This weekend I saw a bit/bridle setup that I had never seen before (rated show in the hunters). Standard caveson bridle with regular noseband going all the way around. D ring bit, no hooks/slots (not a mylar). Curb chain. It was a little hard to see, but I believe the burb chain was attached to the top of the bit hangers on either side, where they hook over the bit. Single set of reins attached typically to the D ring bit.
How would you even engage the curb action directly?
It sounds like the bit you are describing is a kimberwick? Unless you mean they had the curb attached to the bit loops on the bridle? In which case the curb would serve no purpose. Sometimes a curb is used to prevent pulling the bit through either side of the mouth, but a leather curb strap would be more appropriate if you wanted to use it as such. Beyond that, just because someone is using a certain piece of tack or equipment doesn’t always mean they know what it’s for or how to use it correctly. 
I wonder if the horse opens his mouth a considerable amount and the chain is a way to deal with that particular issue without going to a flash/figure eight noseband? Would that even work?
Nope, not a kimberwicke. As a former breed show person, I am very familiar with those. It was a traditional D ring bit, no slots, no hooks, and not on a hanger ring. The bit was a regular D ring. And I don’t think the chain was at all attached to the bit, it was attached to the bridle only- to the bit hangers (it looked that way anyhow).
Perhaps just a Dee with a curb attached to the bridle somehow just to ‘psych’ the horse out. I have once or twice met a horse who will run through anything without a curb. Like a horse who automatically gets more go because you picked up a crop? Maybe the rider is not capable of using such a bit, or they are trying to step the horse down in bit strength but he needs to hear the jingle until he gets used to the new action. I suppose they would run the risk of being penalized for a non-traditional bit, but maybe a good outing was more important.
There are a few barns out our way that use this bit. I think it’s just a very pretty Kimberwick set up so that it’s quite unobtrusive looking. If it is the same as what I’ve seen, it really just looks like a regular hunter D with a curb chain attached somehow. I’d love to know what the mouthpiece looks like.
How did the horse pin? I’m interested to get a judge’s point of view as to how unconventional this set up is.
Are you sure it didn’t have any hooks? I have a bit that sounds a lot like this. The hooks are on the inside of the dee, so when the reins are through it you can’t see them at all. The curb chain is very high on that particular bit. I’ll see if I can take a picture of my bit for comparison.
[QUOTE=janedoe726;7676581]
How did the horse pin? I’m interested to get a judge’s point of view as to how unconventional this set up is.[/QUOTE]
This show was a giant flying clsterfck and I thought at one point the judge might come out and get in a fistfight with the ring starter. So it was a weird situation all-around even setting aside the unconventional tack. Nothing went well/normally. So the pinning was… bizarro.
The horse went around pretty strong with his head up and pulling past the distances, had a bunch of chips, and pinned last in a smallish class-- exactly where I’d expect him to pin based on his way of going. I don’t know if the bit factored in or not, but this horse was pretty clearly last of the ones that got around based on how he went around.
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7676592]
Are you sure it didn’t have any hooks? I have a bit that sounds a lot like this. The hooks are on the inside of the dee, so when the reins are through it you can’t see them at all. The curb chain is very high on that particular bit. I’ll see if I can take a picture of my bit for comparison.[/QUOTE]
I am pretty sure there were no hooks. I could see that there were no hooks on the BIT. It’s possible that the chain went to the bit hangerts with a hook but I am pretty sure that there were no slots/hooks on the bit. And the bit itself wasn’t fixed the way a kimberwicke would be. It was a D, so the reins and bit holder could move around the way they do on a D.
I’d be curious to see what you’re describing, maybe it was a modified version thereof.
Several of is ringside were looking at the bit and trying to figure it out and none of us had seen anything like it before.
[QUOTE=vxf111;7676608]
I am pretty sure there were no hooks. I could see that there were no hooks on the BIT. It’s possible that the chain went to the bit hangerts with a hook but I am pretty sure that there were no slots/hooks on the bit. And the bit itself wasn’t fixed the way a kimberwicke would be. It was a D, so the reins and bit holder could move around the way they do on a D.
I’d be curious to see what you’re describing, maybe it was a modified version thereof.
Several of is ringside were looking at the bit and trying to figure it out and none of us had seen anything like it before.[/QUOTE]
Here is the bit I have. I think it would be very difficult to see ringside, but the reins are indeed fixed to the dee through a hook, kind of like a kimberwick.
Not sure if this is quite what you saw, but it sounded sort of similar.
On a horse it looks just like a normal dee except for the curb chain.
Oh, and I found the link to the actual bit! It’s a Robart. I did not buy this thing…a horse I’m riding for someone else came with it. It’s an odd little contraption.
“perfect for horses heavy in the bridal” 
No, not it. I’d call that a mylar/mylar type. She walked right past me and I would have seen those slots. Also, the chain would have been further away from the chin then it was. I’ve seen that kind of bit, it wasn’t that type. But good thought!
[QUOTE=chestnuthunter;7677116]
Oh, and I found the link to the actual bit! It’s a Robart. I did not buy this thing…a horse I’m riding for someone else came with it. It’s an odd little contraption.
“perfect for horses heavy in the bridal” ;)[/QUOTE]
Yes, nice spelling on that website. I don’t want that horse as my groomsman Or rain on my wedding day
yee gods, that is a HORSE PERSON’S professional site with those misspellings?!
[QUOTE=vxf111;7677118]
No, not it. I’d call that a mylar/mylar type. She walked right past me and I would have seen those hooks. Also, the chain would have been further away from the chin then it was. I’ve seen that kind of bit, it wasn’t that type. But good thought![/QUOTE]
Well, darn! I’ll be interested to see if anyone has heard of the setup she had.
I am 99.9% sure the bit itself had no slots.
[QUOTE=MightyBobbyMagee;7677187]
Something like this maybe?[/QUOTE]
What is this one? I saw a horse this weekend go in something that looked exactly like it and I couldn’t figure it out. The horse placed well in the hunters, but I thought this bit qualified as “unconventional.”
Growing up I had a horse that needed a curb chain as a type of security blanket. If you put him in a snaffle he was a monster but he really didn’t need the leverage of a curb bit - just knowing the chain was there made some difference in his mind. Before I got him he had been ridden almost exclusively in a kimberwicke, which I was not willing to use in the hunters. Plus, I was also taking dressage lessons at the time and my trainer was (obviously) adamant that we find some sort of snaffle he’d accept. We did at one point come up with some kind of configuration similar to what you described with the idea of weaning him of off of the chain.
I ultimately ended up using a pelham, which was way too much bit, but we couldn’t find a workaround with the curb chain thing.
I’d have to wonder if the set up you describe is legal but assuming it is, horses are weirdos. Sometimes we have to think outside the box to make them happy*.
*And sometimes there are scary training practices that I haven’t even fathomed, so maybe it is something nefarious. Just throwing my past experience out there re: why you may want a chain without the curb action on the horse.
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