[Heavenly Jumper]

I have never used one...I never will. I don't have the first idea of how to use it properly so I won't use it.

I know that it is not a popular bit, yet I see so many of them out there...why? Can you explain to me the function and purpose of this bit and how and by whom it should be used? Why do so many people use it wrong...

I know that it is a curb, because it has shanks and uses leverage. I am used to a snaffle...

[3WishesDun]

The reason why I do not like Tom Thumb bits is because IMO they lack balance. I also think they tend to be top heavy. A similar bit with better design is the Argentine snaffle.

[gallop3337]

I am in the same boat as you HeavenlyJumper, I won't ever use a tom thumb, and this article is what convinced me...

Today's Horse - The Trouble with Tom Thumb

[Heavenly Jumper]

Originally Posted by gallop3337

I am in the same boat as you HeavenlyJumper, I won't ever use a tom thumb, and this article is what convinced me...

Today's Horse - The Trouble with Tom Thumb

Good article, I appreciate you posting that!

[aqh88]

I think there are far better bits out there for any type of horse or discipline but especially for horses still near the beginning of their training. Some more experienced and well trained horses may ride alright in one but I haven't found a horse that really likes a tom thumb or that rides better in it than in most anything else.

[freedom32]

The biggest problem with the Tom Thumb is people think it is a snaffle, even some of the biggest tack catalogs market it as a snaffle. http://www.statelinetack.com/global/...thumb&N=156695
When this bit is used as a snaffle there is some godawful nutcracker action involved-and can be very harsh. That being said, I ride in a TT, but I know the bit and how it works. When I trasitioned Freedom into a curb she did not like a solid mouthpiece, she prefers the TT.

[Quick2Skip01]

I show in a broken mouth curb... (the shanks have an angle to them) I personally don't like tom thumbs, I dont like how they look, and i dont like the straight shanks.

freedom is right about the nutkracker action, and many people do believe that they can be used as snaffles, stateline tack, rods, country supply, a lot of those magazines do mark them incorrectly.

I showed Skip in jr.horse last year in 4-H, and one of the girls I showed against, in the riding class she showed her horse in a tomthumb and was using it 2handed. Finally the judge at the 2nd fair of the summer told her that you dont ride in a tomthumb 2 handed. I definitely think that the tomthumb was the cause of her horses bucking fit at our first fair.

[willeys bonanza]

When i first bought willey we use a TT to get him to gait and keep his head down, we also used a snaffle. Now going into western from english i use it and so does my friend. Willey is not ready for a curb and i use the TT since he was also used to it. Since he is gaited the chinchain would mess him up in the back end so i took the chain off, i wanted a bit with a shank so that i could pick up on it and he would know to put his head down, but with the chin chain gone, i can also us it sorta like a snaffle. when i used the TT i didnt pick up on it unless i had to.

[aqh88]

There are plenty of broken mouthed shanked bits that work far better for most uses than a tom thumb. I almost always use a broken mouth bit but generally it's a 3piece mouth instead of just 2 piece. A tom thumb is about the last broken mouth bit I'd try out if I was looking for one to use.

[meljean]

I like the D&L Reiner, have one with Billy Allen mouthpiece, and one with medium port. HAve Tom Thumb bits, and have used, but sparingly, in wrong hands a killer, and that article on them was great.