Equilibrium Ireland
Well-Known Member
I can't believe people use flashes to start horses either.
Anyway you can take this advice with a grain of salt. First check her mouth and look at her pallet. Is it very flat? Is her tongue larger than normal. If either of these are true, a Mullen is probably best or even a different jointed (broken twice) snaffle.
I have a fussy mare and I doubt it will change. At 10 months she had to have her woof teeth removed. The vet could not believe how huge they were given her age. I felt bad as I only noticed when she quit eating. I just didn't think at that age they create such issues. She was fussy on eating for a month after. Then I had a hack of a dentist who never really did the back teeth correctly. Again my fault, but when I hire a professional I expect quality. Personally I don't feel I need to go to dental school so I can hire someone worthy of the job. Ok still annoyed with this person. Problem is once you have teeth done you rule it out as a possibility. So was very frustrated with her mouth problems. When she was away training a new dentist came in and sorted her issues. However, this is not a mare that forgives easy. She also had a head/neck injury as a foal that we didn't even know she'd live from. So if you put everything together it adds up to a few extras to make her fussy despite me thinking I was doing my very best for her. She also has a large tongue and flat pallet. So no thick bits. She is happiest in a happy mouth dee Mullen mouth. Occassionally she will jump in a hackamore. She works well but if you were a person that wasn't very forgiving or felt you had to drill into her the way she absolutely must go, you will not succeed.
So my advice is to try a Mullen but to also not expect her to be going perfect. Take your time and concentrate on the good work she does not the work your not happy with. If you only want to fix what is irritating you, you lose sight of any of the good. I'm saying this to you as someone who had to reschool her mare after jumper training as I left things a little too late. I was getting bogged down with how correct everything needed to be instead of being happy with small changes. We are a much better partnership now. I'm sure she is probably like, thank dog she finally took a chill pill. My mare is 6 also.
But I'm not an expert so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
Terri
Anyway you can take this advice with a grain of salt. First check her mouth and look at her pallet. Is it very flat? Is her tongue larger than normal. If either of these are true, a Mullen is probably best or even a different jointed (broken twice) snaffle.
I have a fussy mare and I doubt it will change. At 10 months she had to have her woof teeth removed. The vet could not believe how huge they were given her age. I felt bad as I only noticed when she quit eating. I just didn't think at that age they create such issues. She was fussy on eating for a month after. Then I had a hack of a dentist who never really did the back teeth correctly. Again my fault, but when I hire a professional I expect quality. Personally I don't feel I need to go to dental school so I can hire someone worthy of the job. Ok still annoyed with this person. Problem is once you have teeth done you rule it out as a possibility. So was very frustrated with her mouth problems. When she was away training a new dentist came in and sorted her issues. However, this is not a mare that forgives easy. She also had a head/neck injury as a foal that we didn't even know she'd live from. So if you put everything together it adds up to a few extras to make her fussy despite me thinking I was doing my very best for her. She also has a large tongue and flat pallet. So no thick bits. She is happiest in a happy mouth dee Mullen mouth. Occassionally she will jump in a hackamore. She works well but if you were a person that wasn't very forgiving or felt you had to drill into her the way she absolutely must go, you will not succeed.
So my advice is to try a Mullen but to also not expect her to be going perfect. Take your time and concentrate on the good work she does not the work your not happy with. If you only want to fix what is irritating you, you lose sight of any of the good. I'm saying this to you as someone who had to reschool her mare after jumper training as I left things a little too late. I was getting bogged down with how correct everything needed to be instead of being happy with small changes. We are a much better partnership now. I'm sure she is probably like, thank dog she finally took a chill pill. My mare is 6 also.
But I'm not an expert so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
Terri
