Struggling with fizzy pony and a bitting question

[ElleMay]

Hello...I'm having a few problems with my pony at the moment and i'm hoping all you knowlegable people can give me a bit of advice.

My pony is 18 and for the past 2/3 years she has been on and off lame with hock spavins and then arthritis in her front coffin joints but since this spring she has been sound and i've slowly brought her back into work and slowly built up her fitness. She is now quite fit and ridden most days, mainly hacking with some light schooling but as she gets fitter she is getting increasingly fizzy and i'm struggling to keep her relaxed when riding, not helped by the fact she is now in at night (livery yard rules, not my choice!).

The last time she was as fit as she is, she was being schooled, jumped, hunted, lunged and competing quite regularly but obviously with her arthritis these are not things I now want to do with her regularly.

I am worried that she is going to injure herself if I don't get on top of this as she is being silly when turned out as well as when ridden, but i'm not sure what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone been in a similar position?

She is fed on a handful of topspec antilam which is mainly just to put her supplements and hay at night and turned out as much as possible.

I was also hoping for some help with her bitting. She is currently bitless and ridden in a hackamore with an elastic curb chain, as we struggle to find a bit that suits her, but particularly out hacking this is giving me very little control at the moment. She is a NF so very low palate, and huge tongue and has very little room for a bit and fights with most that we have ever tried as she is not comfortable. She has very little respect for snaffles but she is usually okay with her straight bar pelham but when she is fizzy/jogging/generally messing about like she is at the moment, this will just make her but her head into her chest and I have no chance. Any suggestions about something she cannot ignore but that is not too sharp and will suit the conformation of her mouth?

Thanks in advance for anyone that can help

 

[the watcher]

well done for getting your pony sound, it can be a long uphill stuggle. As you have found, a sound, comfortable, pony can be a whole different animal to one that is subdued through pain.

All you can do is increase the fibre and cut out anything that may be heating since the workload will not be the same as before. Maybe soaking the hay during the day might help.

Regarding bits, Myler bits have very slim mouthpieces and a wide range of cheekpieces, there is bound to be one to suit your needs

 

[Rebels]

Maybe look into the Micklem bridles with several bit and bitless options? Have heard that they suit many horses who have struggled with conventional bridles and fought bits. Try and borrow one before you buy tho, they are expensive but many people rave about them