Youngsters and bridles.

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Welshie Squisher

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Hey all,

Things are going great with my new youngster other than 1 issue - grateful we only have the 1 :D

He's rising 3, and we are now working with him, little bits here and there.
He's difficult to get his bridle on. Firstly he tries to refuse to open his mouth, then when his bit is in he throws his head up before I even get chance to put it over his ears, then he just keeps throwing his head around. So it's a bit of a battle but so far I have succeeded.
This lad is a tad handy for throwing his head about and pushing you around with it, so I've had to be firm with him as I won't put up with this.
The bit I am using is a french link loose ring so nothing extreme.
Also, once his bridle is on he's fine. Leads fine in it, is cool with pressure, being lightly lunged, he basically isn't showing signs of pain although I haven't dismissed the option.

I am about to have the vet out to check both my youngsters mouths. I was hoping to wait till first week of April to tie in with vaccinations but I don't think I can wait this long.

My gut feeling is it's behavioural, if so any tips on how I improve things?
Perhaps perseverance is my only answer :)
It is frustrating though, he's so easy in every other respect but you'd think I was trying to chop his ears off!

Something else, passing the strap over his head to do his head colllar up also results in him chucking his head around.
I really need to sort his mane, a bridle path and his forelock but I've no chance at present.

Looking for ideas and tips? :D
 
Is it possible his wolf teeth may be bothering him? I guess when you get the vet to have a look they will tell you more. We had a youngster we could only ride bitless as she wouldn't have a bit in her mouth until her wolf teeth were removed.
 
Yes this is possible Orchardbeck. I will try and take a peek tomorrow.
I had to have my daughters cob's wolf teeth removed at 4, made a big difference.
If I do suspect this after looking, I will cease any attempts to put his bridle on until sorted as I don't want him to associate the bridle with pain :(
 
If he's just being silly about his bridle, put one hand wrapped around his nose and slip your thumb into the side of his mouth. It's where the bit would be so no teeth and just tickle his tongue a little. He should open his mouth and then gently slip the bit in.
 
I do that emma.is, and I can then get the bit in if I don't give in, I think the real problem starts when he starts throwing his head around, this starts as soon as I've got the bit in and it's not easy holding on and getting the bridle over his ears. But that's it, once over his ears it stops.
I will do some investigating with his ears, it may not even be mouth related.
 
Undo the cheek piece and slide the browband off that side too. Slide headpiece up his neck into position and then swivel the browband round across his forehead and slide the straps back through it. Use your thumb to encourage him to open his mouth and slide the bit in and then do the cheekpiece up. Easier than fighting with them at this early stage. I have a Clydie X who does not like the sensation of the headpiece going over his ears. Its a work-in-progress and we're nearly there, but the taking-apart method worked for us for a while.....

Definitely worth getting his teeth checked though. My other boy is 4 next month and his wolf teeth haven't even begun to emerge yet!
 
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Thanks Domane, will try that tomorrow.

I may also try without a bit on, as in pull the bridle over his ears without having put the bit into his mouth.

The two together may establish if the problem is mouth or ear related :)
 
The other thing you could do is if you have a headcollar with a throat-clip - when you are bringing in or turning out, rather than undo the head strap, you just unclip the throat part and put the headcollar on over his head/ears so that he gets used to that sensation.

I had a youngster who was incredibly good to handle in all respects.... except I'd totally forgotten about his ears and when I tried to bridle him (we were going in-hand showing) the second anything touched his ears he was evading. Spent a couple with him in the field, loose, gently rubbing and scritching the base of his ears daily and gradually building up to rubbing the actual ears themselves until I could gently rub inside the tips (which he really turned out to appreciate in fly season, once he'd got over himself!) Was MUCH better with the bridling after that.

Tis all about repetition and praise.
 
I remember watching a video on you tube of, I think, Michael Peace, working with a horse that was incredibly ear shy. He seemed to have loosened off, rather than undoing, the cheekpieces, held the bit in place once in the mouth, and then slipped the headpiece over the ears in one movement (with the ears being gently flattened backwards rather than 'bent' into the headpiece). I have one that has to have his bridle dismantled because of an ear twitch in an earlier life, I intend trying to work with him like this because at 17hh he is impossible to reach once he puts his head up.
 
I was having similar issues with my youngster. In the end I found putting my arm over the top of her hed rather than underneath (if that makes sense?) helped. But then my mare is only 14.2 so it might not help with something bigger lol x
 
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On another note, another mare of mine (6 at the time) refused to let me take her bridle off for a while, getting it on was no problem, but she would throw her head up and there was no chance, it used to take me hours to get it off. It seemed to disappear with time, I still don't know why she did it, I still have her now (at 22).
 
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