help! he's chewed through another bit! advice please!

Bowen4Horses

Bowen4Horses

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hey all

my (lovely) new horse came with a full cheek, jointed rubber snaffle. but, he'd chewed right through the rubber, so i went to the tack shop and thought i'd try the happy mouth version, as it looked less chewable... and i wanted to keep him in the mild rubber-type bit...

anyhoo, he's worn it twice and has chewed it already. problem is, because it's more of a plastic than a rubber bit, it's given it sharp edges. so... £25 for a bit he's worn twice... i'm NOT happy!

i need two bits of advice:

1. why does he chew so much? it's not nervousness, he's perfectly well behaved. i'm not sure if it's connected but i noticed today that he also sometimes hangs his entire tongue out of his mouth. he doesn't really 'mouth' the bit, it's more like a full on chewing. he's had his teeth checked fairly recently. could it be teeth?

2. what bit can i try? he doesn't seem that keen on normal metal snaffle, but i realise i can't keep him in the rubber/happy mouth if he's going to chew soooo much.

i tried googling this, and lots of pages seem to say to put them in a flash noseband. i'm hesitant to do this, as i'd prefer to find the root of the problem (if there is one). and also he's such a simple little horse (apart from the chewing) i don't think he really needs one (he doesn't open his mouth).

any answers would be much appreciated, as i can't afford to keep changing bits as he chews through them!

xxxx
 
this has happened with every horse/pony I have ever seen with a happy mouth, not usually as quickly as your boy but they always break. What about a copper mouthpiece bit as its softer
 
He may have quite a thick tongue and he might be finding that there's not enough room in his mouth. I'd put him in a warm metal like aurigan or copper.
 
What is his mouth conformation like? Perhaps have a think about a bit that may be better suited to his mouth conformation?
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If he's not got a lot of room in his mouth he may be happier in a thinner mouthpiece? Personally I dislike single joints anyway so would be looking to switch to a lozenge type mouthpiece
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Like a previous poster said, some horses have large wide tongues so can find the kind of bit you use too much. I know dutch warmbloods have this particular problem. Have you had his teeth checked (properly with a metal gag so the EDT or vet can get right to the back of his mouth to rasp any sharp edges). It sounds like a flash would compound the problem. You can get a tongue strap, which fits onto the bit and stops the horse getting his tongue either over the bit and also from having it flapping out of the side of his mouth, but I would only resort to this if you have already tried a thinner mouthpiece. Finally my last horse had this annoying habit so after getting his mouth checked (he had a cut in his cheek from sharp teeth) he was ridden in a hackamore until his mouth healed and then I got him a raised port to give his tongue more room and this remedied the situation.
 
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this has happened with every horse/pony I have ever seen with a happy mouth, not usually as quickly as your boy but they always break. What about a copper mouthpiece bit as its softer

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they've got a cheek charging so much for them! as he's only in light work at the mo, each ride was only about 15/20mins... so, we literally had half an hour's usage out of the stupid thing! that's practically a £ a minute!

oooh, two votes for copper. maybe i'll try that!
 
Further to my previous reply I have my current horse in a fulmer snaffle and the mouthpiece of the snaffle has a lonzenge which is a half moon shape and has a dot of copper added to the top of it, kind of painted on. I can recommend this bit, its mouthpiece is thinner and the copper dot helps salivation, and the fulmer cheeks help with steering issues. It was only around £14.00. PM me if you want details of where to get it from. x
 
Yes definitely try a copper or sweet iron mouthpiece. My TB doesn't chew through bits but always had issues with bits. When the dentist saw him he actually commented that he'd be best in a thin mouth piece as he's not got a lot of room in his mouth. We had him in a KK lozenge bit which he loved.
 
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Like a previous poster said, some horses have large wide tongues so can find the kind of bit you use too much. I know dutch warmbloods have this particular problem. Have you had his teeth checked (properly with a metal gag so the EDT or vet can get right to the back of his mouth to rasp any sharp edges). It sounds like a flash would compound the problem. You can get a tongue strap, which fits onto the bit and stops the horse getting his tongue either over the bit and also from having it flapping out of the side of his mouth, but I would only resort to this if you have already tried a thinner mouthpiece. Finally my last horse had this annoying habit so after getting his mouth checked (he had a cut in his cheek from sharp teeth) he was ridden in a hackamore until his mouth healed and then I got him a raised port to give his tongue more room and this remedied the situation.

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yes, i think he does seem to have a fleshy tongue. which is also why i took him out of the giant, thick rubber one. there just wasn't room for everything in his mouth. he's hanoverian cross polish warmblood... dunno if either of those breeds are fat-tongued?

i agree that flash would compound it - it'll squish everything in even more.

one thing i'm worried about in having a thinner mouthpiece is he is quite, um, ploddy, and i don't want to harshen his bit... in case it makes him less forward going. is this a stupid concern?

is your ported bit a straight bar one then? can you get jointed ported ones? there are WAY too many bits on the market, it's all too confusing!
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[ QUOTE ]
Further to my previous reply I have my current horse in a fulmer snaffle and the mouthpiece of the snaffle has a lonzenge which is a half moon shape and has a dot of copper added to the top of it, kind of painted on. I can recommend this bit, its mouthpiece is thinner and the copper dot helps salivation, and the fulmer cheeks help with steering issues. It was only around £14.00. PM me if you want details of where to get it from. x

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will PM you now. x
 
My mare too came with a rubber snaffle that was chewed, I bought another one and it didn't last long.
I have put her in a JP French Link as the curve allows room for her fleshy tongue. Also, she doesn't try to chew this one but she still gets nice and wet in her mouth.
 
In the first instance I would call out EDT or Vet (so long as it is a different person to whoever did it last time) as it might be that they didn't do it thoroughly enough or they missed something major. Unless you can completely rule out teeth being a problem, you could waste alot of time and money looking at alternative bits!

In the meantime why not find out if anyone local has a bitless bridle you could try him in? It may help find/rule out other aggravating causes
 
I swapped my mare to a neuschule intermediare schooling bit - it's a straight bar snaffle with a port as she's got a thick fleshy tongue. She stills chews on it a bit but doesn't stick her tongue out any more.
 
Kind mummy put my young highland in a happy mouth and it was useless after two outings. I then got him a copper snaffle which he scored grooves in. He has had a slotted kimblewick for years now, good brakes and no chewing. I think the port is just right for his great thick tongue but the curb chain is not right for him so although he wears it, it's very loose.
 
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