What else have you experimented with? Any management changes? Tack changes? Have you had a trainer ride him? What does you own instructor say about the situation? Are there certain circumstances that make him better or worse? Calm repetition, as bubblegum said, is often the key to lessening anxiety, especially if you can break down the tasks into manageable chunks without overwhelming him. Features: Stainless Steel Eggbutt No Hooks 14mm Comfort Snaffle Wide Barrel Copper Inlay Mouth 5' Item Specification: Size: 5, 5.5, 6. Again, not a fan of covering up issues but you might have to find at least some sort of "stop gap" at least for showing.īut the real cure is to address whatever is making him display the tension in the first place. Myler Eggbutt 14mm Comfort Snaffle Wide Barrel Stainless Steel Eggbutt without Hooks with Stainless Steel 14mm Comfort Snaffle Wide Barrel (MB 02-14mm, Level 1) Copper Inlay Mouth 5'. For some horses it's the cavesson that really causes the issue, especially if its put on tight and interferes with the molars being able to slide over each other and a properly adjusted drop should actually have less of that effect. Even better might be a good quality, sympathetically adjusted drop, especially one with the two buckle noseband adjustment. (I usually ride at home without but school in one intermittently - if the horse is working well putting one on is usually a non-issue.) I am REALLY, REALLY not a fan of flash nosebands but in this case a loose one MIGHT go some way to controlling things. My personal experience is often horses with mouth faults go better without nosebands, although that's not an option for competition. To some extent, it's unlikely that you'll cure it completely (the stresses of horse shows are notorious for bringing out old habits) but you should be able to retrain and manage the situation to help him a bit. I have to say though, I've never seen anyone take a short cut UNLESS the problem stems from a physical issue and even then, mouth faults tend to be like nail biting - they continue even when the original motivation goes away because, as you say, it becomes a general stress reaction. This is a real trick, by the way, and it takes a lot of slow careful work to teach a horse with a mouth fault to relax enough to take the hand. No offence, but as you know, he can't be working correctly and chomping at the same time so kerilli's comment about teaching him to take a soft, consistent contact is very valid. Interestingly one almost never sees them in western horses, which I think is quite telling. A port or some other form of very stable mouthpiece might help but there is the issue of it being dressage legal if that's a concern.ĭid he race? Mouth faults seem to be pretty common in ex-racers, although dressage horses, especially those who do a lot very young and certain personality types, often seem prone as well. Some very fussy horses prefer this set up, which is the purpose the bit was designed for in the first place by the way. You could try a "supported" bit like a Baucher or similar, which holds the bit off the tongue.
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