I’m just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this. My mare doesn’t salivate so bits chafe her badly. I’ve tried gumbits and other treats. These things do not prompt continuous salivation. I can get around it somewhat with a LOT of Bit Butter and also Bit Gel (both at the same time) and a leather bit drenched in oil. I don’t have any Sealtex laying around from back in the day and the current bit tapes aren’t working. The horse is quite strong and gets stronger with any sort of mouth pain. Leather bits have helped me actually use a bit for greater and greater periods of time without injury but it’s not great to be so limited. For jumping I use a hackamore. I don’t love that and it’s not going to work at higher levels unless I can figure out the perfect pressure. So far it’s either too much or not enough. So I am hoping to find answers for salivation. I’ve talked to 3 vets and none of them have ideas for this.
She has not had any trouble like choking (although she soaks everything she eats in her water) and she drinks well and sweats normally (although she did have a short bout of anhidrosis during her first summer in the South - which went away after drinking beer - 1 bottle 2x daily - for a couple days)
Ideas or experience anyone?
I’ve always heard that copper bits promote salivation, but I never had a dry-mouthed horse to test it on.
A mentos mint right after bridling gets my normal horses salivating. For the hunt horses that get bit rubs I use Vaseline before bridling. Long ago a local farrier would drill holes in a hollow mouth snaffle. You would then inject molasses into the bit (before putting it on) and the horse would suck on the bit. Good luck!
Doesn’t salivate as in a medical issue? Or doesn’t salivate as a function of a tense jaw that isn’t moving at all?
this makes it sound like there’s a lot of tension and perhaps she needs to go back to some remedial work to learn how to soften her poll and jaw - ?
At one point I believe there was something like a “fruit roll up” for bits? Might be a less messy way to encourage the same thing?
I got those kids snack fruit rolls, super cheap at the supermarket and put them around the bit on a green horse. Much less messy than molasses!
Have you tried a Nathe bit or a HS Duo? They’re softer, plastic bits (softer than Happy Mouths), and they come in different mouthpieces as well as different cheek pieces, so maybe less limiting than leather bits. You can see some of the different options for Nathe:
https://www.horsebitbank.com/brands/nathe
As usual, the COTH crew does not disappoint. Love the fruit roll ups idea! Have tried copper. I can’t say I won’t try the molasses thing ever - but definitely hoping for less complication! For soft bits, I tried Winderen gel bits (both mouth pieces) and she thought that was a joke. I also did the Winderen pelham for a couple rides but it kind of defeats the purpose.
JB’s question about medical or tension - I think it’s medical but I can’t say I know. I’ve had to keep it very simple with her but it didn’t start paying off until I started working in a hackamore. Returning to a bit for short periods of time and she will accept a half halt instead of leaning on the release at the end of it. Now she can do an entire test without leaning hard enough to get injured. As strong as she is, the free walk is always super relaxed neck all the way out, have to tap her with the stick to keep her forward enough. Pick up some contact and she’s back to pulling downward. For awhile I thought there was just something wrong with her. Like neuro. Or teeth. Then I realized she wasn’t salivating… The chiro said her poll was bad this time. Post adjustment she’s pretty much the same. I’ll be thinking about the poll/jaw softening my upcoming rides. Thanks for that 
You mention you have to tap her in the free walk to keep her forward…have you worked on making sure she is working back to front in general? Get that hind end under and the back up a bit and she still don’t salivate?
Have you tried a bit with a sweet iron mouthpiece?
It sounds like there’s either a basic training issue, or she’s really got some TMJ-type issue which is preventing her from being soft and supple in her poll and jaw, which is then preventing her from salivating properly. It isn’t likely a primary salivation medical issue, that’s just a by-product.
If you have to keep tapping to keep her forward in a free walk, she’s not engaged. Relaxation in the context of work, isn’t just the lack of tension or resistance. It’s about appropriate tension in the muscles such that they aren’t resisting BUT they’re also ready to make a change in an instant - that’s the (simplified) basics of impulsion
Supple front to back, so you can ride back to front.
JB Yes the goal exactly. She gets tapped in the free walk because that good balanced work is tiring and she stretches beautifully because I’m on the right track. We score pretty steady 8’s for walk and all the upward transitions and all the circles. She tries leaning on me on the straight-aways and will quit that when she takes more responsibility behind and doesn’t see a straightaway as a down hill. Or not. Today we were back in a bitless and she was magnificent. Not leaning at all. Even on the long sides. Metronome steady. Relaxed. Fluid. Would’ve scored low 20’s on the horse she was today. (Novice)
I think she grabs a bit because it causes her pain. And I think it causes her pain in part because she doesn’t salivate. When I jump her in a bit (any bit, any material, I have them ALL), she spends the whole ride trying to go down through the bit.Jumps flat and low. Like a missile. It’s a dreadful ride.
Put her in a bitless or a weak hackamore at home (she needs more at a show) and she is light as a feather and the nicest horse I have ever jumped in my life. So yes for sure, I can ride better. No doubt about that. But there is something else at play here when she is an overbearing strong hot freight train in a bit and a brilliant happy playful ride without one.
I think you have it a little backwards. Most likely, she isn’t salivating because the bit is uncomfortable and it causes her to lock up her jaw and poll, which all leads to her leaning and resisting and full of tension. I highly doubt lack of salivation is the catalyst, I think it’s a symptom.
It sounds like there needs to be more investigation into her mouth, jaw, and poll area.
I bet $100 she salivates when she eats
Definitely!
Thanks for helping me think through all this.
I’ll report back if I get anywhere/learn anything.
Well, the “salivates when she eats” literally helps. I have been feeding her soft peppermints throughout the ride and it’s working!! No injuries to the mouth with a bit for 3 days. And bonus, she’s not walking off when I tighten the girth because she’s looking for a peppermint. 
