This is a beautiful vintage #23 Engraved Sliester Surgical Steel bit featuring a 3/8 diameter snaffle bit mouthpiece #08. The bit is marked "Sliester Bit Sanger, Calif U.S.A." on the inside left shank, "Surgical Stainless Steel" on the inside right shank, and "Sliester-Bit" on the back side of the tie bar. The Sanger marking indicates this is an older Sliester bit before the company was moved to Auberry, CA. This bit is in very well maintained pre owned condition and appears to have been very lightly used.
Each Sliester Bit is custom made, never mass produced, offering a fine feeling of balance and they are very difficult to find in retail stores. Sliester Bits feature the “SQUARE PIN.” This keeps the cheek pieces from turning and pinching the horse’s mouth, yet allows all the action required in a loose jawed bit.
This bit is from Sliester's "Original Series" and this line is what started the company and has proven over the past 5 decades to be of great design and craftsmanship. All these bits feature the square pin loose jaw, which eliminates the cheeks from turning, yet allowing the action required in a loose jawed bit. This line is the heaviest bit Sliester offers, weighing in at 19.79 ounces which aids in steadying a horse’s head. The 8-1/2 inch long cheek is Style #23 and features a 2-1/2 inch purchase.
SLIESTER has been making bits since 1954. The company was started by the Sliester brothers in Sanger, CA, but was purchased by the Dunn family in 1980 who moved the company to Auberry, CA, which dates this bit to pre 1980.
Sliester bits are never mass produced and always a good heavy duty bit that will last a lifetime.
