Recreating the Classics

For years, a handmade Carl Ellerman(CE) bit was a hot commodity, both because it worked so well and because there weren’t very many out there.

“When Grandpa passed away, we didn’t hang his bits up as decorations or heirlooms,” recalled Brit Ellerman.“We needed them. They worked better than anything else we could buy.”

And these are people who know bits. Carl’s son – and Brit’s dad – Jay Ellerman is a five-time NFR header whose wife and grown kids are rated as some of the best ropers in the country. A sub-par bridle doesn’t help you win.

But for the past few years, with the encouragement of longtime family friend Butch Morgan, Brit has been working on coming out with a newly made line of his grandfather’s celebrated bits.They’re called C Slash because that was Carl’s brand.

“My grandfather used to trade horses and mules with the Army, so Carl and my uncle were around horses all the time and grew up working on ranches in Montana and California,” said Jay. “My father rode with the Spanish vaqueros and learned from some of the big spade-bit makers in California. Back then, it was difficult to get your hand son a nice bit.”

Carl started tinkering with bit-making in the 1970s, and got serious when Jay started winning rodeos and showing horses. The old cowboy would go with his son and they’d spend hours talking about horses and the feel they wanted.

“If we had a horse without a bit that we really liked on him, it was like, ‘Let’s make one,’” recalled Jay.“He’d get an idea and I’d see how it felt. He was a real artist – he could draw, carve leather, braid rawhide; he was super talented like that. Plus, he was a great horseman and knew what might work.”

The thing is, lots of bit makers over the decades have simply not been horsemen. They are just people who make bits. Carl Ellerman’s designs were tested and improved. Over the years, people tried to copy the CE bits, but they could never quite master the weight, the balance or the feel.

“For years, I’ve been working on recreating the bits,” said Brit. “Trying to get them exactly as Carl made them, even if just for us to use.”

A true horseman knows that every horse’s mouth varies. And Jay knows he wants a bit that his horse likes, regardless of what he might think will work.

“You want something a horse isn’ t afraid to feel, but something he also respects,” said Jay. “It’s something you can’t put into words. You just have to ride the horse and learn. And I’ve learned over the years on all the horses I’ve ridden, a lot of times less is more. If a horse is running off, we all want to go grab the biggest bridle we can find and start pulling on him. But sometimes, the opposite is what we need to do.”

Jay has some favorites of all the unique C Slash bits, including one mouthpiece his father called a chain bone. It’s a chain with a little dog bone in the center.

“Bringing these bits back to life –as close as possible to Carl’s originals – feels like we’re tying all that history and horsemanship back together,” said Brit. “These bits aren’t justsilver and steel. They represent a hundred years of experience, trial-and-error, horsemanship, long days and a family legacy. And now we get to share them.That’s pretty special to me.”

Currently, the C Slash line of bits is available through TXSaddlery.com, with more designs coming.