This is a rare item.
Looks like a Texas Longhorn Steer Nose Ring Adjustment Tool.......
Manufactured by the Tweak@Run Cowboy Accessories Company circa 1840s.
The company came to an untimely and tragic end in the summer of 1891 when its Muleshoe, Texas plant was stampeded by members of the newly formed left-wing bovine organization, "Steers to Annihilate All Cowboys Eventually", or STAACE (pronounced Steak).
STAACE cited discriminatory hiring practices and poor working conditions as the reason for the high noon raid on the facility, but insider sources have revealed this was the first in a series of raids on various beef-production related companies with the intent of reducing the dominance of beef as the primary source of protein in the nation. This effort was spearheaded and funded anonymously by the "Frog Legs for Alternative Protein" ( FLAP ) coalition; now defunct but at the time enjoying some notoriety during the organization's infancy.
Subsequent raids by STAACE were successful, but were shielded from public knowledge by the powerful beef industry's nationwide influence over the press.
Eventually, STAACE was suppressed and disbanded through a misinformation campaign directed at its leaders which incorrectly convinced them that the grass really was greener on the other side of the fence, and most moved to Canada, rendering the organization leaderless and ineffectual.
This knowledge has only recently come to light through a new organization's effort to enlighten the public on alternative protein sources. The new organization, "Gnats Are Great Meat Everyone" (GAGME) has started its own campaign for dominance in the protein game, referencing the wonderful success of villagers garnering high levels of protein through the harvesting of lake flies, a cousin of the gnat, in the Lake Victoria regions of Africa.
Film at eleven