Bitting advice needed

[leevale]

We have a recently broken 4 year old that has good natural carriage and lovely action. Her problem is she mouths on the bit all the time, creates loads of saliva which I believe she has difficulty in swallowing, then puts her head above the bit which means the rider then has no steering or brakes.
We have had her teeth done and her back checked. We were told recently by a judge at a show that she should have her head tied in to force her to keep it in the correct position - no way, i don't want to spoil the pony.
We have tried several different snaffles with varying amounts of success. The pony is clever and I think putting her head up in the air has now developed into a form of napping. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rubyred]

I'm very keen on the myler range of bits. I use the low port comfort snaffle as standard on youngsters. I ind most horses ind them easy to hold quietly in their mouth and they can swallow etc. I normally use a cavesson but do sometimes put a loose drop on if they have become busy, just to show them they can keep their mouth steady, and then revert to the cavesson.
When she puts her head up I would raise your hands along the line of the crest whilst retaining a contact so that she doesn't manage to move the the bit into an ineffective position. This isn't meant as a punishment and should be done without force it simply stops raising her head from giving her an advantage. As she drops her head return your hands to normal so that the contact never changes. I hope this makes sense! As I have said I am in no way advocating pulling her mouth around.

 

[kerilli]

as above, but i'd prob go a bit further... the most effective way of showing them that evading by inverting does not make it more comfy for them (as this is what they are seeking) is to raise both hands, very high if necessary, so that the bit still acts on the upper corners of the lips, and isn't trying to pull her downwards... this is the usual trouble, they invert, and then object even more to the different action of the bit once they've stuck their head up.
i raise both hands and keep them there (sometimes needs to be very high to maintain upwards pressure and avoid downwards pressure) until the horse goes "eww, that's not comfy either, i'll lower my head then" and then give to reward immediately.
you are right not to tie her head down - nice NICE judge to suggest that - but a martingale might be useful if she gets really silly to the point of endangering the nose of whoever is in the plate!

 

[suzysparkle]

If you feel she is struggling for tongue room then defiantely try a myler. Probably an MB02 hanging cheek. They are much thinner and are curved to allow swallowing. The naging cheek will help with the inversion. Raising both hands as suggested above works really well. As for the judges comment? Well, all that does in cause even more resistance.

 

[leevale]

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to reply. We tried tightening her cavesson noseband when she was ridden yesterday and that definitely helped as she mouthed less. We are going to try a flash noseband later today. We are going to try a myler bit next, I have been looking on eBay.

 

[rubyred]

I would strongly recommend a drop over tight cavesson and flash. The drop will teach her to have a relaxed, steady mouth rather than force it shut.

 

[kerilli]

as above, a drop is much nicer. tightening the cavesson isn't really the answer. a correctly fitted drop (4 fingers width above top of nostril) doesn't have to be tight to be effective.
is she chomping the bit and opening her mouth to evade, or just mouthing and salivating... because the latter is desirable!

 

[leevale]

She is mouthing and salivating, she isn't opening her mouth to evade, I appreciate your advice and will get hold of a drop to try. She was ridden in an ordinary cavesson today with a French link eggbutt as I couldn't find my flash and she is definitely getting better. I think she is beginning to find out that going above the bit isn't helping her as she only made a couple of half-hearted attempts today. The cavesson isn't tight enough to stop her mouthing. She is a very sensitive, but very feisty pony that takes ages to get used to anything new. I think it will just be a case of 1 step forward, 2 steps back until she gets the idea, but we were very pleased with how she went today.