Here's another one that I think will be a little easier for the ID gurus. I have a hunch this is horse related. It is made of brass and has one hole in it for attaching it to something--wood most likely. There is a bit of silver plating still on the piece.
Thanks Buckles, Alan had some great examples there!. You can find pretty ornate examples of these too with a smaller finial on the tip, but darn if I know where I've stuck all my stuff! One of the neat things about the "what is it" forum is it gets some of us to "re-find" all the old stuff we'd packed away!