Strange bit, need identification

[avjudge]

@jvanrens

I know what a Pelham is as well. I’ve just never seen them referred to as a Tom Thumb except for on a long ago thread here

It seems to have fallen out of use, but at least a couple of the horse books from the ‘70s I grew up with (A Horse Around the House for sure, and I think A Horse of Your Own but I seem to have misplaced it Invitation to Riding from 1976) described and/or pictured the Tom Thumb pelham.

I wonder if the unfamiliarity among English riders with the Tom Thumb term in that context has to do with age, or where/how they grew up and learned about such things.

Edit: I looked up the previous post I made on this exact topic on another forum and corrected the second book.

[jvanrens]

Very likely. I didn’t grow up with a lot of english riders, and as far as I recall most of the ones I saw rode with snaffles for the most part. But even KBC, who grew up in England said she was familiar with the description of a Pelham as a Tom Thumb.

My favorite read when I was young was Margaret Cabell Self, not being from the UK, she might not have used the term, or I’ve forgotten it over the years.

Edited to correct MCS country. DOH!

[blue_heron]

Albeit one that is on very backward, no?

[NoSuchPerson]

LOL. Yes. But it was a good photo of a lip strap and had the added benefit of being one I could copy and paste. I discovered that many online catalog photos can’t be.

[Janet]

@avjudge

A Horse of Your Own but I seem to have misplaced it Invitation to Riding from 1976) described and/or pictured the Tom Thumb pelham.

I know longer have my original (1960s) copy of A Horse of Your Own. I probably lent it to someone and did not get it back. But I do have the 1980 “New, Revised” version. It has a picture of a Tom Thumb pelham on page 204.

[stonesong]

Was it attached to the picture frame when you bought it? Wonder if it was an artistic interpretation made by someone who really wasn’t a horse person. Seems like the type of thing a non-horsey relative would’ve found and gifted to me.

[jvanrens]

@Amberley

@skydy

That bit, no matter the name, is a form of Pelham.

No I don’t think so, technically, as it’s got swept back shanks which I am pretty sure those shanks make it a kind of curb. It does have a snaffle ring which makes it pelham-esque but swept back shanks are not designed to be used on a contact, it’s designed for a horse who goes with the nose poked out.

My guess is that this is a hybrid endurance bit designed for the horse to graze more easily without getting hung up on the reins but not necessarily for people to neck rein with. If the reins are on a snap you can switch them between rings as needed, a lot of people will do that when they stop, unclipping from the shank.

Any bit with shanks is a curb, so a pelham is a curb bit.

With western bits one with shanks like the OP posted are referred to as grazing bits.

[aregard]

@Small_Change

Don’t think so, as the hooks for the curb chain go on the uppermost rings, where the bit is hung from the cheek pieces of the bridle.

Oh, you’re right!!! Goes to show how long it’s been since I’ve used a shanked bit.