Have seen great improvement with tall horses simply by standing on a stool when bridling. The tall guys get to the point they have had enough of poking, pulling and angst from people reaching up to bridle them.
Just thank about that for a while and try standing on something when bridling. Might be as simple as that.
Dentist is coming out today for full exam and whatever treatment necessary (expecting at least a regular float is needed). Unfortunately I can’t get away from work to be there while he is getting done. I picked up frosting and sugar cubes to try some of the things in this thread this weekend. Also have a (allegedly) chew proof rope bit arriving today as he is quite content to put lead ropes and such in his mouth and has a very good set of brakes.
We’ve tried a 3 piece fixed ring bit (Fager Sally I believe), loose ring nathe, loose ring leather (he marked it up too much that I’m concerned about chewing through it), and now the 3 piece broken happy mouth type D ring. Same reaction to all, well actually he was worst with the metal bit.
I do keep the bit lower than most in the mouth (not two wrinkles more like maybe 1 wrinkle).
He is an angel for being haltered. Really he is good all the way up until opening his mouth for the bit - he then goes lock jaw and nose straight in the air. Once the bit is in he will chew but otherwise seems fine. No strong reactions undersaddle to rein pressure (again, this is a green horse so not a ton of rein pressure being used but he does give laterally, turn, stop etc fine). I’m thinking a chiro if the dentist doesn’t turn anything up to see about a TMJ issue?
I think/ hope I know how to bridle correctly 
I’ve only ever had this issue with one other horse (another giant baby horse) and have ridden likely 30ish or so different horses of varying brokeness, ages, disciplines, etc. I don’t think it’s operator error but am happy to learn a new way to bridle! I prefer to gather the noseband and throatlatch with the crown in my right hand over the poll and guide bit in with the left but have also done cheek pieces over the nose with bit in the left hand. I’ve had marginally more success with this horse with the cheek pieces over nose method.
A stool is definitely a worthy idea! He is a younger dude so part of it may be that he is having his teenage “no thanks” moment. He is still getting used to the sport horse type routine vs track routine. For the most part he’s onboard but it’s all still pretty new (off track in Dec, coming back into regular sport work as off March with just turnout between).
Ah! This is a TB?
I think you’ll definitely have more luck with that rope bit; that was a good call. Mine goes in leather. TBs seem to like that softer bit.
Keep us posted–hoping he comes back comfortable from the dentist and is more enthusiastic about the rope bit!
Also think about how you take the bridle off. Once you remove from over the ears, wait for your horse to spit the bit out and then help to ensure that it doesnt bang the teeth.
Yes, this is gonna be your more successful method and use the thumb on the left hand to open the mouth while you hold the nose down with the cheek pieces in the right hand. Also you may want to consider raising your bit if it is too low, it is possibly bumping him in the teeth. Hopefully dental exam doesn’t show anything too interesting like leftover wolf teeth or something like that.
From the sounds of it, you seem to have mostly tried jointed bits (except the leather one). Have you tried unjointed?
An old trainer swore by this bit - said every horse loved it and she worked primarily with Thoroughbreds, so maybe worth a shot:
Also, as stated above - play with where the bit is in the mouth. If it hits his teeth, he may not like it. We are working with a young horse now and we think the bit is to wide and the joint ends up sitting uncomfortably on his tongue…his head is so much smaller than everyone else’s, we keep having to buy new stuff for him.
Ding ding ding! He had 1 wolf tooth but BO couldn’t remember which side (several horses got done today). I’m betting it was the left as I felt a sharper tooth lower (closer to the nose) down the gum line than I would have expected a week or so ago on that side. He was very much over it when it came to anything near his face, even somewhat for haltering. So we worked on standing stock still for mounting and standing for bathing instead of doing any of work with lowering his head into a halter to preface bridling.
The rope bit came and it had a larger diameter than I expected but is bendier than the leather while still feeling a bit more robust than the leather. I’m excited to get it in his mouth in a few days.
The nathe bit and leather bit are both Mullen mouths, the happy mouth style and traditional metals bits were jointed.
My colt likes to take his nose and flip the bit up in the air. That’s his evasion to taking the bit. In his case he likes to chew on everything and at one point cut his gum probably on the metal no climb fencing and after that he no longer wants to be bridled.
It doesn’t appear to be a discomfort in his case except for the memory of a cut long since healed.
I can get the bridle on with persistence and sometimes putting it on when he wants to go out of his paddock makes his acceptance of the bit easier.
Since you mentioned a nose and I’d consider taking it off if possible for a few weeks. It is way less extra leather when bridling and I feel like it really simplifies being able to bridle on/off/on/off a handful of times before bridling for good. If you really need it then it is typically easy to pop on once the bit hanger and browband are on.
Hopefully the wolf tooth resolution will be a big help.
Have you checked his poll? Have the vet take a look.
I wanted to post an update and close out this thread. The horse is greatly improved with the bridling process shortly after getting his teeth floated. I continue to work with him in the way demonstrated by Warwick Schiller and can now bridle him fairly easily. I would still like for him to have his head a bit lower as he is eventually going to become a lesson horse so needs to be able to be bridled by short humans. He also got seen by the chiropractor today, who noted that he had tension and misalignment issues in his poll and TMJ. Hopefully there will be even more improvement when we get back to riding after his adjustment!
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