freaking out when unbridling

jessikaGinger

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bit of a strange one
when i take my mares bridle off she clamps her mouth shut starts going backwards and trying to rear
nothing has happened for her to do this & she has only done it twice
she is fine to put the bridle on

not really sure how to deal with this before one of us gets hurt (probs me)

any suggestions?
 

Moomin1

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Mmm I've come across this problem a fair bit and it can be dangerous. I got flattened and nearly trampled in a field with a horse that did this.

Out of interest, when you turn your horse out do you take the headcollar off and just let it chuck the headcollar off and go? Or do you make it stand and then take it off?

I know a person who used to turn my horse out a few months back and I started noticing that my mare was getting bolshy with me when I was taking headcollar/bridle off. Then I noticed the way in which this girl turned her own horse out - and she would basically stand saying 'ready, steady, go!' and let the headcollar off - horse whizzing off across the field. When I asked her she said that she 'played this game' with my mare every morning. I soon nipped that one in the bud and my mare learnt some manners very quickly again.
 

Capriole

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Has she had her teeth checked? She might have had a sock in the mouth and is wary of it happening again. A friends pony came back off loan like this and the dentist came out, a tooth had been half ripped out somehow, possibly by cack handed unbridling, and the reason the pony was acting up was becuase she had a loose tooth flapping about.
 

Cadfael&Coffee

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i had this with one of mine- he used to hold the bit in his teeth as i took the bridle off, which was fine, until one day he forgot to let go and ended up freaking out (plonker)

it took a long time to get over it- he would always throw his head up and throw himself backwards whilst grabbing the bit each time i took the bridle off for a long time afterwards, so in the end i used his hackamore when i could (he was ridden it for hacking anyway) and when he had the bit in his normal bridle i undid the bit, took it out and then lifted the headpiece off

he got over it eventually

silly bugger

good luck- hopefully its just a couple of times- its bloody annoying!!!

good job i love him eh :D:D:D

ETA it also depends on how she's doing it- if u feel it is dangerous it is NOT a good idea to undo the bit- it can rattle off their teeth if ur not careful and it can go very wrong- my boy was a little doll, which is why i got away with it)
 
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Ellemoo

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My mare went through a phase of not opening her mouth when i took the bridle off (and then making a drama when the bit banged her teeth)
As with yours, there was no bad experience to give her reason to start doing it either.
I used to undo the cheek piece to let the bit out of her mouth before taking the bridle over her ears if that makes sense (as my mare used to start backing up as soon as i reached to start taking it off). Never did find a reason for why she started doing it, but shes always fine now to take it off 'normally' :)
 

Miss L Toe

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I think it is a panic reaction, what I do if I am turning out in field with bridle on, is to hold the bit in my hand and ease it out of his mouth [other hand round his nose] so he has no chance to run off.
 

Ollie's Mum

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A friend's horse used to do this but not every time and it puzzled us. Turned out it was as simple as where you stood to do it. If you stood at the side of him to take it off he was absolutely fine. If you stood more in front of him he'd freak out - and he was 17.3hh and scarey when he did it.
 

Honey08

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My husband's gelding used to do that. They hold onto the bit in the mouth, then as you take the bridle off, the bit gets hooked behind their teeth, and if they pull back it pulls on their teeth and scares them....cue vicious circle that gets worse each time...

We found that we had to take the headpiece over the ears, then hold the bridle half way down on the nose, keeping the cheekpieces upright so that the bit doesn't move in the mouth, then put your fingers into the corners of the mouth to ask him to open his mouth as he would for tacking up - they the bit comes out of the mouth without touching the teeth... All through this process you make a fuss of the horse. They soon learn that they will not get hurt and trust you again. Even now, four years on, even though I can untack him normally, I always have a hand on the front of his nose to stop him raising his head when he is un tacked, and hopefully being able to stop it happening if a situation arose..
 

I.M.N.

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Not sure if this helps but we've got a horse that you can't take the bridle of if he's attached to anything (head collar nose band undone but head collar done up over head - does that make sense lol?) otherwise he freaks out, stands like a puppy if he's free though.

(ps my spell check keeps trying to change head collar to cheerleader!!!)
 

jessikaGinger

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Thanks for all the replies I tried them all at once today
I took it off whilst stood at the side instead if infront holding her nose making her open her mouth and you guessed it no problems :)
Strange habit to have picked up hopefully I've nipped it in the bud thanks to you guys :)
 
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