Reviews

We’d love to hear from you! How do you like your Principe Silver Bit, Spur or Buckle? What is the story behind your special item?

From: Michael Damianos, in Ojai, California

We live in a time where all of us have been negatively impacted. It is the first time we have endured a pandemic and there is much we will never forget from these pages in our lives. Fortunately, this bit reminds me of a page that makes me smile 25 years later.

I purchased this bit in the 80’s from a man at an AQHA show that was selling some bits made by a man in Canada. He called it a “baby cathedral”. It soon became one of my favorites. No wonder I hung it on our horse, Vals Roubear, when I showed for the first time at the Arabian Nationals in 1995.  That week was the first time I’d ever been to Albuquerque, NM; the first time I showed a horse to a National Championship; the first time I won unanimously, and the first time I ever heard a horse show announcer say, “The National Championship trophy is going home to Ojai, CA.”

I remember calling my wife, Dawn, to tell her we won. She was home as she had given birth to our first born a few weeks before. So when you turn on the news and see some sad events you will see for the first time, remember horses can still give you some wonderful first time moments.

I have enjoyed calls this week from friends showing at the Saddlebred World Championships, the NRCHA Stallion Stakes and the National Reining Breeders Classic, all for the first time. Henry Kissinger said, “A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure.”

Thanks to Frank Principe for making that bit.

God Bless everyone.