefully showed her his bicycle chain bit and told how it really cut up a horse's mouth so that the horse would be more responsive in the show ring.
ReplyDeletesagebeasties.blogspot.com
Your middle bit has a bicycle chain for a mouthpiece.....
ReplyDeleteI have several bits with nasty mouthpieces...I bought them because they were pretty, not because I have any intention of using them.
They are conversation pieces, nothing more.....and they give me a chance to get on my soapbox now and then.
After watching a video of a reining competition (I was at a horse fair), I wondered out loud, what the tall man who walked out after the run was done....he fiddled with the horse's head...what was he doing???
That tall man was standing right next to me, and he said....
*Well, ma'am, I was one of the judges that day. I was looking to see if his bit was legal. I was looking for blood.*
Sad, sad.........
Very sad that anyone would even think about putting bits like that in a horses mouth.
ReplyDeleteI own a TWH and canceled our subscription to the TWH magazine due to the "techniques" i saw used there. How they became "accepted" practices are beyond me and the bits are just the beginning.
ReplyDeleteWe use a "wonder bit" on one of our mares, but the curb chain never comes into play on it. We got her from a TWH breeder and they used one of those TWH bits with the mile-long shanks on her. I have tried every bit from a loose ring snaffle to a regular old low port curb on her, and she likes the "wonder bit". She plays with the mouthpiece a lot and likes that she can move it around with her tounge. If I put a bit that she can't do that with on her she grinds on the mouthpiece with her molars and jigs around in place. The gag mouthpiece that she can play with acts like a pacifier. I don't like the thing, but she does, so that's what she gets. She is kind of "special" (we are VERY inbred and have about 2 brain cells) so we do what we can to placate her. Here is her background story... http://thegifthorse-scaequestrian.blogspot.com/2008/08/dyna.html
ReplyDeleteGoogle "mule bit" for a true house of horrors. There's no end to the dipshittery.
ReplyDeleteThere is NO reason to use something like this. Most horse problems start with the rider/trainer or the previous rider/trainer that screwed them up.
Anyone who thinks they're required because it's a mule/TWH/draft horse/reiner needs their head examined.
The Half-Assed Blog,
ReplyDeleteyes those mule bits should DEFINATELY be illegal. Horses that wear ANY of these bits would possibly flip upsidedown in pain at the slightest touch of the reins.
I have seen a bit that was basically a piece of barbed wire and a chain.
Please people, don't spend the money on a frightening bit like this, GET A TRAINER!!!!!
anyone heard of a SNAFFLE??? a smooth-mouthed bit with NO leverage?!?! *GASP*
ReplyDelete