After a costly run at the 2021 Women’s Rodeo World Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tilly Jenski sought the expertise of master bit maker Dave Elliott of Elliott Bit ‘N Spur. That encounter led to Jenski acquiring the Spur Up 03 with mouthpiece 07—a tool that she can’t say enough good things about. Jenski shared the story of how she made the change from gag to shanked bit and is forever grateful to Elliott for his assistance.

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“I ran CP Minny in a homemade piggin string gag for three years and she ran very successfully in that from her first futurity, and for the next three straight years, running low 17’s in that homemade gag.

“Then at the Women’s Rodeo World Championship in Las Vegas we advanced into the semifinals sitting fourth and I think she just got nervous or something, but she dropped really hard to turn and I couldn’t pick her up at all. A 15.7 made the finals and I was a 15.8. I like to make lemonade out of lemons, right, so I immediately contacted Dave Elliott, like from the parking lot after I ran. I was so upset, and I emailed him that’d I’d just run a tenth too slow to have a chance to run at $60,000 and to please send me a bit, I needed one of his bits asap—and so he did. I owe Dave Elliott a lot because he didn’t know me, he didn’t have to do that, and CP Minny has won about $30,000 running in that bit from that day forward. That bit made a huge, huge, huge difference. I’ve always been a snaffle bit, split rein girl, I often run without a curb strap even, so to move to that bit was a big deal for me.”