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Anyone Know What This Is Called?

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I’m trying to find out what this flash (can I call it that?) is called. I’ve never seen it before and I’m really curious!

Ick. :frowning:

It looks like a modified kineton noseband.

In theory it keeps pressure off the bars (transfers it to the nose), but doesn’t affect pressure back on the lips.

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It’s not a flash, it’s a bit.

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/products/hh-asks-citation-bit-265044#:~:text=THE%20Citation%20bit%20comprises%20a,the%20bridle%20with%20sliding%20rings.

I know what you mean-- that’s
what is called a Worcester noseband. It’s not as severe as the combo in the picture. https://shop.hcsusasaddlery.com/worcester-noseband-nb186.html

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Every time I think I’ve seen just about all the tack, something else pops up.

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It’s called the Citation bit or Citation bridle, after the Triple Crown winning, Hall of Fame racehorse that raced in it in the late 1940’s - early 1950’s.

Here’s Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, discussing using it on stakes running Coliseum in 2019.

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Watching Mike Smiths mannerisms while he is describing the horses reaction to the bit change is quite telling as to how the mechanism of this bit works. I’m not for or against this bit construction, it takes the right hands. He portrays a very sensitive ride.

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There was a pretty extensive discussion of the Citation bridle in the eventing forum after Maryland, since Elisa Wallace rode her horse cross-country in one.

I hadn’t heard of the Worcester, but did the Google and there’s a photo in this forum of one on:
https://newrider.com/threads/any-experiences-with-a-worcester-noseband.95084/

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Ah ok. Thanks @Impractical_Horsewoman. I somehow missed that. There’s a lot going on in that thread :sweat_smile:

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FWIW, I used a homemade version of the Worcester noseband for a while (couldn’t find one that wasn’t crazy expensive, and ended up using an old strap that I slid the figure eight straps through) and I really liked it for that particular horse, who was strong but wouldn’t tolerate a leverage bit and had a nice soft mouth when he wasn’t excited. In a lot of ways it felt like using a hackabit, but with a snaffle.

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Basically it’s a bit lifter, which would make it technically a nicer piece of equipment if you have a horse or pony that needs one because of a low palate and/or thick tongue. The orange noseband Seattle slew used was also a bit lifter (so is a kineton, but that also has additional action). I’m using one in this picture. All it does is to prevent the bit from really laying down on the tongue/bars, so like I said, not exactly making it something deserving of the reception seen in some of these posts. Although if your horse doesn’t need one it may be pretty annoying. If he does have the mouth structure that benefits from it, I suspect he might be happier in it. That certainly was my experience, although ultimately I moved my pony into a Conrad style port which achieved the same result. Of course you show people a big square port and they ALSO tend to freak out without considering why that might be a nicer bit for a certain type of mouth.

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