Are some horses never able to be ridden with a bit??

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Gemsie

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Hi All,

Just wanted to throw the question out there and get people opinions really.

The background to this question is pretty long, but will give you the shortest possible version I can.

My mare is 6 years old, gets extermely tense and stressy - has since before I got her, I know the lady I got her from found her very fussy in the mouth and tried various bits.

I have also tried her in various bits, myler comfort snaffle, rubber snaffle, french link etc etc - she does pretty much everything she can to evade the bit, chewing, sticking her tongue out, getting it over the bit, she tries most of the time to run through my hands, and becomes pretty rigid against the bit. I have also tried various nose bands and my instructor bascially suggested srapping her mouth shut so she cant run away from me but I really want us to be a team, and for her to be comfortable.

She has a pretty fat tongue - typical warmblood mouth shape really..

I have tried endless things to improve this, but over the last few weeks (i think hormones have added to it) her behaviour has got worse and worse.

I have the vet and saddler booked to come and see her in the next week or so, also her teeth are fine were done approx 2.5 months ago.

Tonight I lunged her in loose side reins, and she had a full blown frap out, bucking squealing, tense and choppy not going forward - really really unsettled in her mouth - prob as bad as I have ever seen her.
She was like something posessed.

I took her back round to the yard (after thinking that the bit is the cause of this behaviour) and put her in her headcollar only, lunged again (sorry dont have a lunge cavesson to hand - its prob at home somewhere) she was a completely different horse, i mean 100% totally the opposite of what she was like with the bridle on.... 5 mins later i jumped on, again only in the headcollar with leadropes clipped either side, she walked and trotted round like a saint (something which I have not been used to for a long time).

Do you think it could be the bit which has caused her behaviour changes? I am just a bit in shock by the unbelievable difference in her without the bridle....

I am pretty experienced and know the bridle fits correctly, and I try my best to ride with good kind hands so I dont think the issue is with my riding, I think its a physical issue somewhere as her response is like fright or pain in the bridle....

If anyone has any thoughts on this or similar previous experiences I would love to hear about them,

Blimey just read this after posting and thought id best apologise for the length of it! thanks if you made it this far!

Many thanks

Gems
 
you could try riding her in something like a Dr cooks bitless bridle and see how she goes in that. it would be a lot less severe than a hackamore, if she is that sensitive would she tolerate the pressure of a hackamore?

I do believe some horses will never be happy with a bit in their mouth, but if they will go nicely in a dr cooks, or a hackamore, and you dont have any wonderful dressage ambition then go for it!!
 
That is really interesting. It appears that she changed because you rode her bitless/bridleless. Maybe try a bitless bridle for riding in, or if you're not competing you could just ride her with her headcoller. You could try riding her in what ever she is happiest in, then in a few months time introduce a bit again and see if she's happier.
 
My old horse was always a pig in a bit. In the end he wouldn't even go forwards - stood rooted to the spot and then when I asked him to move, he tried to go up. I put him in a Dr Cooks bitless and he was fantastic.....I took him to dressage and had to compete HC as they aren't allowed, but he got the highest percentage anyway. After about 18 months of this, I went back to a bit - a thin french link as he has a big tongue and small mouth, had some lessons from a classical instructor who basically taught me to have feather hands and he has been wonderful ever since. Dr Cook's are great and they worked for me - only went back to a bit so I could compete dressage again, but still use it for hacking out sometimes....
 
i once heard of a horse that could not have a bit in his mouth cos his tongue got ripped off in the field!!
 
Had a similar problem with my mare, I came to the conclusion that her tongue was too thick for her tiny mouth and she couldn't stand any pressure on it. Bought this Myler ported snaffle http://www.toklat.com/dyn_prod.php?p=89-29047&k=88111 she seems much happier in this bit and takes a contact nicely and responds positively to pressure. If you can get hold of one to try it could well be worth a go.
 
i assume her teeth are all checked and fine?

if so i would suggest trying a Hippus bit- they are very, very good for fussy horses.
 
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