Ive been saddling him up with a lami cell half pad on top of a regular pad and it has helped his back. Not riding just LOTS of ground work for now, he doesnt give a rats ass about the pressure of a rope halter. I had to use a chain over the nose to stop him from trying to jerk the lunge line out of my hands. But good news is he does a walk and trot on command and a good woah at any speed. I have taught him to ground tie and pay attention to only me when im working him. Without a doubt he was being abused by the track he was at; he hates his ears being touched, will freak the hell out if you pick up a lunging whip and panics if hes tied. So ive been training him with that in mind.
We have been using molasses to help a bit shy horse. We still have a ways to go, but he now won’t try to bolt away from you when you come towards him with a bit…winning! haha.
Did the vet check for wolf teeth?
If he was at the Track, did he race?
I used molasses and simple syrup for one of mine, too. It definitely worked - but what worked better was when someone showed me an alternate method of bridling. Apparently she wasn’t bit shy - she just had no idea what I was asking. 
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Horses won’t open their mouths if the bit has hit their teeth when the bridle is being taken off.
I presume you know how to hold the bit so you can slip your thumb in the correct place to open their mouth as usual.
So as above use something on the bit to encourage them to open their mouth and be very careful taking the bridle off.
I was told he was just used at the track as a pony, where they tie the racing horse to the pony’s saddle and he walks the racer to the gate. I looked up his registered name and couldnt find anything.
Yes im very cautious of this since i have a mare who hated taking a bit for this reason, so with taking it out more slowly and letting it come down the front of her face. But he immediately throws his head up when dropping the bit and wont pull it back down for me, i havent heard that awful sound of the bit hitting his teeth though. Im definitely gunna give the syrup a go though!
The vet was out and looked at his teeth for his barn eating habit 😬 his teeth are good, my barn on the other hand… dish soap and no chew spray dont deter him…
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Are you his first home since the track? How long has he been there, in total?
Was this horse checked for ulcers? What’s his turnout/social situation?
Honestly from the bits and bobs you’re describing, he sounds like a confused and frustrated horse. He may have never been lunged in his life. He’s also probably very used to working long days with a set routine, and that routine has probably been completely upended with you. Plus you have the tack issue.
I’d be careful of assuming the horse was abused - a lot of horses come from the racetrack knowing a certain set of rules, cues, and routines, and they can seem kind of nutty when the world turns inside out on them. It’s possible he wasn’t there long and didn’t hack it as a pony horse, and that’s why he was for sale at all, but that job requires a bit of steadfastness, understanding tying, etc. I’ve seen multiple horses get the “he was abused” label when I knew their prior owners and work life, and it was not in any way true (including a horse who had been turned out for years to “babysit” weanlings and yearlings… apparently that was an abusive home). The horses were just reacting to handling that was confusing or frustrating to them, or were higher energy horses for whom the rider was a mismatch.
If he’s headshy, I’d worry about that before even trying to get the bridle/bit on again. It can take a few weeks to work through, but I always had luck just “expanding the comfort zones” while grooming - work right up to the area where they get nervous, then back off and reassure them. Over time you can expand the comfort zone.
Either way, there’s kind of a laundry list of possibilities here, physical, mental, etc. Kind of above the pay grade of an internet forum…
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i was told he was at the track till he was 7 and the lady i bought him from had him a year, so could just be he’s used to a different kind of training. He knew to circle at the end of the lunge rope, but i could tell him being lunged was done out of frustration on the previous owners behalf. Like he would just start running in circles as fast as he could and the first couple times he’d get to a certain spot and try to run off. So it seems if they were getting frustrated with him not listening they’d make him run circles.
We had the vet out to run him over with them knowing what happened, he said he believed it was because of the saddle not fitting right.
Ive also been getting him used to the idea off having his ears touched, lots of rubbing and petting above and around them.
I agree with the comments above and completely agree with the Warwick Schiller youtube video’s. Def go check those out! And I know how you feel, you want to fix the horse not get rid of it. It’s hard sometimes to give up, like you failed yourself or the horse. Just make sure you are making the best decision for you, we can’t help you with that. I say sell the horse but I know if I was in your shoes I wouldn’t do that.
When bridling him, with the headstall in your right hand, place it over his poll like normal but with your left hand put it on top of his nose and put your fingers past the bridge of the nose so you can pull his nose around to the left (towards you). You want his neck to almost be wrapping around you, and with your left fingers on his nose like that, he won’t want to fight you much. If he moves his head just push in with your fingers a bit to bring his head back around. This is a sensitive part of their nose so you don’t want to be too rough here but it really doesn’t take much, softer is usually better as long as you give them relief as soon as they move their head back. So keep the head bent around and then put the bit in, just keep that head there and don’t fight much. I’ve found this works really well on those that won’t bridle well, now all my horses automatically bring their heads to the left and down for me to bridle. Hope that helps.
Go watch those videos on youtube! Good luck!
You may want to change to a rubber bit until he stops throwing his head.
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If other trainers won’t touch him, this speaks volumes! Send him down the road pronto. This horse is dangerous. Your safety and family is more important.
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I value my health and well being too much to risk life and limb over a dink. I would have him down the road, so fast it would make your head spin. Take him to an auction or put him down. There are too many nice horses out there to waste your time and risk your safety on one like this.
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