Miniature horse driving bits...

[willowoodstables]

Lisa..

I can buy any bit known to mankind for a horse or pony (4 3/4 and up) and for minis I tear my hair out. While at Nationals, it was a standing joke on when Kim went shopping at any tack establishment I bought EVERY bit I could get my hands on LOL..to the tune of about $300.00!!!!

Cash Lovell makes awesome driving bits, and I'm sure if the demand warrants it they would create smaller bits. As a last resort, I am very fortunate to have a master welder who lives near me and I take the horse size version of what I want to him and he "creates" or downsizes for me..at a cost of course!!

Drives me crazy! And yes Lisa..a 6$ bit may not FIT, but it has the word mini on it and it gets bought..some of the bits I have seen have big fat mouth pieces that I am sure leave no room in the mouth!

Maybe I should start making my own bits and selling them!!

Kim

 

[Mnmini]

I find as a very general statement... most mini people -not the ones on this thread- dont really know much about bits at all and think a 6 dollar bit is more then fine- I am just starting to ground drive a couple of our horses and was amazed at the true lack of choices that are readily available and the knowledge of many on the different bits that there are.Granted I dont know alot about driving or driving bits either however I do have knowledge of regular bits.

I lost out on a auction of a copper eggbutt which is what I am looking for however I dont want a half cheek although I might have to give in a bit on that one to get a copper bit.

as for the twists I dont know many not in minis or driving? but arent there many variations of a twist  from mild to harsh as there are in riding bits or is that not an option in mini or driving bits?

497131[/snapback]

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I was wondering the same thing. It is not unusual at all to put a perfectly well behaved horse in a slow twist periodically when schooling under saddle. We keep 3 standard snaffles for everyday schooling. A sweet iron smooth snaffle, sweet iron slow twist (custom made by McCleland's in FL), and a regular (not tiny) twisted copper. The latter has to be replaced fairly regularly as the horses seem to chew on this one more so than the others, plus it is a very soft metal, resulting in sharp flat spots. No damage occurs, but it's always a good idea to rotate through bits. If you only use one of two, you end up only using a couple of pressure points, but when you rotate through several bits, you refine new pressure points, keeps things interesting for them as well. I'm always aware of what I'm sticking in them, and certainly refine HOW I ask, depending on what bit I'm using that day. Would i use them with an overcheck connected directly to the bit? Heck no..I generally do not school with a check. I've always really liked adding the Myler #40 mouthpiece to the rotation, another good choice.

I've got a standard smooth half cheek bit with the S stamped on it too, but think it is just to reflect the material (stainles). Bought it off e-bay. Is pinchless, and somewhat heavy. I've seen them in a catalog too, but forget where.