Advice on horse with Parrot mouth

[sarah23]

My boy has a really bad parrot mouth, which does not effect him in anyway IE: eating

When ever we are out competing/hunting he can pull and he bites his tongue and we end up with loads of blood around his mouth.

I have him in a Grackle nose band as he does like to open his mouth. My question is do you think he's biting his tongue because of the parrot mouth or could it be the noseband and thinking about the way his mouth is would a flash be better for him as would not sit so high up his jaw (if you know what I mean)

I have owned him for about 6 months now and never had a horse or known a horse with a parrot mouth so not very clued up on those sort of things.

 

[GreenEyedMonster]

Have you thought of trying a hackamore?

 

[sarah23]

I have a DR cooks bridle which I use on my mare. I have tried it on him and he is really good with his mouth and does not open it but just leans on it big time and I don't have very good brakes.

 

[DiNozzo]

We have one in a loose flash seems quite happy with that, and his is the most severe the dentist has seen.
can you ride him without a noseband at all? or a very loose cavason? he may be opening his mouth because of cheek pain/bit doesn't fit his mouth properly (although may fit a conventionally shaped mouth for his type).

 

[sarah23]

He is in a loose ring Neue schule verbindend snaffle bit. I might try him with just a cavason. I just put him in the Grackle as that was what he was in when I bought him.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

I wouldn't think it's his parrot mouth, more him- mine has a moderate parrot mouth and whilst he curls his lips back and looks quite snarly, he does also open his mouth if resisting and hasn't bitten himself.

Maybe a drop would move the pressure point and discourage him moving his tongue/ jaw so much?

 

[NaeNae87]

Have you had his teeth looked at? That would be my first thing to check as there could be sharp hooks, ramps and edges that could be lacerating his mouth or tongue. It is super important to have the teeth done regularly especially for horses with parrot mouths or other dental issues as their teeth wear differently than a horse with normal dental occlusion. Once the teeth are fine then I would look into a different noseband, your dentist may even be able to suggest something
Good luck

 

[milz88]

I had one with a fair parrot mouth and a big fleshy tongue, he went well in a hackamore but for BE I couldn't use it in the dressage phase so what worked best was going back to basics with a nice fitting, wide cavesson, no flash or drop etc this would sometimes make him too mouthy and he's put his tongue over his bit a lot. We also found he liked th Myler comfort snaffle which sits slightly more forward in the mouth and has a nice ergonomic design with a soft roller in the middle.

 

[OliveOyl]

Mine has a parrot mouth and can be very sensitive in her mouth. After trying various different bits, she's happiest in a simple loose ring, single jointed snaffle and a drop noseband. Less is definitely more as far as bits and her mouth is concerned

 

[sarah23]

No problems with his teeth as only had them done in January. Think I might try him just in a cavason and if he's opening his mouth too much will just try a flash. Someone has suggested I try the Micklem bridle.

His mouth must be pretty bad as when I took him to the last MK 3DE on the trot up the vet was getting the other vets to come and see how bad it was. Just as well I didn't take offence