Please Help! bitting Advice?

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Charli1892

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I have a horse who as soon as i put his bridle in he has his mouth open, head down and is trying to get his tongue over the bit, and this is before ive even put the saddle on, let alone actually started riding! Looking at information online, coupled with knowing him and seeing what he does it looks as if he really hates the bit. I have tried many bits on him from a happymouth snaffle to a waterford, there is no difference. For schooling, hacking on the roads and jumping in the menage he is in a snaffle and for XC, and going for canters/gallops i put him in a waterford gag as he has a tendency to try and grab the bit and lean (i use it with very light hands)

He has quite a large tongue and judging by the amount of saliva he has over his face by the end of our schooling sessions he is finding it difficult to swallow with the standard snaffles. I ride him in a flash so he cant open his mouth and get his tongue over the bit, as i said earlier, he also tries to lean, it becomes a dead weight almost. He will eventually soften but its fairly inconsistent and soon as you take up much more than a extremely light contact he will either lean more or sometimes throw his head up (not violently as if hes in pain but as if hes just very uncomfortable) then lean on it.

His teeth are done regularly as is his back and both are completely fine as they have been checked recently. He has no vet-worthy problems as that was recently checked too and all tack fits fine.

I have never tried a myler bit and was looking into them, does anyone have any idea of which one i should try, if at all?

I dont know to much about all the natural horsemanship stuff but i was also curious about the bitless bridles .. although i know they aren't dressage legal?

Does anyone have any views on the mylers or bitless bridles or any other ideas of what it could be or how to resolve this?

Thanks in advance!!! :)
 
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I am by no means an expert so can't really advise, all I can suggest is have you tried him in a French link? I rode a horse with either a thick tongue or a low palate and the double-jointed snaffles I think give more tongue room. NOT a Dr Bristol! Either a French link with the flat middle piece or the rounded one--make sure it has the correct joint--some of them will curve over your hand (and the horse's tongue); others will not. There are low-port bits that are said to give more tongue room but I know nothing about ported bits.

Hopefully more knowledgeable people will chime in.

One thing I do know--saddle goes on before bridle. How are you securing him if you put the bridle on before the saddle? That could be part of his problem--I always put the saddle on first and so does eveyone else I know. Seriously. Everyone. :)
 
Does the bit have to be dressage legal? If not then is try an MB04 myler (with any sides you like) as it has a small port. The other option is an MB05 mouthpiece. Ensure that the bit is at the right height in the mouth as well.

Re previous poster - I put the bridle on first then, if he is tacked up outside, I put the head collar back over the bridle. What would you do if you had the saddle on and you horse pulled back or got free? You've got a loose horse wearing a very expensive piece of equipment and no simple means of catching it!!
 
Hello, I'm not an expert in biting however, there is a free monthly question and answer section on biting on the HorseChaser website. If you wanted to ask Emma (the specialist) you can just e-mail the question through and it will go up on the next edition. Hope this helps!

www.HorseChaser.co.uk
 
Eriskayowner said:
Does the bit have to be dressage legal? If not then is try an MB04 myler (with any sides you like) as it has a small port. The other option is an MB05 mouthpiece. Ensure that the bit is at the right height in the mouth as well.

Re previous poster - I put the bridle on first then, if he is tacked up outside, I put the head collar back over the bridle. What would you do if you had the saddle on and you horse pulled back or got free? You've got a loose horse wearing a very expensive piece of equipment and no simple means of catching it!!
Click to expand...

A very good point!
 
FfionWinnie said:
Plus if the horse has a martingale you have to put the bridle on first. I cannot see the problem coming from the order she tacks up!
Click to expand...

Re: the martingale, not necessarily. Re: the problem--I can, actually. If he's uncomfortable with the bit when he has just the bridle on, he could be more uncomfortable with the head collar on over the bridle, or if Charli doesn't secure him with a head collar, he could be tugging against her if she is trying to hold onto the reins while putting on the saddle (I have seen this happen).

I don't the flash is helping matters, other than to keep him from putting his tongue over the bit.

I do think it's to do with bit fit, tongue, and maybe some other issue with this horse and bits.
 
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