Grinding teeth - gum bits? - bit butter? Better bit!?

[Primitive Pony]

Can anyone offer any thoughts on my horse who grinds his teeth? - are gum bits any good? - I tried bit butter today and it was effective until he must have licked it all off, so wonder how long gum bits are effective. He is ridden in a bombers happy tongue snaffle at the minute, I have no idea what other bits might help!?

(he has had some issues in his back, all under control now, and teeth up to date - think now it's a default habit or at times it is expressing impatience.)

 

[oldvic]

I wouldn't worry about it. Horses do it for several reasons and it's not necessarily tension or a resistance. It is not supposed to be marked down in dressage unless there are other signs like tail swishing angrily, ears flat back, etc.

 

[jhoward]

have a google of bit wrap..

 

[Primitive Pony]

Thank you both - from a competing point of view, good to know it shouldn't matter, I think I dislike it as it know it has been pain related previously. Plus I hate the noise!!

Bit wraps look very interesting thank you, might be worth a try, convincing me more than gum bits!

 

[Primitive Pony]

That said, the bit wrap looks rather like fruit leather snacks for kids, wrapped round... Might try some of that!!

 

[Cortez]

Teeth grinding is most certainly marked down in dressage, it is a sign of resistance (not to mention pain).

 

[oldvic]

Teeth grinding is most certainly marked down in dressage, it is a sign of resistance (not to mention pain).

It is only supposed to be marked down if accompanied by other signs of tension/ resistance as written in the rule book.

 

[ihatework]

Which rule oldvic?
I have the new BD rulebook in front of me that states:
89. Teeth grinding and tail swishing may be signs of nervousness, tenseness or resistance and can be taken into account by the judges in their marks for the movements concerned as well as in the appropriate collective mark at the end.

So this is open to a certain level of interpretation - you will find some judges penalise more heavily than others , although usually this will be proportionate to the way of going of the horse too.

OP, definitely worth trying to nip it in the bud now. More often than not it is tension related, be that physical or mental. Try and find patterns of when the horse does/doesn't do it and work from there. By all means swap bits / try gum bits etc but you might need to accept that the underlying reason is tension/training and work through it patiently

 

[oldvic]

Ihatework - to be fair it is written in the FEI guidelines for judging written, with others, by Stephen Clarke. The BD rule is a bit more ambiguous in that it says it CAN be taken into account and MAY be a sign of resistance. That is to say there need to be other signs as well to mark it down.

 

[Primitive Pony]

Which rule oldvic?
I have the new BD rulebook in front of me that states:
89. Teeth grinding and tail swishing may be signs of nervousness, tenseness or resistance and can be taken into account by the judges in their marks for the movements concerned as well as in the appropriate collective mark at the end.

So this is open to a certain level of interpretation - you will find some judges penalise more heavily than others , although usually this will be proportionate to the way of going of the horse too.

OP, definitely worth trying to nip it in the bud now. More often than not it is tension related, be that physical or mental. Try and find patterns of when the horse does/doesn't do it and work from there. By all means swap bits / try gum bits etc but you might need to accept that the underlying reason is tension/training and work through it patiently

Thank you, I agree - trying to figure out what the cause is. Poor boy has had all manner of problems and doesn't always express himself in any other way. Have figured out that it starts when he drops BTV but also at times I think it's just a default habit so am wondering if distractions like gum bits might wean him off the habit - but fully appreciate that if it is resistance, then I need to find the cause. He's a super-honest horse so it's not a question of me wanting to ignore the problem. I don't think it's always pain now in his case, at least I really hope not!