Bit chewing

[Equestrianette]

I recently bought an 8yo OTTB mare that was a bit neglected and left on the back burner for a long time. She is super super sweet. So very kind. When I picked her up she was a body score of 3 so immediately went to providing her a better diet of unlimited forage, ulcer treatment, and a dentist appointment. Dentist made the remark that it looked like her teeth have never been done (I’m sure they must have been done at the track). Said she didn’t have a bit seat, and it was visually apparent that her pallet was longer than her front teeth since she is a cribber. When she filled out a bit I began doing 30 minute walks with her under saddle with a hackamore because of her teeth situation and the soonest I was able to get her in was 1/5 because of the holiday.
Her feet were also horribly neglected and looked like they’d been ignored for at least 6 months or more, legit flip flops for feet. So hoof rehab is ongoing and improving leaps and bounds (thank you to my farrier wife!) I mention this to illustrate what’s happening. Before her teeth were done and on our straight line walks that had the intent of establishing relaxation while slowly developing fitness in a way that won’t hurt her, sometimes she would get distracted and trip with her front feet. Well you can imagine that sometimes you accidentally catch them with the rein when this happens (even with no bit in her mouth). She was very, very, very reactive when this would happen. Like I can just imagine how hard her teeth would clank together or cut her when this happened which is a simple explanation.

Now her teeth have been done and they’re beautiful and her mouth has been healing for almost a month now. I put her in a leather bit simply because she is so buttery soft in the contact and with how reactive she is with her mouth I wanted to ensure her comfort. I’m still not asking for much in our ridden work, still straight lines with about 5-7 minutes of trot in a 40 minute session.

We are still very much getting to know each other and she’s pretty much a blank slate, before she hit the back burner there was a really nice video of her being started over some poles and a cross rail and some little starter level XC fences.

After finding out my main horse has arthritis to his C6C7 facets I can only imagine the state of this mare’s neck. She cribs from the base of her neck. I’m wondering if some of the reactivity she’s experiencing is secondary to that. What she does is she will fling her neck back towards me, and if someone isn’t careful that’s a recipe for a black eye. Her saliva will fly backwards in the air as she flings her head. Sometimes when she’s hot/tense/upset/spooky her go to is to come up in the front. I’m fairly certain that’s how she ditched her front shoe recently She almost shuffles her front feet and hops in the front like threatening to rear but doesn’t. She has a vet appointment with the amazing vet that finally got to the bottom of my other horse’s 2 year long mystery lameness. She’s going on the 21st for a full work up. I can imagine her neck is riddled with arthritis from cribbing.

Something I’ve noticed though is that when we’re walking and warming up she’s chewing on her leather bit. I know bit chewing is sometimes a desirable trait, I know she’s relaxed and her demeanor is happy. I would hate to take this soft bit away from her but I don’t think she would appreciate the bit falling apart in her mouth either!

While she is buttery soft in the contact she isn’t so much accepting a consistent contact yet and I’m not demanding that of her. I just try to have her settle into something light, she goes very much off my seat so aside from steering I try to let her have her head as much as possible and I’m confident that with fitness and strength this will resolve. She really is such a doll and loves to please and is polishing up just like a diamond in the rough. Maybe this leather bit will hold out until the 21st when we get some answers and maybe she will also need some injections to get her comfortable. I have a lot of bits to choose from in my collection but wanted to ask here which direction you would go. If anything she has a tendency to duck behind but she understands contact, reaches down and forward for the bit, she will probably get a 9 on her free walk, and she has a stretchy trot to die for. I just don’t want to offend her mouth or set her back.

(Pic from 1/11)

[IPEsq]

Even though TBs tend to have smaller heads, I’ve found several of them like a fat hollow mouth eggbutt snaffle. I had a TB who chewed through many a hotdog rubber bit when he was a youngster. I’d go for something she can’t chew through for the time being, though might take some experimenting.

[fivestrideline]

Careful with that leather bit - I’ve seen a horse bite clean through one that didn’t have a core and left the rider with no bit and no brakes. Bad situation. The bit was in fine condition when they tacked up that day. Just a heads up!

I have a mouthy one (his anxiety seems to come out through his mouth), so I have him in a cheap Centaur Mullen with the baby port/tongue relief. It’s a knock-off Bomber I think, and he seems to like it more than the oval double joint. My more educated horse shares the same opinion, so I think they like the stability.

I’ve heard the Myler MB02 or whatever is a good one, as well as a Boucher cheek or full cheek.

[Posting_Trot]

You could also try a HS Duo bit or a Nathe. Leather bits are great, but they invite chewing, and they will get bitten through eventually. The Duo and the Nathe are both soft plastic bits (not hard like a Happy Mouth), and they have a steel cable in the middle of them (completely encased by the plastic). So they have more durability than a leather bit but they’re both easy on the mouth.

Here’s an example of the Duo:
HS Duo loose ring

[goodhors]

We do old-fashion “mouthing” a horse to get them accepting, fairly quiet when wearing a bit. Bridling is not a reason to get excited. We bridle up the horse with a smaller diameter 2 or 3piece, 3/8 thickness, ring sided snaffle. Bit is wrapped with fruit roll-up or fruit-by-the-foot as the reward for getting bit into mouth. Licking the fruit gets horse working the bit, saliva going. Bridle is fitted to have bit just touching lip corners, no wrinkles. Horse wears bridle in the stall for maybe 30 minutes to start. Not using very thick mouthpiece because horse may not know how to manage tongue and bit, mouth is too full. Thin mouthpieces can bite into bars sharply. Horse gets pain, not comfortable in his reactions. So the medium thick mouthpiece is fairly comfortable for most horses. Make sure bit is wide enough. Measure, don’t guess on width.

Horse may get tongue over the bit, you can help get it back under a couple times. Then if horse can’t fix tongue himself, let the bridle out a hole or two, to help him succeed. Tight bit prevents him ever getting tongue back under bit. He will learn to hold bit to prevent mouthpiece banging teeth. Thumb in lip corner to open jaw FIRST for unbridling will help. We work up to a couple hours of wearing time over time. We will add a little hay in a few days, to teach horse how to manage the bit comfortably eating, get a drink while wearing the bit.

Our eventual goal is horse holding bit quietly while bridled. Getting bridle on is easy with fruit reward! DO take the time to put thumb in lip corner to open teeth to remove bit. Some horses will clamp teeth together, not open after holding bit in place. You DO NOT want bit clanking on teeth during removal. Heads fly up, mouth may stay clenched on the bit, so horse gets bad about unbridling.

This time wearing bridle is a training step for mental quietness. Bridling happens, does NOT mean he needs to get excited about it. At times more will happen to horse, get saddled, go to be lunged, other times horse is left just standing in the stall. Our horses in use, may need to stand around quietly for long times. Chomping continuously is VERY irritating to a rider or driver waiting their turn!

I do feel this time spent mouthing the horse helps them be less reactive to rein signals as training continues. Well worth the time spent to get chewing resolved.

Make sure there is nothing bit or bridle can get snagged on in the stall.

[ridernc]

As mentioned above, the Herm Sprenger Duo was a game changer for my sensitive mare. She prefers a fixed cheek, so I opted for the eggbutt over the loose ring. If you’re worried about chewing, you can apply bit tape over the mouthpiece to preserve it’s lifespan, though I will say my mare stopped chewing almost entirely after switching to the Duo.

[Equestrianette]

Miss ma’am approved of the bomber happy tongue. I was reluctant because it’s such a big bit and I thought it would be too bulky for her. She was super steady in it and accepted a nice even and consistent contact without going up and down in the contact. Wee!

[ake987]

She’s super cute! My sensitive OTTB loves the Bombers moulded mullen. It is softer material than a Nathe or Duo and much more flexible. It was so flexible I was shocked to find out it does have a steel core. It is also thin and angled at 45 degrees to rest kindly on the tongue.

My horse chewed the crap out of a leather bit, but has not chewed up the Bombers.

Bombers Moulded Range - Mullen