To the best of my knowledge a houghton and an aussie ring bit are one in the same. But as Laurie said, a cage bit is very different.
Lugging in/lugging out, getting in/getting out… criss cross
Point taken.l had referred to a Houghton bit, which is is what I’m familiar with. But other people have referred to it as a cage bit. Must be a regional thing, albeit wrong.
Could be so. Sometimes I say houghton and get a blank look and other times I’ll say Australian ring bit and they get it… it’s odd. I guess kind of along the lines of handily and breezing from coast to coast. Or I refer to a york noseband and others call it an overcheck which are different tho most refer to it as a citation bit
[QUOTE=DickHertz;4378674]
I agree. A horse can be dead sound and have this type of issue (among others) :mad:
Acertainsmile, did you know the horse had the bad habit before you claimed it? After dealing with one of these crazy critters, I will never claim a horse I know is a jackass during races especially. before having one of these, I probably would have claimed and thought “we’ll fix it” !!![/QUOTE]
Lord NO! He was stabled at a different track, I was running the barn and galloping, so the claim was out of my hands at the time. I figured him out about an eighth of a mile down the track 3 days later. He wanted to bolt galloping, working, but was a decent horse, I celebreated the day we lost him! He ran a 137 times and was trained off the trainers farm, was eventually retired sound when he was 11 or 12.
Here is a pic of a run out bit or cage bit…
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r237/missoceana22/runoutbit.jpg
http://esvc000033.wic025u.server-web.com/prod/hra/bits.shtm
The bits have different names than I am accustomed tom but in the case of a pretty insistent horse that lugs either way, I got to a “Gene Reigel - Lugging Bit” with or without the extension. it is also known as a houghton/aussie. Always leather or rubber covered. My preference. James bits can work very well for some horses for others not so much. You are on it’s back, you’re going to have to see what works.
[QUOTE=Blinkers On;4379355]
Could be so. Sometimes I say houghton and get a blank look and other times I’ll say Australian ring bit and they get it… it’s odd. I guess kind of along the lines of handily and breezing from coast to coast. Or I refer to a york noseband and others call it an overcheck which are different tho most refer to it as a citation bit[/QUOTE]
I’ve been to some places and asked for a Sherwin and get a blank look then say the “Seattle Slew bit attachment” and they are like “oh, it’s right over there” (and vice versa). There is definitely regionality in terms of racing tack venacular.
Also, to the original poster, there are 2 types of cage bits I’ve seen in terms of the metal spikes that are engaged when pulling on the “other” reign. get the bit with 6-7 spikes as opposed to the one that has 12-15 smaller spikes.
P.S. I have a citation bit used only once for sale if anyone wants it…$75 (this was bit #4 tried on my horse before #5, the cage bit, finally did the trick).
Dick - this may be a stupid question, but what is a Sherwin? I know he wore an Australian cheeker, is that the same thing, or did he have another piece of equipment?
Its more commonly called a Sure-win in my experience.
I never saw it spelled !!! shoot me !
Ok, that’s what I was thinking of. I’ve always heard it called a cheeker.
[QUOTE=DickHertz;4379985]
I’ve been to some places and asked for a Sherwin and get a blank look then say the “Seattle Slew bit attachment” and they are like “oh, it’s right over there” (and vice versa). There is definitely regionality in terms of racing tack venacular.
Also, to the original poster, there are 2 types of cage bits I’ve seen in terms of the metal spikes that are engaged when pulling on the “other” reign. get the bit with 6-7 spikes as opposed to the one that has 12-15 smaller spikes.
P.S. I have a citation bit used only once for sale if anyone wants it…$75 (this was bit #4 tried on my horse before #5, the cage bit, finally did the trick).[/QUOTE]
The Citation or Norton bit wouldnt really help one that lugs out, shame you wasted your money…good for one that really pulls or wants to lunge thru the air though~ did you use it with the attachment? Not sure what they go for new anymore, mine was ancient when I found it in the bottom of my “bit bucket”.
We didn’t think it would work either but the exercise rider who is the best on the grounds thought it was worth a try using the theory that if she couldn’t be as head strong (she is a speed horse) that the bit would harness her a bit and keep her more controllable. I paid $110 which included the leather attachment so, yes, I used it as it’s supposed to be used.
