Help/advice needed

[horsegirl]

As you may have seen from other posts we have moved yards and I am now having a few problems with my horse. We had a bit of a job to load him in the trailer ended up putting his bridle on to have more control as he kept rearing up and running away, since we arrived at the new yard he has started shaking his head and opening his mouth so it looks like he is yawning but over and over again and also really mouths and snatches at the bit. Any idea what this could be? Could his mouth be sore from the loading or does anyone have any other ideas?

 

[MissDeMeena]

Have you thought of getting an equine dentist to look in there?!?!
Either that or you're embarrassing your horse.. that's what mine do when they are embarrassed.

 

[horsegirl]

I'm thinking of either dentist or vet. let's hope it is embarassment at having to wear purple rugs!

 

[JoBo]

Could be a sore mouth, when did you move? The mouth (especially around the lips) can take a while to heel.

What about his teeth, have you had those look at lately?

Or could he just be thinking ‘this might be a good time to try it on’? Is he picking up vibes from you at all, if you are a bit stressed? Just wondering?

 

[horsegirl]

We moved last weekend and he has been doing it ever since, we are going to give him a week/10 days off to settle in and give his mouth a chance to heal as we are away anyway so hopefully he will stop then. If not then vet or dentist.

 

[JAK]

Could be his teeth, could be the stress of moving or could be tack related!
Stupid though it sounds, if you have recently cleaned his bridle, (or recently lent it to anybody!), just check you have out it all back together on the right holes!

I confess to having done this myself *shock horror*........putting FOO's on the holes it was on before I took his noseband off - the tiny bit of extra slack it afforded in the cheek pieces caused the bit to sit marginally lower in his mouth & he had a fit of snatching at the bit, opening his mouth & generally saying 'Eek, no, this wrong!' LOL
Poor lad, took me about 30 seconds to guess what I'd done & hey, presto, back to normal!

And I've heard worse....much worse...so always worth checking!