Lets take this blog to the next level

If you have a photo of crappy show riding, know of a jerkwad trainer or judge, or someone in the show world that is an abusive piece of shit then send the info to me. This blog is not anti-showing, it's anti-abuse. So there is no truth to the claims from the TWH, ASB, western pleasure and dressage zombies that I'm trying to shut showing down. Instead I'm trying to make showing more honest and to get abusive practices out of the showring! Email me at shameinthehorseshowring@gmail.com



I have a request for my readers: If you have successfully rehabbed a show horse, or gotten a rescue and taken it on to a show career then let me know, I'd love to feature you here!






Friday, August 6, 2010

Use it on yourself first, asshat!

Just WTF is this thing and what is it doing in a horse's mouth?












A curb prong bit? Are you kidding me? Just the leverage on the shanks alone makes this bit a potential killer and then add PRONGS! And it's endorsed by Tim McQuay? Seriously, Tim McQuay, whom I used to respect as a trainer? Well buddy, you are now in the Cleve Wells Hall of Idiots. I am staggered that any self respecting horseman would put his name on such a piece of shit. It's obviously illegal to show in. The ONLY objective of this bit is to cause pain and you ENDORSE it? I think that any equine organization that even allows these bits in the warm up pen should be blacklisted!





Here's another one of the damned thing! Who is James Morris and why is he stupidly endorsing this bit?






I seriously hope that your punishment in hell is to wear one of these things for all eternity with some ham-handed asshole constantly plucking the reins to reset your head! Are you kidding me? You're such a poor trainer that you have to prong your horse's mouth? I can set a horse's head with a fricking bosal and you need a PRONG bit? You should be fired from ever training a horse again.






And this is the WORST one yet. Prongs above and below! Who the hell is Flaharty and why in heavens name can someone sell this shit and not get arrested?

The place selling these travesties is KO Trading in Ft Worth and they should be blackballed. Do not shop at a store that promotes abuse and cruelty. These bits are unethical in the extreme. They do not give the horse a fair chance and they can cause terrible damage to the tongue surface and nerves. It is a disgrace to the industry that these things even exist and the fact that top trainers endorse them just shows how low things have sunk. If this is what pleasure and reining have sunk to then they need to start getting looked at by the USDA just like the walking horse shows do. No horse should ever have one of these pieces of junk in their mouth.




12 comments:

formyponies said...

Wow. Just wow. Poor horses :(

formyponies said...

Wow. Just wow. Poor horses :(

Mary @ StaleCheerios said...

Yuck!

Nasty bits.

However, I will say that IMO, it is less about the bit and more about how it is used.

I've watch old cowboys ride with spade bits (which are quite cruel looking!) but who have very light hands and the horses seem quite happy.

I've also met quite a very very, very miserable horses who were being jerked around in just a snaffle or bosal. Cruel or uneducated hands can make even a simple snaffle into a torture device.

Mary
www.stalecheerios.com/blog

roanhorse said...

All kinds of "wicked" out there in bit design...

Some of the barrel racing "contraptions" that pass as "bits" for barrel horses should be outlawed....

SFTS said...

"I think that any equine organization that even allows these bits in the warm up pen should be blacklisted!"
- - - - - - - -

Careful TJM, I was blasted from a number of sides for having the audacity to suggest that an equestrian blacklist might not be a completely bad thing. ;)

All joking aside, this only scratches the surface of what sort of nasty stuff people put in their horses' mouths that is out there. But Mary H is absolutely right on about it being more the way a bit is used than about the bit itself. I have a number of bits I wouldn't ever dream of having a student or novice client use, though I've never caused damage to a horse with one of them.

Did you ever get a gander at Schneiders' wood screw bit? An actual snaffle bit mouthpiece made of wood screws. It was pulled off the market some years back when photos of it were circulated across a number of internet forums.

cattypex said...

I usually agree with Mary, and still do to an extent...

But those prongs are just WRONG. You can achieve all your bridle horse finesse with time, good training, whispering hands and an appropriate spade bit, which ideally "talks" to the horse's mouth - not poke holes or bruises in his tongue in the process!!!

There are bits and there are hands, but there are NO hands appropriate to THOSE bits.

Tuffy Horse said...

Catty pex,

I agree. A spade, which is curved to fit the palate, would ONLY hurt the horse if brought past the rotation point of that curve, which is should never do. You can apply pressure to a spade and NOT have the port tough the roof of the mouth, and since the cannons of the bit are usually rounded like a regular curb then that portion of the bit is not severe.

But a prong bit, at ANY point in its movement is going to dig INTO the tongue, simply beause of the facat that the bit is "fixed" to the tongue by the curb strap. A bit moves with the jaw, not the palate ( unless you have an overcheck on it) So a horse cannot open his mouth and relieve pressure from the prongs. It would be like being caught in a pronged vice, which is a horrible thought.


Tracy Meisenbach
www.trinityapp.com

horsndogluvr said...

You know me... if you can't train in a snaffle, you're an abuser, not a trainer.

But, I also try to find the good side of everything if I can. Hard to do in this case. The horse can, unless in a tight cavesson, open its mouth to relieve the pressure on the roof of its mouth - thereby revealing the ignorance of the "trainer." But it can't do anything about those lower ones.

I have to agree that the only reason for them is to cause pain. I wonder how long the rehab for such a horse would be, before it would go in a curb again.

I'm writing all calm-like, but inside I'm spitting like a cornered cat.

Psychotic Raccoon said...

Normally, it's the rider that determines how harsh any piece of equipment is. But with bits like that, I don't think the most gentle rider in the world could make them comfortable. Just having something like that in your mouth, even without someone pulling on it, makes me cringe.

Cut-N-Jump said...

The prongs on the last one almost make it look like a grunge metal/punk rock fashion accessory. Just need the right outfit for it to go with.

Doesn't mean it should be anywhere near a horse, but like all the rest- there's no telling who buys it or how they use it. If a trainer makes a few $$$ off it, they will put their name on just about anything anymore.

Unknown said...

that is correct how children need correct gear but you are so wrong about big horses being way more dangerous then little ones! take my 17.3hh TB gelding that only finished racing in Feb this year (that i get my 11yo to ride) and take a Shetland pony, most Shetlands think there way to good for themselves and buck and pig root which is very dangerous! then take my TB, he wont move unless you ride him with a whip and some sort of spurs (i use dummy spurs), he is the most quiet horse i have ever owned and he is also the biggest, my 2yo son rides him with just a halter, boots and hamlet he does nothing wrong! so all im saying is you cant just say a horse is dangerous by its size because most little horses are more Dangerous then the big ones!!!
check out my daughters website www.showhorsegirl.webs.com

RoanRider420 said...

Those are all reining horse bits.