From: Larry
Dear Jessica, I know you're not a Western bit specialist, but I thought I would run this by you anyway because nobody I know has Clue One about it. I have a good reining horse that I took to a reining clinic last year, and I learned a lot, it was a good clinic. One thing the instructor said was that my horse was the kind that would go good in a Mona Lisa. I've been looking in saddle shops and catalogs since then, because I thought it was a bit, because we were talking about bridles and bits at the time. Since then, I've been wondering if maybe it was a kind of bridle? Or some other piece of equipment? I sure haven't been able to find any bits by that name. I thought maybe I just didn't remember the name right, but my wife was there with me, taking notes, and she wrote down the same thing. She is pretty sure it is a bit or else a bridle. I know this is a long shot, but you seem to know just about everything, so I'm hoping you'll come through again. My horse is going good but if there's something that will help him go better, I'd like to know about it and at least take a look at whatever it is. Thanks! Larry and Corinne
The "Mona Lisa" isn't a bit, which is the reason you haven't been able to find a bit by that name. It's not a bridle, either - or any other piece of tack. It's PART of a bit - a particular type of mouthpiece that goes onto a leverage (curb, shanked) bit. If I remember correctly - I haven't seen one of these mouthpieces in years - it's rather like a short, modified spoon spade, somewhere between a Salinas and a half-breed mouthpiece. I'd say that it's definitely designed for a leverage bit that's also a signal bit. I'd really expect to see a mouthpiece like this on a bridle-horse bit, which, now that I think of it, is where I saw it - it's not something I'd expect to see on the kind of bit you would typically use on a reining horse. And that being the case... let me recommend a specialist to you.
There's a man called Mike Bridges who knows a lot about bits and bridle horses, and who gives clinics on bridle horses, bits, and hackamore training for working cow-horses. He also has a couple of videotapes available, both on the vaquero-style training of bridle horses. If you can get your hands on those tapes, or, better yet, make it to one of his clinics, you'll come out of it knowing a lot about the subject, and probably much more than I do. The last contact information I had for Mike Bridges was a phone/FAX number in California: 707-746-7241. You might try sending him a FAX. The folks at Western Horseman magazine would probably be able to find him if that number doesn't work anymore.
Good luck!
Jessica
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