What do u think of this? (bit & breathing)

D

dcp

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Mar 31, 2005
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Charlie breaths very harshly when on a fast canter up a hill. Yeah I know he's probably unfit but yesterday someone said something that made me think. Firstly the last time his breathing was a bit scary was when we were racing a little 12hh welshy up a hill. To be fair she is probably more unfit than Charlie but her breathing was fine and Charlie still had the energy to go and he was walking very fast afterwards (TB though!).

So anyway most of the time when I ride Charlie he sticks his tongue out. He is ridden in a straight bar loose ring thing. Someone said to my friend that straight bars hold the tongue down and put pressure on tendons or something used for breathing. He said that when the horse is working faster and needing more air this can cause the heavy breathing noise as they can't get enough.

So what do you think? The fact that Charlie sticks his tongue out suggests he's either evading me or there isn't enough room. I've always wanted to try him a jointed but but the last owner said he could get his tongue over them.
 
change his bit and see what you think :) i actually had more problems with toby getting his tongue over straight bars than i did jointed/port mouth bits.
 
i think you are right either he is finding there isnt enough room for his tongue or he is evading.

Phone the bit bank people and they might suggest something you can try without having to buy it incase it doesnt work for him.
 
B****cks to the 'bit restricting his breathing' part ;) the horse has a totally seperate airway in his nose, and his mouth has NOTHING to do with breathing (unless there is some pathology pushing up from his oral cavity in to the nasal pathways.) The 'tendons' ;) he meant are probably the larynx, and even then there is no way you can press or pull the tounge enough to alter the larynx to occlude the airways. Especailly as the tounge isn't strictly attatched to the larynx.

BUT the straight bar does seriously press and squash the touge, which many find uncomfortable. That tounge poking is probably trying to releive the pressure. Try him in a french link instead. Getting his tounge over the bit doesn't mean he can't feel you pulling, just that it alters the bit action. And it isn't all that common
 
NO, it's milder! It's a type of snaffle, just with a double joint rather thana single. For some reason everyone seems ot think the single jointed snaffle is the kindest! :confused: probably becasue that's what most/all riding school horses have. And a loose ring is probably more severe than an eggbutt due to the extra movement and possible pinching.

However, it dones't suit all horses - some do prefere the single joint. Only way is to try it and see.
 
I will do. Bits just go way over my head. I never thought that the rings at the end even made a difference. Can you buy a book about bits to help me understand?
 
Thanks I haven't had time to read all of it but I have a better understanding already. Will read the rest tomorrow. He is in a happy mouth but you can't get french links in the happy mouth range or I just can't find any. I'm not liking the idea of a single jointed doing that nut cracker thing. Still so much to learn
 
You can get double jointed happy mouth (oftne called lozenge) - Brodie had one.

Personally I don't really like happy mouths, cos they have a high 'drag' through the mouth and don't go all slippy and smooth like a good stainless steel does.

We might think that the happy mouths are softer, but really they have no 'give' nor bend in them compared to a proper rubber snaflle (which are unfortunatly often very thick). So not really much different from a stainless steel bi, except they're colder uless warmed up.
 
This is part of a report on what can happen with bits in relation to fast moving horses ,,,, a vet who has studied racehorses in particular.

Before going any further, it is necessary to define what is most commonly understood by the term ‘dorsal displacement of the soft palate.’ Typically, a horse with ‘DDSP’ is a racehorse that, if it were examined at rest, would be passed as fit to race. However, during a race this same horse will, from time to time (generally during the last third of a race),
develop severe respiratory distress. This is characterized by the sudden onset of a gurgling noise, like a death rattle, on expiration and/or inspiration, together with a marked reduction in speed or even a complete cessation of racing effort. In most cases, soon after coming to a standstill if not before, the noise will cease as abruptly as it commenced, and the horse will recover. A few horses, however, fall during the episode of asphyxia and break a leg in falling, while others suffer breakdowns &/or fatal pulmonary hemorrhages. In racing parlance, a ‘gurgler’ is said to have ‘swallowed its tongue.’ The almost ubiquitous use of a ‘tongue-tie’ is the trainer’s effort at prevention. The logic, efficacy, and humanity of this measure is open to question2 and has never been assessed but its use is now so habitual that a tongue strap or bandage has become accepted as part of the standard racing tack. In any given horse, episodes of asphyxia are intermittent and generally unpredictable. Immediately prior to an attack, a horse may or may not have been making an inspiratory roaring noise (laryngeal stridor).
Click to expand...

For more on this if you are interested you can look at www.bitlessbridle.com

Sounds possible LaurenC :confused: worth considering
 
Dorsal displacement is a farily uncommon and due to either the epiglottis (part of the larynx) being too far back, or the soft palate being too long (it's thought). Either way, the soft palate flaps up, blocking the trachea.

Has nothing to do with the bit at all, athough tying the tounge down kinda pulls the epiglottis forward. Even a straight bar wouldn't tie the tounge down enough to prevent it - the tounge ties need to be quite tight.

You would know all about it if it happens - it's a VERY obvious noise and the horse sounds like it's choking.

I'd guess Charlie is a bit unfit, but that he's also COPD (or RAO as it's now called). Or that he has so interstitial fibrousis of the lungs (makes them less elastic). Only getting a vet out will tell you.
 
i dont know about the breathing thing but whenever ive tried any sort of straight bar bit with rusty he just constantly evades and runs around with his head in the air! he just doesnt get on with them so i just stick to jointed ones now
 
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