mare doesn't like snaffle

[Saxon_Jasmine]

My 8yr old TB mare doesn't seem to like her loose ring snaffle bit. She resists it when we put on her bridle and once it's in her mouth she chomps on it and tries to move her tongue around it. When she's ridden she chomps on it and stretches her head down and around.

She isn't a difficult horse so we don't think this is the problem. She isn't a strong ride at all; she has quite a sensitive mouth and doesn't pull. She gets a bit excited sometimes but is containable.

Anyone have any ideas of bits we could try?

Thank you.

 

[Kat]

Have you had her teeth checked???

She sounds uncomfortable, what noseband do you use? Could the bit be pinching her lips?

Might be worth trying an eggbutt which would be more stable, or trying a french link or lozenge. Could be worth trying a thin mouthpiece to give her more space, sometimes horses areuncomfortable because they don't have enough tongue room.

 

[Saxon_Jasmine]

Her teeth were checked 2 months ago and her front teeth stick out slightly, but the vet said it is nothing to worry about at the moment. We use a plain noseband without a flash strap.

Thank you.

 

[camilla4]

As Katt says, lack of tongue room is a common cause of discomfort -it may be the thickness of the mouthpiece or the shape itself. Katt's suggestions are very sensible and worth trying. A friend of mine has a horse whose mouth is so small she actually has to use a bridoon as her snaffle!

 

[Hoppa]

TB's *normally* have quite straight forward mouth conformation, i.e the tongue lies flat etc. Do a search of previous posts, there are loads on here!
See my previous
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php?Number=5312385

However I used to have a TB ex-racer, who went nicely in an eggbutt french link.
You need to have a good look in her mouth when the bit is in, check if she has a low palette, large tongue, any sore patches etc
If shes not strong and has a sensitive mouth, then maybe just trying a fixed cheek will be enough, some horses just don't like loose rings. Or something which has less nutcracker action, like a lozenge, french link etc
Its worth trying a few... I've finally found somethign which works for my lad and hes like a different creature!

 

[9tails]

You sound surprised! This is why there are so many different bits on the market. Snaffles are supposed to be gentle bits, but some don't like the nutcracker action. Mine hates it, as well as french links, she only tolerates straight bars but is a very big fan of her Myler. From massive evasion with head in the air, stomping about to get away, she now takes the bit when offered. I wish I'd listened sooner rather than thinking she was just a cranky pest.

 

[Gorgeous George]

My horse is a TB shire x and I rode him for ages in a loose ring lozenge bit and he never seemed overly happy with it, then one day I tried a mullen mouth hanging cheek myler - bingo, it seems he likes to have something solid in his mouth. I have recently been riding him in a bog standard mullen mouth eggbutt and he is very happy in that as well, I think in future I will stick to the eggbutt for schooling and then use the hanging cheek for comps when a little extra control would be useful.

 

[Luci07]

tbh when I am biting a new horse, I tend to bring out all my collection of different snaffles and borrow a few and work my way through them. Its not always obvious why a horse will really like one and not another even after looking at mouth confirmation, thickness of tongue etc etc.

echo the bridoon though - I had a 17 hand ex racer ... with a really narrow jaw so he ended up in one. Normal size rings would "meet" behind his jaw!

 

[Sol]

Might be worth trying a hanging cheek/full cheek bit with keepers to keep the bit more stable in her mouth? My lad is currently in a full cheek snaffle with a lozenge, as he used to mess around with his bit all the time, even in a flash, and would also not take the contact up brilliantly, even in a myler mullen mouth hanging cheek. Swapped him to this and he's much better!
Definitely worth experimenting with different cheeks/mouthpieces & even materials though. Had a mare who used to do everything (inc. XC & hunting) in a nylon snaffle or a flexible happy mouth straight bar!

 

[littleme]

my mare was very inconsistant and fussy in her mouth, i got a NS starter bit which she loves, she doesnt fight it (she either curled her head in, tipped it side to side to evade or put her head in my face!) and ismuch more rideable, def worth the money!

Also, have you tried a nathe? they are quite good for light mouthed tb types also