Toung over the bit! Please help

[JAKSTER]

Hi
I have just started breaking a pony and he is putting his toung over the bit all the time. I have started long reining him now and the problem is getting worse. So i need to do something to stop this asap before this becomes the norm for him. Please help.

 

[dcp]

Hi, Please don't just take my advice because I've only been a horse owner for 5 months but.... my horse was doing much the same and my instructor advised me to put a flash noseband on him. I don't have it really tight though.

 

[eventerbabe]

a flash may help. you can also get the things that fit round the actual bit, like rubber dummy things. but i hate them as my horse has a small mouth and was very uncomfortable with one on. what bit do you use? my horse used to stick his tongue over the bit but stopped when we changed from a straight bar to a jointed bit.

 

[dcp]

Ah interesting eventerbabe. Are you talking about bit rings? Charlie has these his previous owner put them on because he was getting his tongue right over the bit. I told a livery this the other week and she said that was not what bit rings are for they are just to stop rubbing.

 

[eventerbabe]

no, this thing is a big lump of rubber that attatches round the centre of the bit and is actually in the horses mouth. it reduces the amount of room the horse has to manouver its tongue over the bit (i think!) but i only used it once and never again. i thought toby was gonna stop breathing!!

EDIT: bit rings will do nothing to stop a horse getting its tongue over the bit, they protect the corners of the mouth and help stop the bit being pulled through. are you sure it wasn't an australian cheeker noseband? you see them on racehorses. it looks like bit rings that have strips of rubber that meet over the nose and it fastens onto the headpiece of the bridle. it can help raise the bit in the horses mouth, discouraging them from putting their tongue over it.

http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Park/5738/bridles.htm scroll down and its the second pic from the bottom, and the only colour photo on the site.

 

[cvb]

are you sure the bit is fitted and adjusted properly ? and what did you do to introduce the bit ?

(and what sort of bit is it ?)

 

[horse luver876]

tounge over the bit

you could try using a hack amore on him my lesson horse does that and my instructor put a hck on him and he is so much more responsive

 

[JAKSTER]

are you sure the bit is fitted and adjusted properly ? and what did you do to introduce the bit ?

(and what sort of bit is it ?)

It is a rubber snaffle. Yes of course i am sure it is adjusted properly....

 

[cvb]

you'd be surprised

And to introduce it you..... ???

 

[Mehitabel]

how long was the pony bitted before you started longreining off it?

does he put his tongue over when there's no pressure on the bit?

what type of pony?

what mouth conformation - low/high palate, fat/thin tongue?

age?

 

[dcp]

Eventerbabe nope it's bit rings. Strange the more I learn the more I realise somethings I was told wasn't exactly correct. The flash has been good for us and as I say I don't have it really tight.

 

[jinglejoys]

Blue used to do this when I started-never worried me or her and she went well (Driving) Then people started to tell me she shouldn't be doing it and we went down the road of bigger ports and eventually flash nosebands till her mouth was virtually tied up!
She got ****ed off I got more neurotic about it (Mainly because of the things I was being told to do which went against the grain)In the end it got to a point where I was more worried about watching for her tongue than watching what she was doing and it completely spoiled everything.
Her tack got stolen so as the experiance had lost its fun I haven't bothered getting anymore and she hasn't been driven since.
If we do start again-sod it!-if she wants to put her tongue over the bit she can as long as she works and enjoys it but we'll probably go bitless anyway.

 

[JAKSTER]

how long was the pony bitted before you started longreining off it?

does he put his tongue over when there's no pressure on the bit?

what type of pony?

what mouth conformation - low/high palate, fat/thin tongue?

age?

Hi i bitted him for 1 month every second day before longreining. He does not put tongue over when no pressure.(maybe sometimesbut not much) He is 4 yrs 122cm show pony. Dont know bout palate / has thin tongue.

 

[Mehitabel]

so he's a little chap, probably with a little mouth and a fine muzzle. when the bit is in, next time, see if you can lift up the side of his lip and see how much room ther is above the bit - whether it's touching the palate or whether there's space above it.
it sounds likely that when there is contact on the bit, moving it in the mouth, he just hasn't got room for it, so is putting his tongue over to stop feeling like he has such a mouthful.

try a narrower bit - a french link with a narrow mouthpiece and preferably a lozenge, rather than normal link, which might be too long for a narrow mouth.

i had the same problem with one i backed last year - a 12hh NF mare. she had a tiny mouth and a fat tongue, so with most bits she just didn't have room once there was contact on the bit and it wasn't just sitting there. we use a FL bridoon now, with a shallow link in the middle. she was also happy in a nathe bit, but after she ate 2 of them we had to go with metal. i like the nathe bits as opposed to the happy muth ones - they're a smoother material, so no dragging on the lips which can be a problem with rubber or happy mouth, and also they're narrower in the middle so there is more room in a little gob.

 

[Portia]

Hi, have to say this worked for me. Mine has a wide mouth with a low palate and large fat tongue, after a few attempts and advice I put her in a loose ring 14mm tranz link (like a frenck link but with the central lozenge at a different angle) . She's much less mouthy with the bit and happier to accept a contact.