wet mouths

[traceyell]

i was always under the impression that a horse with a wet mouth was happy in its bit and if it started to be dry it wasnt happy anymore but a new instructor i am trying says this isnt true but in certain bits my horse has a really wet mouth especially a rubber pelham

 

[Diggerdog]

A very wet mouth can be a sign that the bit is restricting the horse's tongue so much that it can't swallow. This is most common with straight bar or mullen mouth bits.

Rubber pelhams can be quite bulky and could well be restricting your horse's tongue, especially if he has a small mouth.

 

[0]

Excessive frothing is a sign of pain. In an attempt to escape this pain, the tongue thrashes about and the jaw becomes stiff and so saliva builds up.

 

[Baileyhoss]

oh i'm confused now too. I had my horse in a NS baucher, which he never quite accepted, he would have a little moisture on his lips, but never any more than that, but was always a little resistant, rarely softening and taking it forward, working above or below it, chomping it with an inconsitent outline.

Tried a loose ring straight bar happy mounth, not hugely thick, the kind that has a gentle curve and 2 little knobbly bits on the mouthpeice and he's a dream, he's softening, works forward into it, relaxes his jaw, moves his back and shoulders more, allows me to have a nice lights still contact, but slobbers like a pig, which i thought was good.

Surely if I was causing him pain or stopping him swallowing he wouldn't go as well as he does?

F x

 

[xnaughtybutnicex]

if the horse is doing it too much it is usually because the mouthpiece is too thick.

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
Excessive frothing is a sign of pain. In an attempt to escape this pain, the tongue thrashes about and the jaw becomes stiff and so saliva builds up.

[/ QUOTE ]
Eh??? Not heard that one before.

But agree with the other post that excessive frothing can be a sign that the horse is having difficulty in swallowing.

 

[xnaughtybutnicex]

try using a thinner mouthpiece it may sort it.

 

[pinktiger]

[ QUOTE ]
Excessive frothing is a sign of pain. In an attempt to escape this pain, the tongue thrashes about and the jaw becomes stiff and so saliva builds up.

[/ QUOTE ]

never heard that before,

a horse i had, had a fantastic mouth and was lovely, and frothed like a frothing machine, i would deffo not say he was in any pain with it,,, seems a massive assumption imo, they were talking about it (commentators) JLC saying the pros and cons and never once mentioned pain think she would know (look at the olympic horses that were covered in froth)!!!

 

[traceyell]

now im totally confused might try the straight bar happy mouth bit though as it sounds just like what my neddy does in other bits