Anyone good with tack? Noseband identification!

W

winkles

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 March 2011
Messages
286
Visit site
Behold, I have seen a horse wearing the weirdest thing around it's head ever. Sorry, can't provide pics, and a Googling has revealed nada! Closest Google offered was the Kineton (which I knew of and this is definitely not.) If anyone actually manages to identify this thing (given my v. poor description) I'll have to offer them some kind of reward :o

I'll start with the bit.
It looked a bit like a Dutch gag, but there were only 3 hoops on it. A ring which was above the snaffle ring connected to the cheekpiece, the snaffle ring with bitpiece in the mouth and a ring beneath that which the rein was connected to.
(So a gag essentially. With a hanging cheek bit? Still with me!? ...)

The noseband was really weird, it was very thin and looked like a piece of string or elastic with padding just around the horse's nasal bone. The string went through the bit in a hole between the cheekpiece ring & the snaffle ring (to keep it level with the nasal bone I guess?)
The string then went up, to another hole on the cheekpiece ring so that the string is now running against the horse's cheek bone. Then the string connects to leather, and the thing fastens like a too-high cavesson fastening, under the the cheekbone.

Sorry, that was terrible, but the best I could do! I'm dying to know if anyone knows what it is/is for so I can look it up properly? (Oh and please don't tell me I'm a complete novice and you're all using it :o :p)

Tea or coffee & swiss roll for all guess-ees :)

Considers drawing the damn thing to prove a point
 
Well, now I feel an idiot.

Thanks, EnduroRider, it was this badboy:

clip_image002_006.jpg


(Except if this one is fitted correctly the one I saw was far too high up the horse's face)

Anyone know what the hell it does? Looks like a beast! Apparently it's very kind though :cool:
 
I wouldn't say it is that kind. I have not come across one horse which has really like it and when used on a really strong horse it made him worse, he ran through the bridle with that on. The rawhide on the nose is really hard and unless wrapped in vet wrap or similar IMO is not different to the spiked nosebands that are sometimes used in Iberian bridles.
 
Yep must be a type of Myler, and Ruth has picked out the right type! Have posted a picture just above of it in the horse's mouth too.

Still looks weird to me though :o
 
I used it on my mare, who was strong but if you tried a too strong bit she would rear. This was what she went best in,we think because it puts pressure on the nose before the mouth. So she had time to react without her mouth being pulled. They are meant to be fitted quite high and should also have a bit of string from the nose band up to the brow band override the nose part can slip down onto the soft part and interfere with the horses breathing.
 
Had one for my old mare, but her's had a leather part over the nose, rather than rawhide. It can the rider brakes without having to haul, and she schooled well in it.

As with all bits - great in the right hands, traincrash in the wrong.
 
Laafet said:
I wouldn't say it is that kind. I have not come across one horse which has really like it and when used on a really strong horse it made him worse, he ran through the bridle with that on. The rawhide on the nose is really hard and unless wrapped in vet wrap or similar IMO is not different to the spiked nosebands that are sometimes used in Iberian bridles.
Click to expand...

Yep spot on , my horse came to me with this bit and many problems (poor old guy) but is now very happy in a french link and is never strong :D
 
I won a short shank Myler combination bit in a magazine competition, tried my mare in it and she HATED the action of the noseband tightening - she shook her head and slammed the brakes on as soon as I touched the reins.
So I chopped the noseband off :D
and now am essentially left with a 2 ring gag, which she was ridden in before! But she loves the comfort snaffle mouthpiece :)
Its actually quite a clever contraption - the noseband acts first, then the poll pressure comes into play but can only go so far as small bars on the bit ring meet 'stoppers' on the mouthpiece so it cannot pull through too much, and the 'stoppers' then bring the mouthpiece into play if the nose/poll action isn't effective.
Its considered "kind" because the pressure is spread out over the whole head, but I think its still a very strong piece of equipment because there's the potential for a huge amount of force to be exerted.
L x
 
It looks like a Myler Combination....I use one on my ex-racehorse. It acts on the poll, nose and jaw first before the mouthpiece is activated by increasing lever action (I think) and can be used for horses who prefer poll/nose pressure perhaps from headcollar work or those who are sensitive in the mouth. Also with my ex-racer he is a) very hard to stop when he wants to be and b) has been trained to run into the contact so doesn't understand the usual 'please stop poking your nose' aids.

It has been valuable when riding him in company and is only as strong as I allow it to be, however I did notice it is leaving a slight dent despite me covering the nosepiece with dead sheep fluff so I'm looking for an alternative.
 
It is the old adage isn't it, any bit is harsh in the wrong hands :) and like everything else, it is up to the individual, 'one size does not fit all' as it were.

11ff0ddd_zpsf72603fa.jpg


Ali wore one to parties because it was the only bit we ever found (and we tried many) that he listened to, hunting on the mountains, he would have killed us both inevitably if someone hadn't recommended this. I think it partly worked because he was ridden in a hackamore at home so was accustomed to the nose action.

Mine is the long shank, in the photo only the chin strap was padded but normally I sewed a roll of sheepskin around the nosepiece too, rawhide can be nasty. I always rode in double reins too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top