Young horse grinds teeth halfway through ride

[JB]

What breed? PSSM1 can start to show up as discomfort as a work session progresses.

Hopefully the grinding towards the end of 40 minutes simply means she’s tired and getting tense. It’s hard to know what real base of fitness she has, but it may simply not be enough for the work being asked.

I’d back off to 30 minutes for a few weeks and see what happens. Very correct work from the minute you get on, and that might mean simply asking her to march along at the walk for 10 minutes to loosen up and start getting her back swinging, so “correct” there means no slugging along.

Last 5-10 minutes is more free walking. The middle 10 -15 minutes is more concentrated work suitable for her level of fitness and education.

See how that goes, and if she stops grinding, then gradually increase the middle work time, always increasing time OR intensity but not both in the same ride

[lorilu]

My older guy did this when he was really working over his back and engaging those hind legs. He found it hard although he was very fit and knew the task. He didn’t so much grind teeth as chew on the bit.

[Snow_Mass]

Have her saddle checked for fit. I had a young one start grinding and it stopped with a saddle re-fit.
If the fitter isn’t readily available, switch out the saddle with others in the tack room and see how she responds.

[starsandsun]

Also wanted to add that if there is tightness in front of the saddle, I have used an inhand side pass 4-5 steps each direction before mounting. My boy LOVES this so it must feel good for him to open up those areas.

[OceansAway]

This could be a number of things. It could be discomfort starts setting in after a particular amount of time has gone by, like the saddle is shifting or even just getting on your horse’s nerves after a bit, ulcers feeling worse as the ride goes on from acid splash due to increased movement, fatigue, ring sour behavior, or general stress from what is being asked. I hate to say it, but in my relatively limited experience, all behavior problems have ended up being pain-related. Ulcers being most common, and then things like soft tissue injuries that were undetected, causing pain and stress, and spinal issues. It’s like there is a threshold for pain and once they go past that, they display stress behaviors, like teeth grinding or worse.

[Vyce]

A lot of good advice from more experienced equestrians than me. I hope you can find a solution OP! I’m only posting because I stumbled upon a video on youtube that reminded me of this thread so I thought I would share it just in case it turns out to be useful to somebody. Lady with a FEI dressage horse who had a teeth grinding problem. After going down a rabbit hole (ruling out pain, etc) she removed his noseband and that solved their problem.

Why this FEI horse doesn’t wear a noseband

It’s not something I would have thought of- it seems unusual to me? Which is why I thought I’d share it, because I found it different and interesting (and related to the topic at hand- solutions for teeth grinding. Though I think this would probably be a rare/ unique solution? Like if/when all else fails and all other more practical reasons have been ruled out and owner/ rider will try whatever to solve the problem?)

[hillary_again]

Second the suggestion about your saddle. I had this issue and it was my saddle. It shifted and was pressing down on my mare’s withers after about 20 min of riding. Literally pressing down.

[Cowgirl]

My 5 year old rubs his mouth on his front boots CONSTANTLY whenever we are stopped. He has some allergies, so I tried every type of bit metal, thinking that was it. He goes in a stainless steel bit. Then I decided the rings were irritating him, so we tried eggbut, loose ring, full cheek and dee. Then I thought maybe it was the bit butter, so I tried two types of bit butter and then no bit butter. Now, I am convinced it is the noseband, the flash or something else. I can fit a hand under his noseband and flash, so it’s not too tight. So I tried raising and lowering it. No change. I am next going to remove the noseband…I am open to the idea, however, that it is just a habit now.

[Go_Fish]

Check her palate. I had a gelding with a low palate. The minute you took hold of his mouth he’d start grinding his teeth. He was a hunter though, and the Myler Comfort Snaffle D-Ring solved the problem. The bit doesn’t break in the middle and works off the tongue. I think they have then in loose ring snaffles, as well.

[Cowgirl]

Turns out it was the flash! Buh-bye flash.