The One Hander

The "One Hander" Bit is an interesting contraption, designed to teach neck-reining or for use when direct-reining is not only unnecessary, but in fact undesirable (for example, in events such as roping).  The mouthpiece is adjustable, with a rotating port that screws into and out of the rubber-covered cannons, thus changing the overall width.   Bit guards are built in.  The shanks have a spring-loaded design which slows the action and absorbs some of the force of the reins, thus making the bit milder than it might otherwise appear at first glance.  The shanks also bend in every direction, so that pulling laterally really results primarily in a backward force on the bit (thus rendering direct-reining a fruitless task).  It is therefore impossible to pull the mouthpiece off-center in the mouth, and the bit is very forgiving of mistakes made by the rider's hands, either from pulling too abruptly or pulling unevenly.  My mare in the video was only flinging her head because I was using more force on the bit than I generally do in order to better illustrate its action.

This is a cool little bit:  certainly not appropriate for all circumstances, but nice to have around for use on the right horse and right situation.  It's also fairly collectible, being hard to come by since the company producing it was disbanded.