Bitting Advice. (Quite long)

[Tinker_Belle]

I'm not asking for actual advice here, more pointers and ideas. I have no intention of shoving every bit of metal available in to my pony's mouth just to see what happens.

She's a 15 year old NF mare and has been on loan for the past four years. I can't speak to her loaner as things got very messy.
All I know of her time with her loaner as far as bitting is concerned is that my pony was ridden in a English hackamore.
I've tried her in this and I am not entirely happy with it. I've tried it on various settings and she basically takes the P unless it's done so tight that I think it is beyond a joke.

I've had my pony since she was two and she came to me in a eggbutt snaffle which she clearly was not happy in. The bit had given her sores in her mouth and she got in to the habit of putting her tongue over the bit and evading it completely. As a result of this, her previous owners put her in a martingae to stop her throwing her head around. She was fully broken when she came to me and had been pushed through the process of breaking and schooling and the end result was I was advised to rest her for a year/18 months and then re-break her (back problems also had a bearing on this decision).

I have had her teeth seen to (last week) and it seems part of the bitting problem is that her teeth grow at quite a steep angle and she has quite a thick tongue.

The dentist advised a French Link sweet iron bit or similar.

My pony no longer throws her head around but she can be a strong ride and excitable and when the excitement kicks in, she jig-jogs and her head goes up. She's had schooling and she does eventually settle but in the meantime, she tries it on and will evade the bit as much as possible. She's never been ridden heavy-handedly and never had her mouth pulled around.

I am really not keen on a martingale as I feel it hides the problem rather than helps to solve it.

The dentist is coming back out for a quick check-up on my pony's teeth (loaner did not have them done as well or as regularly as was made out ) in the next few weeks so any ideas anyone has that I can speak to the dentist about would be appreciated .

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies .

ETA; Off to the yard now so I won't be able to reply until later on .

 

[ThePony]

My mare is also a fussy soul and has a large tongue and low palate.
She came in an eggbutt snaffle (which she and I both hated - I don't do single joints!), then we went through french link mouthpices with different cheeks - the french link still gives a decent bit of tongue pressue esp on larger tongued horses (she used to evade by throwing her head up and carting off with her nose in the air, or by leaning right down). Then she had a verbind snaffle - because it has more of a forward shape it takes some of the pressure off the tongue (she was loads better! much steering issues though and she was also v reluctant to have a contact with it, still hugely better than what had gone before!). She is now in a cotswold sport tongue saver baucher (more shape to it which gives even more tongue relief, also the cheeks keep it more steady in her mouth, and when she drops to it it raises of the tongue a little giving even more freedom from the pressure that seems to bother her so much). Is fab!! We did have to do lots of schooling as it seemed to be a habit to keep her head in the air (I must admit to this being partly my fault as I was a little nervous of her so when she stuck her head up and went, I tended to go back to a walk - bad lesson that I accidentaly ended up teaching her!). Using just the baucher with no noseband (she is very sensitive to any pressure on her cheeks as she had v sharp edges to her back teeth when we got her and I think she remembers this soreness, so a caverson is out, she doesn't need one so we just leave it off at home) we schooled lots. She often stuck her head up in trot, so when ever she did it I made sure I kept her trotting nicely forwards even when she thought she had had quite enough! After trotting just a couple of times around the arena with lots of circles of different sizes and serpentines thrown in she would bring her head back down and trot on happily with a gentle rein contact. She now (touch wood) never does this as I think she has broken the habit and because she is comfortable she doesn't feel the need.
Sorry for such waffle, my prob sounded v similar to what you are experincing so hope it is useful.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Can you borrow a myler with hooks like this? (Full Cheek With Hook Comfort Snaffle Low Port)

It's well worth trying as I've had alot of sucess with it with different horses.

The port allows room for the tongue, the 'hooks' are where you attach the reins and cause a small amount of poll pressure (she will be used to this because of the hackamore). Due to the way it is jointed it cannot pinch or hit the roof of the mouth.

ETA. You can also get this without the full cheek.

 

[Tinker_Belle]

Glosgirl - They sound incredibly similar! The other reason I don't like the hackamore is because she decided to bolt at a flat out gallop in it the other day . Luckily, my sister was only riding her around the farm tracks but I'd hate for that to happen when she is hacking out. It doesn't bear thinking about .
Mine sticks her head up to avoid doing what she's told. Every time she does it my sister turns her in a circle and keeps a relaxed seat and light hands so it's not because she is badly ridden, she just knows how to evade things now through throwing her head around. She's nowhere near as bad as she used to be but it still isn't great. A martingale would be a very last resort, absolute last resort.

I was looking at the Cotswold Tongue Saver last night but seeing the price stopped me in my tracks in case she doesn't suit it .
Thanks for the post. It was really helpful and it's nice (not actually nice but you know what I mean! ) to know that others have the same quandary .
I am so so reluctant to just try bit after bit in her mouth. At least having some ideas of what has worked with other horses with the same sort of issue narrows it all down a bit.



Faracat - That looks a good option as well. The dentist I use also has a bit bank so I may ask her if she has one I can trial. If not I'll have a look online at the bit bank website.
Full cheeks might be handy as S's steering is a bit dodgy at times. Selective steering but usually only when she is in season and being willful .

Thanks both for the posts. Very helpful xx.