Rein snatching and bit chewing

D

deanrobertsnet

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Hey there :)

Just started riding lessons again after many years of not going anywhere near a horse. I'm so glad I made the decision to start learning to ride again!

Yesterday during lesson, the horse I was riding started snatching the rein and chewing the bit. He's a school horse so imagine that he's all ship shape health wise.

The only reason I thought it could be is that I had too much contact with the rein. He was fine in trot, it was just at walk that he was doing it. I thought either:

1. As I said, I was too tight with the rein
2. He was bored of walking

As you can imagine, I've read different things about contact with the horse's mouth on the internet.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
 
Your best bet is to ask the instructor - they will know the horse. It might be too heavy a contact, or if you were inconsistent, but there could be all sorts of reasons - mine starts to chuck his head around when he's getting tired or very sweaty, for example.

Was it happening all the time, or did it start after a bit? Did the instructor give you any advice?

I wouldn't be 100% confident that every school horse is always in perfect health, so it could be teeth / back / tack ...
 
It could be any amount of reasons.... Boredom, teeth need doing, uncomfortable with the bit, some form of pain... Just because he is at a riding school doesn't mean there is not a physiological issue that needs addressing.

My boy started doing this... After dentists and checks, trying different riding styles and numerous bits the issue finally became clear when a retained shard of wolf tooth worked its way to the surface, only then could we feel it.

It really could be anything, but the issue is that it is probably not something you yourself can sort, it's something that needs resolving by the riding school.
 
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