bridling problems - any ideas?

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treacle_beastie

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My horse has suddenly taken a dislike to having her bridle put on. She used to open her mouth and accept the bit and I could easlily put the bridle on but for some unknown reason she has suddenly decided not to open her mouth and when I finally get her to open it I put the bit in and she shoves her head up in the air making it really difficult to put the rest of the bridle on.

She has also started reactng to when i take her headcollar off but is fine for me to put in on.

She wears a fly mask which covers her ears so I dont think it is anything to do with sore ears/bites/mites though she has never liked me touching the inside of her ears.

She has her teeth done in march by a proper equine dentist and he said they were good and I could leave them for a year.

I have just started working her properly again and asking to come much rounder so I am wondering if she is just a bit sore i.e too much poll pressure/sore mouth/undeveloped topline muscles? If I let go of the reins she has started running around with her nose up in the air??

She started headshaking too about 2 months ago and I put a nose net on which has helped a bit but now i'm wondering if this has been caused by the bridle/bit? I have only had a her year and she only showed signs of mild headshaking but i changed her from a myler comfort snaffle to this bit and it seemed to stop but it has now come back with a vengence!

She is ridden in a cavesson bride with a sprenger dynamic RS full cheek bit. She has started to feel like she is leaning on one rein but I dont know if that is me holding that rein more?

I am just wondering if I should try some different bits again if this is the problem. The bridle fits well so its not pinching her anywhere.

Something is not right and she is obviously not happy with something!

Any ideas welcome.
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From everything you have said I would guess she has a pain somewhere, probably her back. The reluctance with her bit and her headcollar are probably because she is avoiding pain by avoiding work (I guess you catch her with the headcollar to bring her in before working her? and put it on again to groom her before riding?)- Just a thought but have you had her saddle checked recently? The likelihood of it being backache is increased if her outline and headshaking are okay when lunged but bad under the weight of the rider so it may be worth gving lunging a try??
 
She had her back done in march and a new saddle and I check her back daily to make sure she is not sore. She has literally started doing this this week. the headshaking thing has been going on since i got her - its just varied in how bad it is through the seasons.

I agree she must be in pain somewhere but think it is more to do with her ears. She resists when I try and brush her mane behind her ears too which made me think her browband was perhaps too small. I think this because when i take her headcollar off she throws her head up. I think she is refusing to open her mouth cos she doesnt want the headpiece to go on. Its only once i have got the bit in and move up towards her ears that she starts playing up. She sometimes has one ear of her mask off her ear and just wonder if shes been bitten a lot in it and she is sore. She is fine to put a headcollar on and lead. She is fine once i have the bridle on too - its just getting it on that has suddenly become an issue.

She doesnt seem to avoid work - she is the same as ever though working harder than she has in a while.

She is lunged once a week in side reins - when shes not in side reins its the same story - pokes nose out like a giraffe - this is always the same - she hasnt yet learnt or developed the muscles to carry herself in a outline so if you dont ask you dont get!

She is much softer now and willing to accept the contact and doesnt seem to be in any pain under saddle or on the lunge - its literally just the behaviour tacking up.
 
How curious! At least that is one problem ruled out though!
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Perhaps the ear section of her fly mask is a bit tight and is causing her stress?? Think wearing socks with tight elastic?!
If she were mine I would get out a chiro or physio who will pick up and treat any poll or neck pressure?...ooh do you feed her in a haynet? Apparently the sideways yanking motion they use to get at the hay can cause knots and stress in their necks? This might be causing tension?
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hmm - her fly mask is loose and regularly falls off!

she is out 24/7 at the moment so not eating from a haynet.

Its really odd. I will get her checked out by the chiro I think like you said and maybe the the EDT just to check theres nothing going on with her teeth. I will give her a massage later and a day off tomorrow and see if that helps!

I am going to try bribing her mouth open first with a treat and try a different bit just to make sure she has not developed a problem out of nothing - she tends to carry on causing a drama even when the problems resolved!
 
oooh, interesting, i'm having a similar problem with my horse, who has recently been less accepting of the bit, puts his head in the air for the bridle (after being perfect)... and flinching away from the headcollar... i poked around on his poll and he seems to be sensitive there. i'm looking at those padded poll bridles (his current bridle is crap and i was always worried it didn't fit nicely) to see if that makes a difference.
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Does she have aural plaques ie the white patches in her ears. These are painless for most horses but a small percentage are really bothered by them as you will see if you google aural plaques.

My friends Gelding has them and he became impossible to bridle without taking it to bits. I got some cream from America and we are slowly improving.

Have you tried taking the bit off and attaching it last once the headpiece is on. If there is no resistance to the bit then its probably an ear thing.

Also when were her teeth last done, bad teeth and mouth pain can cause all sorts of problems.
 
i will have a good poke around her poll later and see how she reacts.

good idea about attaching the bit last - i will try that too! Teeth done in march. Cant see anything in her ears - she wont let me feel inside them but she is always rubbing her head against me when I go and see her and is permanently itchy but getting creams in is near impossible so i settled for a fly mask with ears!

Thanks
 
When I first started putting the cream in my friend's geldings ears we had to sedate and twitch him and we still did ten laps of the stable. I can now put it in with just a headcollar and a few treats.

He actually used to wince when we took the bridle off so they definetely hurt.

It could also be ear mites which might explain the shaking. You'll need the vet for that. Warning though most vets will tell you the plaques don't hurt as they generally won't.

We now have a bridle with clips for the bit, its much easier although we are working towards putting it on normally. Currently we can fold the right ear in which is a massive improvement.

When we used to try and get the bridle on in one piece before we realised it was his ears he stopped opening his mouth for the bit. Now we put the headpiece on separately his opens his mouth straight away. He obviously knew that after the bit went in we would touch his ears. This was something that got gradually worse over a few months.
 
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