Recommend me a noseband

tonitot

tonitot

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When schooling my horse she has a habit of opening her mouth and crossing her jaw, leaving me with little control. I'm thinking a flash or grackle but unsure which to try first. Any advice will be much appreciated :)
 
Maybe explore reasons why she is unhappy about accepting bit/contact first? Teeth, doesn't like nutcracker when it touches the roof of her mouth, could be many things. Need to be 100% sure not in any kind of pain (or fear of pain from previous experience) before you put a strap around her chops. No-way a critisism, just personal opinion.
 
Out of the two, my recommendation would be always for a Mexican grackle - it is of much better design than a flash, doesn't necessarily have to ''strap their mouth shut'' and, if that matters to you, looks much smarter as well ;)
 
I would agree with both the above. Do check first that she's not in any kind of pain or uncomfortable in any way - when you've ruled that out, I'd try the Grakle first. As above, it's a much better design and seems to suit a lot of horses who might not be so happy in a standard flash. My instructors horse wasn't happy at all in his flash, he was a different horse when the grakle was put on :)

It's all about what she feels happy in, trial and error - see how you get on.
 
I can't help you choose a noseband. Just my PO by I think they are unnecessary. If a horse is trying to evade the bit then it is usually due to discomfort. Strap the mouth shut and you keep them in discomfort. They'll then try something else like throwing their head up, so then you'll need a martingale and you still won't have solved the problem, just masked the symptoms.
 
Thanks, I was leaning towards the grackel :) she has the dentist next week so will wait till then. To be honest I dont think its pain or discomfort, she tends to open her mouth/cross her jaw and shake her head around when I ask her to turn either way as she can see her friend right next to the school in their field and wants to go to him, I dont let her which leads to the protesting. But I will still make sure there's no pain first :)
 
Bump and ...

pip6 said:
doesn't like nutcracker when it touches the roof of her mouth.
Click to expand...

How would I be able to tell if she doesn't like the nutcracker action? Sorry if that's a numpty question but as far as I remember I've only ever ridden in snaffle bits and never ridden a horse that objects to them. If the case is that she doesn't like the bit, what would be the best kindest bit without the nutcracker action?

Just to add, she's in an eggbutt jointed snaffle.
 
Try a lozenge snaffle before upping the noseband. :D I don't use normal single jointed snaffles at all now, regardless of what noseband the horse needs.

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pip6 said:
Maybe explore reasons why she is unhappy about accepting bit/contact first? Teeth, doesn't like nutcracker when it touches the roof of her mouth, could be many things. Need to be 100% sure not in any kind of pain (or fear of pain from previous experience) before you put a strap around her chops. No-way a critisism, just personal opinion.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree 100% with this. Horses open their mouths for a reason. The way to stop them opening their mouths is to find that reason and then do something about it.

ETA, just read the rest of the thread. Very often the best bit is a thin one - counter intuitive but thin bits are often more comfortable for fleshy mouthed/fat-tongued horses.
 
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