Then it’s not a Jr. Cowhorse if it does not have gag action.
There are different mouthpiece options for the Jr. Cowhorse, but the shank is the same throughout.
There isn’t “another” Jr. Cowhorse. There’s only one name-brand design.
I looked one up and that is not what I refer to as a Jr. Cowhorse. At some point I must have bought one with that name but of course it could have been forty years ago and the name stuck in my head even if the name of the bit changed.
I love the Jr. Cowhorse, but it does have gag action. I did not know it wasn’t legal! Phooey. So, if I want to go show, I need to find a different bit (I too am a lifelong hunter rider gone western… lol). Any suggestions on what I could go to from the Jr. Cowhorse that is legal but still has the same sort of feel?
I wouldn’t take bit descriptions from catalogs/internet as gospel. I’ve seen plenty of crap that shouldn’t go near a horse touted as the cure-all for various training issues. They’re also known to be incorrect when describing the mechanics of the bit. I also don’t believe what every trainer tells me. There are plenty of trainers with their names on bits I wouldn’t use. I don’t care if they are world renowned trainers.
And mild is a relative term. There are worse bits by far, however I wouldn’t recommend a correction bit when there are milder options that will likely work just as well or better.
Is that “correction bit” basically a jointed curb? Am I seeing joints on each side of the port?
It looks though that the joints will only move one direction though, against the corners of the mouth and not downward on the bars (like you can with a snaffle if you ride with low harsh hands). This seems like a good thing. But I am still trying to figure out if you are meant to be able to do a clear direct rein with this bit (you can’t do a clear direct rein with a regular curb, obviously). And does calling it a “training bit” mean that it is illegal in competition?
If you find a short-shanked bit with similar mouth to what your bit has, you should be fine.
I like to use this version of the Jr Cowhorse for running barrels and then my “everyday” riding bit looks like this and then my “showing” bit on my horse’s show bridle is very similar as well. The horses seem to transition between them all pretty seamlessly because they are similar.
What type of mouthpiece does your Jr Cowhorse have?
The joints on the port sit in the horses tongue, causing discomfort. This causes the horse to suck its tongue up into the port, which isn’t wide enough to comfortably accommodate it. Descriptions saying the port provides tongue relief are incorrect. Why not just use a bit with a normal port? Maybe because they can get a horse “soft” in the correction port more easily? And one source saying it’s mild does not convince me when I’ve seen some that say it is severe.
I think it might be legal for reining and some other types of competition, but I’m not positive.
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That’s not how it works. I’ll try to find the Bob Avila video. Do you really think a bit that causes “discomfort” also makes the horse “soft?” And OP should not slap this bit on her horse, she has a lot of training to do and would progress into this bit (if she chooses) after the Myler level 2 bit. And yes, it’s legal. Have you ever visited the AQHA website? Or read the rule book? No??? Many of their rules are adopted into discipline specific rules.
Basics of understanding how a bit works in a horse’s mouth.
Teaching apprentices about bits and a way to start figuring a bit we are not familiar with is to have the bit on a bridle.
Grab the bridle with both cheekpieces in one hand.
Grab loosely the hanging bit mouthpiece, from above with four fingers and thumb on the bottom of the bit.
Have someone hold the reins behind you and use them to guide you around as you feel in your hand how the bit is moving, changing, giving signals into your hand and thinking how that would feel if that was a horse’s mouth, bit on the tongue and bars and how well you understand what the reins action on the bit are trying to tell you and how comfortable or poking around it feels when reins act on it.
That is a base to then put the bit on a horse and watch the same as reins come into action and see how the individual horse respond.
Once watching bits in use, it sure has changed the minds of many that had very set ideas about what bits do and don’t do.
The lesson there was, don’t praise a bit, don’t “diss” a bit, until you really have studied what it does, why, and when and how used.
Whole generations, some still today swear the TT is a good bit, but really don’t know why or why not.
Until they see it in action, see other bits in action and realize why a bit like the TT, with that lack of balance and inconsistent signaling is not really that good a bit, there are much better ones out there for what we want of bits, to communicate with a horse.
Will also realize that it is ok to have different ideas about what is the best bit, according to how we ride, how we train, the horses we use and our goals.
Also the huge difference in how we (ideally) ride Western and English means that “mild” or “severe” mean very different things.
In English where you need to ride with steady contact to some degree, you need a snaffle (unless you have a bolter on the cross country field or something like that). In Western, where you ride on a draped rein with a leverage bit, the horse might rarely be feeling the force of the bit. In the Avila video, there are shots of a fully trained reining horse sliding to a stop on a loose rein, just from the rider’s weight aids. I would argue that a snaffle ridden on heavy contact in English is more uncomfortable to a horse than a big western leverage bit on a horse that is trained to go off weight and body aids with a loose rein.
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I don’t show AQHA, so I have no reason to read their rule book. Someone else was asking, possibly someone who was just curious and doesn’t want to read a rule book. And yes, harsh bits get responses desired by many people, many of them professional, responses many of them consider “soft”. Plenty of trainers use horrible methods to get results, and they win, so don’t use the argument that pain doesn’t get results. And we both know there are plenty of crap trainers out there that endorse crap products. There are also plenty of bit videos that are full of incorrect information. The video you linked does nothing to explain the mechanics of the bit. And what is tongue release? Does he mean tongue relief? That port is not shaped to do that well. If you want to use it, feel free. I’m not going to recommend it nor say it’s mild. I don’t think it’s the worst bit, but it’s not something I will recommend when there are better options. The other regular hinged bit he mentioned in his video is a better choice.
Scribbler, I totally agree. A well made leverage bit with good mechanics, (meaning it isn’t designed to be uncomfortable merely sitting in the horse’s mouth, and it doesn’t have action that is abrupt or confusing to the horse no matter how good the rider is) can be milder than a snaffle ridden with more contact. However, it should still be preferable to use something that is most comfortable to the horse, no matter if there’s contact or not. We fall too easily into the trap of thinking that a bit is only as harsh as the hands using it, and that is not true. Hands are a huge part of the equation, and riding discipline, but a bit with crap mechanics (Tom Thumb, those awful bike chain mule mouth bits) is still crap in the best of hands.
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Sorry, you must know more than Bob despite having very little experience in the western arena. My bad.
:lol: And I never said I know more than Bob. I just don’t agree with him on how great this particular bit is. I didn’t realize I had to be some sort of expert to have an opinion or understand concepts like the mechanics of a certain bit.
Then why are you demanding that other posters explain to you the mechanics of the bit? Look it up. I use the bit, I like the bit, the horses go well in it, the judges rewared me in the competition ring. I understand the basics of it, but probably can’t articulate as well as the experts can, which is why I quoted and linked a video.
I told you to feel free to use the bit. I’m not waving a pitchfork at you for using it. You’re awfully defensive about it. And I never demanded anyone explain the mechanics of it. You’re choosing to read into things.
This https://www.bigdweb.com/product/rein…t+iron+snaffle.do?sortby=bestSellers&refType=&from=fn&ecList=7&e cCategory=100567 is the bit I currently have. I have also ordered this bit https://www.bigdweb.com/product/juni…+copper+roller+snaffle.do?sortby=bestSellers&refType=&from=fn&ec List=7&ecCategory=100567 (I hope that worked, I don’t know how to make the quote stick to the word, THIS LOL).
EDIT: AND… I see it didn’t. Hahaha. Hopefully, the links are such that you could cut and paste if you wanted to. Sorry about that.
This is the one I have: https://www.bigdweb.com/product/rein…ategory=100567 and I have ordered https://www.bigdweb.com/product/juni…ategory=100567. I hope these links work. I am not too adept at posting links. LOL
I looove my Myler 36 flat shank curb bit. My horse goes so very well in it! https://juliegoodnight.com/myler-bits/
I’m switching over to mostly all western now too but have Walkers so a bit different. But both of mine seem to perform better western so western it is!
