And, in case the snaffle isn't sufficently horrible, you can buy a curb version.
It makes me sad for the horses of the world.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Screwed Up
Today I have a couple of bits sent to me by readers. The first one is a bit someone found in a tack shop that she rescued the local horses from. It looks homemade, but alas, it turns out that you can buy a shiny new one from Reinsman bits. Rod's even sells it with a warning label on their site "use with extreme care". Snort, really?
And, in case the snaffle isn't sufficently horrible, you can buy a curb version.
It makes me sad for the horses of the world.
And, in case the snaffle isn't sufficently horrible, you can buy a curb version.
It makes me sad for the horses of the world.
hurts my mouth to look at it!
ReplyDeleteI just don't see the point, even in the best hands, what good would this do?
ReplyDeleteI agree totall with the title on today's blog. Some people are totally screwed up. I guess we should never underestimate the horrors the human mind can conceive. I found the first bit in a box of used bits at my local feed/tack store. Couldn't believe that someone would actually use it on a horse but I figured if there was one person who would there might be others so I liberated it. I honestly thought it was a one of a kind thing. I'm absolutely horrified that it is actually being manufactured and for SALE! WTF are people thinking?
ReplyDeleteI really don't see any use for any of these bits.
ReplyDeleteI just don't see the point.
Anyone that uses one of these bits needs to quit riding. And have said bit shoved where the sun don't shine.
ReplyDeleteAnd has anyone contacted any of the stores or online merchants carrying this shit and told them no more purchases will be made if they continue to promote this type of abuse, ignorance and cruelty?
ReplyDeleteI agree with DigitSis. Only I don't want to be the one shoving stuff there. Some things, nobody should touch!
if i hear one person say 'any bit is cruel in bad hands..' about this bit....
ReplyDeleteIf it's in any horse's mouth it's cruel no matter whose hands are on the reins.
ReplyDeleteThat's just nasty looking. I am theoretically ok with a slow twist snaffle used occasionally and carefully by a pro on a horse that needs a tune up.
ReplyDeleteThis bit is not ok, ever. It looks like the horse's mouth could bleed just wearing that.
BRAVO to the person who bought it to put it out of reach. Thank you. And CutNJump, very very good idea about contacting the retail outlets.
ReplyDeleteWow I agree that bit is horrible, BUT in defense of Reinsman I sell tack for a living as manager of a tack store and Reinsman is one of my main suppliers.... I check ALL my reinsman catalogs going back 4 years and could not find that bit in ANY of them! SO I think perhaps it is either a really really really old bit that reinsman realizes they should not have produced and have since removed it from their "line up" or someone is just advertising it falsely as a Reinsman bit. But rest assure it is not in ANY of the most recent catalogs by them
ReplyDeleteYeah, that should stop the horse alrighty. Hopefully, the horse will rear & go over & crush the rider. But then the horse would get the blame instead of the jerk using that bit. I do hope that Turn-n-burn is right & that Reinsman does not have that. And that no other catalog has it.
ReplyDeleteThat belongs at the Home Depot, not in a horse's mouth!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, are you trying to cut your horse's tongue in half with your pinky?
Just so I know my eyes don't decieve me, that's an actual length of threaded stock, not a wire wrap?
ReplyDeleteeek.
OOh, and an unlimited source of tetnus, by the way it's rusted to all hell.
*twitch* that just looks evil just to be sitting in a horses mouth, letting alone having someone direct reining with it.
ReplyDeleteI'll choose my fat twisted wire bits over that, least they don't rip open their mouths.
Honestly, that bit is the equivilent of using a cheese grator or a hoof rasp across your horse's tender tongue and his lips. Cruelty at it's most with this medieval torture device...
ReplyDeleteugh I saw these everywhere at Congress, along with scads of cathedral bits and everything else nasty. When I was growing up, people would ridicule/shun you for using contraptions such as these. What happened to those days?
ReplyDeleteIf you go to Rods.com you can see the Lag Screw Off Set D-Ring Bit for sale for $69.95. However, it is on Backorder, I didn't see it on the Reinsman website. Just the name of the bit should clue people in that it is not for use on horses. Lag screw indeed. Jeese.
ReplyDeleteWords fail me ......
ReplyDeleteThat is inhumane and barbaric and I'm gobsmacked that some lowlife thought any horse needed such tortuous control.
Horrible and wicked ... no other words :(
http://www.rods.com/Lag-Screw-Offset-D-Ring-Snaffle-Bit,7214.html
ReplyDelete$19.95
That mouthpiece is made from a lag screw--closely related to a wood screw, just usually larger.
ReplyDeleteI do a decent bit of wood work, and I try very hard not to handle wood screws without gloves for any period of time.
I cannot fathom putting one in a horse's mouth.
Well, if you are one of those people who like to wrap their bits in latex, this would be great because it wouldn't end up too bulky by the time you're finished.
ReplyDeleteOr, you could use it as a horse themed cheese grater.
Or to saw off the head of the idiot trainers that think horses do better with "a little lipstick".
Going into TTotD DTs without my regular doses this week... hope everything is OK in your world and that's why it's been lighter this week.
I am Boyfriend
I'm afraid to ask what "a little lipstick" is a euphemism for...
ReplyDeleteFound this website and thought it relevent to this topic - very sad horses in the hands of incapable idiots.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dressagedisgrace.com/
Cheval Noire...the first few seconds of that video made me want to vomit. Literally made my gorge rise it was that disgusting. Why the hell didn't someone drag that asshole off that horse and beat the shit out of him. That is what I want to do.
ReplyDeletePat,
ReplyDeleteSadly, the euphemism is bloody froth = lipstick. There are more than a few western pleasure trainers that use a narrow mouthpiece (be it twisted wire, woodscrew bit, etc.) with this as their goal. The point is to make the horse's mouth sore so they will give right away to bit pressure, not pull at all, etc. Even if you switch to a nicer mouthpiece the next day (or at the show), the horse is still so sore he'll hold his head on the vertical to keep the pressure off the bars and tongue as much as he can, and will be "very soft to rein aids'.
I have seen it done by a trainer I used to think wasn't that bad. After I heard her say, while working a client's horse, was that all he needed was a little lipstick, as the pink froth was dripping from his mouth, you can bet I lost all respect for her!
Just found your blog and will be adding it to my feed. Scary bits aside, very entertaining.
ReplyDeleteThanks from Florida !
UGH.
ReplyDeleteThere's nowhere in the world that thing is acceptable.
I almost wish someone would come here and defend it.
Ugh.
honestly this bit is not that bad.... compared to some I have seen. I had a customer come in some months ago with a bit he needed outfitted with a headstall, happy to help i told him grab his bit and come with me to the back. He met me where the headstalls were and produced his bit out of a thick leather pouch.... then I saw why. this guy had "made" his bit! He had taken a med sized twisted wire snaffle and wrapped it himself..... with barbed wire! I immediately but politely told him I could not help him and until he learned a more humane way to handle his horse he was no longer welcome in my store. He got rather upset with me and said he couldn't help it if thats what his horse required to stop. i informed him no what his horse required to stop was proper training which apparently he could not provide and walked off. He hasn't been back in since... darn
ReplyDeleteTNB......
ReplyDeleteYou rock!!!!!
Major kudos to Turn-n-burn!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't anyone teach people anymore by putting the bit on the hand, the wrist, to show a beginner how it feels, the hand between a tight curb chain and bit to show how leverage works? Hang a curb bridle from a hook and see how neck reining and direct reining are different from a snaffle? Have them press a spoon on their gum, then turn it on edge? A little empathy goes a long ways.
I sometimes wonder how the word human is even in the word humane.
Thanks for giving such a great information about horse.
ReplyDeleteYour products screw ups are really good to use
I'm very crazy about horses
keep doing well
wholesale tack manufacturer