Tongue over bit - novice needs advice please

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Marshmallow29

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I rode my daughter's pony today and she got her tongue over the bit. I am a novice so I am not quite sure what caused this problem? Pony was being a bit keen and head tossing and yawing when asked to trot on a contact, which is her habitual resistance to being asked to work properly. This is the point at which is when she got her tongue over the bit.

I only took up a fairly light contact to start with, as usual, and normally in my lessons my instructor tells me to ignore the head tossing as it is just a habit which pony had from the first day we got her. I am having a lesson tomorrow so will ask instructor for advice but thought I'd see if I could get any pointers on here first.

Is it something that I am doing wrong that has caused her to do this? Do I need to alter/adjust her bridle?
 
the best thing to do is prob ask instructir to have a look at the fit of biddle, and maybe surgest that during your lesson, and pony starts head tossing, get the instructor to have a look, to see if pony has tongue over bit, maybe she been doing it and getting it back herself, but was unable to this time which is why you noticed
 
Is she happy in the bit normally? Mine used to do this all the time. We changed his bit to a mullen mouth one and it stopped. He has a waterford for faster work as he hates a jointed bit. He seems to like the flexibility of the waterford and despite if being a stronger mouthpiece he's much happier in it.
 
Thanks both. Tikka - I will definitely ask my instructor tomorrow to see if she can tell what is going on. You can't really see what is happening from on top!

annagain - she generally seems very happy in this bit. I had her in an eggbut snaffle before but the creaking was driving me mad so I swapped her to a loose ring, ordinary jointed snaffle. I might try her with a mullen mouth to see if she prefers that. The only problem that I can foresee with it is that, being a cob, she might decide to lean on it! She rarely gets strong but I guess she couldn't lean on a waterford so it might be a possibility if the mullen mouth doesn't suit.
 
It is worth checking that the bit is not too low in her mouth which might encourage her to get her tongue over the bit.

One of the horses at the yard regularly tries to get his tongue over the bit and he is a PSG dressage horse with a very experienced rider. Her other horse does not do it so I guess it is just something that some horses do.
 
It could be that the bit is too low in the pony's mouth.

But some ponies learn that this is a good evasion and do it quite habitually. A flash noseband would probably stop it, but ask your instructor to have a look before you change things.
 
Thanks eggs and Katt. I thought the bit was ok in her mouth because her mouth was slightly wrinkled but, as I say, I am a novice so definitely not experienced in these matters and will ask instructor for her opinion tomorrow.

I wondered about a flash, but I will seek advice first as I don't really want to strap her mouth shut if she doesn't need it and it is must my fault for not making sure bit is sitting in her mouth properly
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Just to add also that I do appreciate all the good advice that I am being given on here. It is hard when you are inexperienced and trying to do your best but not always knowing if you are on the right lines
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Thanks Colleen. I have had the dentist out recently and he floated her teeth so I think (hope) they are ok. If a change of bit /alteration of bridle etc doesn't do the trick though, I am definitely not averse to calling him out again. I love this pony so much that I want to do everything right for her. She's my pet really (even though she officially belongs to my daughter)
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I've just tried my horse in a borrowed drop noseband (well, a micklem multibridle, but it effectively works like a drop nose band) as he's had a habit of being a real head fidgit (only 4 yo though) and has got his tongue over the bit on a couple of occasions (as an evasion). He was like a different horse! Really quiet and relaxed. I've never really used a flash, but would always go for a drop noseband over a flash now. I've a really good instructor whos explained to me the differences of how they work.
 
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