What does 'crossing their jaw' mean?

From the ground it's not always obvious, esp if they are wearing a flash and therefore crossing their jaw without opening their mouth. The lower jaw will slide to one side, I'll try to find a picture, my horse does it when she's have a tantrum.
 
Ok that helps a bit - basically my mare seems to pull the bit into one side of her mouth, so that one side is right against her face and there is a lot sticking out the other side. Is that a result of her crossing her jaw?
 
Well it can be to an extent, the horse does generally transfer its weight onto one side of it's mouth while corssing the jaw which can make the bit appear out one side of the mouth. But she could also just be locking her jaw against the bit but not crossing it causing the same visual effect. What bit and noseband do you ride in and under what circumstances does she do this with the bit?
 
She does it when she wears a single jointed dutch gag and cavesson noseband, which we use for jumping, and it only happens when she gets strong.
 
Yeah it really could be either or then, she will be able to lock against single joint or cross her jaw against a cavesson.

Do you have an instructor you could speak to about how to manage her when she does it? I would be asking for help as when you're onboard it's not easy to tell exactly what they're doing, my girl crosses her jaw and I know that becasue she is polite enough to twist her neck and show me!

There are a few bits out there that help when they lock against the bit, I used to use a roller D for a horse who 'took hold' but if you need better brakes you could maybe try a waterford mouth piece in the dutch gag. It's cheaper to change a bit before a noseband so maybe try that before trying a grackle or flash.

Sorry I couldn't be more help!
 
If the bit is a single link, she may be trying to avoid the big jabbing her in the roof of her mouth and pinching her tongue.

Presumably her teeth had been checked?

I would try her in a linked bit such as a french link or a lozenge bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top