Flash - tilting head when doing up

[lmp]

Has anyone else experienced this? My horse tilts his head to the right whenever I do his flash up... he's done this for a long while and i've had his teeth/back etc. done since he's been doing it but he still does it... anyone know why? He's the same if i put a grackle on. I can't really ride him just in a cavesson as he crosses his jaw and opens his mouth REALLY wide!

Thanks all

 

[AmyMay]

Do you mean tilt's his head when you ar riding him or just when you do the buckle up??

 

[_jetset_]

A lot of the time it can be teeth related and if they remember there is pain when having something done it can take a while for them to forget this. It sounds as though he is really not happy in his mouth, even when you ride him in a cavesson. Have you been recommended to use the dentist you had to him? If not, I would suggest having another one out just to make sure and at least then you can be confident it is not his mouth. You could also ask the dentist what bits would be best for your horse's mouth confirmation as it could have a lot to do with the bit too.

Hope this helps,

Rebecca

 

[lmp]

It's just when i buckle up.

Last couple of times i've actually had my vet rasp his teeth and although he said that his teeth are sharp right at the back (obviously pre-rasp) he didn't say there was anything overly wrong in his mouth. It could be a subconcious thing though from when they were sore before but he's been doing it for months now, surely if no longer hurting he would have stopped by now?

Maybe could do with some bitting advice.. use a french link KK loose ring on him for schooling, maybe something with tongue relief (a port) would be worth a try.

Thanks for replies

 

[AmyMay]

It may be that he is objecting a little to you doing the flash up. Just do it gently (which i'm sure you do), and make sure it's not pinching or rubbing anywhere.

 

[lmp]

I do it very gently... strange though because if something catches his attention and he's on 'alert mode' he doesn't tilt at all - maybe he's just winding me up!

There's a vet coming out to our yard next week so i'm going to get her to take a look at his mouth and see what she thinks.

 

[meandmyself]

Could you try wrapping the strap in something like vetwrap to see if that makes a difference?

 

[montalcino]

I have a horse who opens his mouth when I'm riding him, so I tried him in a flash, I rode him in it for a long while but he wasn't always happy in his mouth.
I tried him in numerous bits and could never get him to really settle.
When my dentist came he said that he had quite a narrow lower jaw, he even rasped the two little teeth on the bottom as they were quite sharp. Because he has this narrow jaw he has quite a small bit for his size (5" on 16'3) and his tongue sticks out between his teeth
I finally got him going quite nicely in a hollow mouth jointed snaffle but still opening his mouth sometimes, I put the flash back on and he wasn't happy, he got so bad that he stood up in a dressage test.
I immediately took the flash off and have now got him a happy mouth with a peanut in, he is really happy in this as he now has the room to move his tongue around although you can often see the side of his tongue peeping out and although he occasionally opens his mouth it's just to move his tongue
The point of this rambling is that some horses just can't physically cope with having their mouths strapped shut, I know this doesn't really help but it's something else to take into consideration!

 

[lmp]

Thanks Montalcino - that's really interesting, sounds similar to my horse actually, think he has a rather large tongue too.

Maybe i'll try one of those bits on him and see if he's any happier (i'll still get the vet to take a look next week though). He could well be classed as having a small lower jaw too as when they've come in the past they've said that his teeth are very crowded at the back of his mouth which when sharp, rub on his mouth. Poor thing. I hate the idea of strapping his mouth shut too if there's actually a physical problem there :-(

Thanks again!

 

[Capriole]

make sure you fasten the buckle at the back of the jaw and not on his lip or nose as it may be pinching or rubbibng