Tense mare opening mouth, any advice?

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Evil_Cookie

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My tb mare is always trying to open her mouth when ridden, even when she appears soft elsewhere. Her teeth and back have been checked and are seen to as needed. I use a flash noseband on her to prevent her opening her mouth fully and evading the bit. But she still 'bares' her teeth somewhat in an attempt to open her mouth. I wonder whether a change of bit might make her more comfortable or something else? I think its arissen through tension as she's a tense mare, she doesn't do it when working completely relaxed, but I feel she's now adopting it as an evasion to using her body correctly. Any suggestions?

Sorry its so long... Am at a loss as what to try with her... She's ridden in a kk ultra snaffle, would a comfort bridle help or is this purely in the mouth?

(also posted in stable forum)
 
Our mare does this except when in the Pelham & it is because she has a thick tongue & finds most bits uncomfortable. I dont worry about it now, so long as she goes nicely, sticking her tongue out is the least of my concerns. Ask your dentist what he things of the conformation of her mouth & the bit your are using.
 
My TB mare dos the same thing, shes 9 and has done it since i had her just over a year now. I always though it was due to tension aswell. Lila dos it sometimes when i rider her yet she seems to work correctly and she sometimes dos it if im really late to feed her and she in her stable she will lean over the door 'bareing' her teeth. Iv never worried about it as iv always though my mare works correctly and i trust my riding instructer to let me know if she wasn't, I just though it was a habbit that my mare had.

Sorry probably not much help, hope you find something that will sort it out.
 
She does seem to place her tongue differently as soon as i put the bit in... it seems to sit more forward as if its almost going to poke out both sides of her mouth, she never actually sticks her tongue out, its much more like curling her lips and making her face while opening her mouth. She can work well but I don't know whether she still does this when she is feeling like she's going well... You can't tell she's doing it when your riding. I just look at all our pictures and she's doing it in quite a few of them. The instructor has noticed but hasn't said much about it. Shld I assume its just her or is there something like a bit for fussy mouthed horses?
 
This is a pic of my mare doing it over her stable door from excitment/tension.

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Hope this works, fingers X lol.
 
Hope this one coms out abit smaller, I dont think I have any of my mare doing it while im rider her. When i had dentist out to mine they said that she had quite good mouth conformation.

What bit do you ride her in?? Mine gos in a hollow mouth eggbutt snaffel.

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she's ridden in asprenger kk ultra, basically a french link bit thats supposed to eliminate pressure in the middle or something like that... she does it in our jumping bit too which is a loose ring waterford. But she's such an inconsistant mare. this is probably the only consistant thing she does and I don't want her to do it..
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For example yesterday she was leaning on the bit and taking the leg but being stroppy, today she was happier being overbent and stropped when the leg was put on to encourage her up... sigh... horses don't you just love em?
 
one of our TB trys to open her mouth and she opens her lips and trys to open with a flash, its a TB thing i know but because she has come ffrom a racing yard she was broken in very quickly and poorly so just a quick mouthing and off to go so she hasnt got a very good mo9uth how ever i have got her back into an eggbutt snaffle for everything perminantly yeah go me, i know lol:):)
but when your horse opens her mouth try this exercise:-
work on a circle and work her long and low to open her frame and stride nicly. Get the bend and get the tension off her mouth by giving and taking the reins especially the inside rein. Control the speed with your outside hand and control the bend and rythm with your inside HAND! if she goes to run off her hbind legs and open her mouth then give and retake the reins repetitivly untill she settles down again with a nice long low rythm and tempo and by giving and retaking the reins it should soften her mouth and she should yeild to you more and she will be much more relaxed in her mouth and thus keep it closed and relaxed
hope i cud help xxx
 
My TB gelding is doing the same sort of thing.....must be a TB thing!!

At the moment he is just "over mouthing" the mouth is opening as soon as I have established a contact and it then doesn't stay shut until I have got off!! Very frustrating!! I have yet to find a solution! He is currently ridden in a Nueue Schule training eggbut with lozenge but I may change this tomorrow....?

He was seen by the dentist at the end of Feb and all was fine. He has a slightly fleshy tongue and doesn't like thick mouthpieces.

Horses eh??
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thats funny, i always thought that a thin bit is actually more severe than a thick one...wouldnt that prolong the problem and just make it worse??? correct me if im wrong guys...id think a nice soft inviting jointed snaffle and some schooling should do the trick...
 
Thicker bits are generally thought of to be kinder but if the horse has a small mouth which isn't big enough to accommodate a thick bit then it will cause discomfort, so in these cases a thinner bit is better
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Yes but..... if she's got a small mouth and/or a thick tongue then as AllyKat says she might not have enough room for a thicker bit and this could cause discomfort
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I prefer a French Link type mouthpiece for a horse with a small mouth or a thick tongue as the action of a single jointed snaffle can cause it to hit the roof of the mouth and again cause discomfort
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