Question about bitting

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myheartinahoofbeat

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I have a rising 7 year old, had him 4 months.He has actually not really been ridden since 4 so more like a 4 year old in terms of training, mileage and experience. He chomps on the bit, plays with bit and foams up. He does it as soon as the bit is in his mouth. He is much worse out hacking than in the school. I wonder if it’s nerves. He has had his mouth checked and all ok and has regular physio. The vet says some horses hyper salivate because of their colouring and thinks he could be one of them.
He’s currently in a full cheek with a roller. He has keepers on the cheeks to hold the bit still as he can turn it round somehow by playing with it.
Does anyone with experience with green horses have any bitting suggestions please? I tried a straight bar as I thought he might like something more stable but there was no improvement.
Thanks.
 
honestly your best bet is to get a bitting expert out who can look at his mouth confirmation etc. sounds like less is more for him though, if you’ve got plenty of bits to hand maybe see what he thinks of a rubber one, or see if there’s a difference in a thicker vs thinner one. if you can narrow it down a little bit, it’ll help the expert if you can tell them he prefers thinner, single vs double jointed, and so on.

it could also be purely inexperience too, if he’s not done a lot for a good while. my 4 year old is much quieter in her mouth than my 11 year old, but she foams up a lot more so must be playing with it in there! depending on how much he’s actually done, maybe just pop the bridle on him whilst you muck out etc, and he can get used to it without any rein pressure.
 
My example, to show it could be one of many reasons.
You could try many bits and still not get it right.
My bit fitter was so helpful.

She said that the position of F’s teeth meant that I should ignore the wrinkle rule and have his bit lower. If the bit was fitted with wrinkles it would be too high and bang on his teeth. I have a much happier pony now.
 
I third a bit fitter.

Getting a big my native likes was so tricky but with a bit fitter it was easy to trial loads until we found one he liked & we've not had any problems since :)
 
I got free advice from neue schule which was helpful. https://nsbits.com/online-bitting-consultation You don't have to buy the bit they recommend obviously, could look for something similar from another make. I have also seen a bit fitter for another horse. It was interesting but whilst they appear to have a lot of bits with them, there are not really many types to try as they have different sizes. My RC arranged a day visit and all horses ended up in one of 2 types of bit. Only cavasson or no noseband is recommended and comfort headpiece.
 
Is it a loose ring? I've had one that was forever fussing/flipping over loose ring bits, so swapped her to a hanging cheek and she settled down completely. If you've got an eggbutt/hanging cheek kicking about that might be worth a shot?
 
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