Bitting my mare

[rosie_equine]

Hi i was wondering if any one could give me some guidence of where to go next with my mare, she is 12, 15hs, irish and is quite bonkers. I have known her for a long time at college and have just recently got her for myself at a yard on a diy. She has obvioulsy been used lots in the school at college and has lost the plot with jumping slightly as she finds it all very mind blowingly exciting. I plan to hack her lots, but i would also like to school her and depending on how she goes start jumping again. She is not a strong mare though.
When i got her she was in an eggbutt snaffle but i found this does nothing for her as she dosnt except the bit or salivate, or use her back end she just runs around with her head in the air. she has no top line just a huge muscle under her neck from holding her head so high. I have just tried her in a rubber mullen mouth loose ring but she still wont excpet the contact. i have had her back, teeeth and saddle checked and there is no problem there.
She dosnt like alot of pressure in her mouth and i dont want anything strong as i can be quite handy and dont want to hurt her mouth and make her back away more.
I was thinking of maybe trying her in a copper cherry roller loose ring??!
any ideas?!

 

[MagicMelon]

What about one of the basic Myler snaffles? I find their action works well for most horses. I had a pony once who was very sensitive about her mouth, she also took a lot of gentle work to get her to accept it and go on a contact, I found the one she liked the most was a very basic thin happy mouth.

You could always try a hackamore if you dont intend to do dressage! I would have put the pony above in one if I wasnt training her for all round competitions (ie. she had to learn to go in a bit for dressage etc.).