Hello. I have a horse that came a few months ago. She had been in a traditional dressage bridle but we switched to a Micklem right away because that is what we had. She does fine except just the past few weeks she tends to flap her lower lip while working. Do you think a more traditional bridle with a lower flash would help or could this be something else? Thank you for any help.
My guess is it’s something else but it could be the bridle.
If the behavior is truly new, I would check her teeth, ulcers and if something has change in its routine/training.
Sudden and new behavior are often caused by pain but it could be the mental workload that is too big as well. or the bridle who doesn’t fit correctly.
I’ve seen the lower lip flapping in stressed horses (ulcers) and from the result of abusive training (chain under - triangle while lunging agressively that involved lots of yanking…) where the horse had some little nerve damage. It all became permanent behavior after a while despite healing and good care.
It’s not a big deal in itself but just be carefull.
It’s not training or workload/stress. I suppose it could be ulcers. I’ll have to check into that. Thank you.
