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chewing at the bit

4K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  ox-tuff_rider-xo 
#1 ·
alrighty..so my little guy has his issues with the bit. I used to have a regular old snaffle on him and now he has a french snaffle.
he has some issues with chewing at the bit crazily the whole time it's in his mouth. he kind of likes to always have something to do and I don't normally mind that so much but he just really goes at that thing. often he doesn't think much about where he's going and doesn't always pay attention to what I ask him to do because he's so busy with the bit
I'd prefer not to use a caveson if I can help it and I'm thinking about bits with rollers..but I don't know too much about bits so I don't know what exactly to get, if they're all equal or if there's certain types that are better for good reasons

if you need to know what we do, basically right now not much. we just kind of ride around, working on control in all of the gaits and such..we go on trail rides every now and then too.
I'm hoping that we can get involved in a little bit of reining, nothing big just at local shows for fun and such


thank you for your time =)
 
#2 ·
Blu is the SAME way! I recently switched his bit, to one he responds all around better with, but now that he doesn't have a roller he bites and bites. Its like his teeth hurt or something. Or he is trying to eat his own tongue! lol. I don't mind it. But you can get a dog-bone snaffle with donut rings on it. In order o have a roller i think the bit has to be a correction or unjointed...not sure.

I knew a horse that had a racing bit. it was a snaffle with a big kinda roller type thingee. His rider had the bit way to tight so he bit it and broke his bit in half! Just goes to show, not all bits need wrinkles to make it fit!

I don't go by that. I go by my horse's response, chewing, and leverage stuffs. He does really good with the Twisted Wire Wonder Gag I have. I don't like gags at all but it seems to be the perfect bit for Boo. Hope this helps...
 
#3 ·
My husbands mare starts chewing on the bit when she needs her teeth floated. You should check to see if that is what the problem is. Stick your finger in her/his mouth and see if there are any sharp edges. if there are get them floated.
 
#5 ·
It could be that the bit is uncomfortable for him to wear. How many wrinkles do you have in his mouth?

One thing I would not suggest you do is use a flash or anything to tie his mouth shut.

It could be that he is just bored. Chewing on the bit is a displaced behavior, and if you aren't engaging his mind in a very creative way that could be his way of expressing his bordom or frustration. Try doing a lot of patterns, go on trail rides, and do a ton of stuff on a loose rein. Horses will also chew on the bit if the rider always has contact on the reins or their hands are hard. Again, riding on a loose rein is very important.
 
#6 ·
Vidaloco said:
My husbands mare starts chewing on the bit when she needs her teeth floated. You should check to see if that is what the problem is. Stick your finger in her/his mouth and see if there are any sharp edges. if there are get them floated.
I checked them as best I could a little while ago and they seemed fine..I currently am not the official owner of him because I'm waiting for my dad to be ready to buy him (he was supposed to several months ago, grr =P) and he's with a friend of mine
I haven't asked her if they've been floated but I'm fairly sure they are, I was looking at them after watching a show about checking teeth and they seemed fine from what I'd seen haha
but I should probably ask her about that. hopefully I'll be buying him really soon so I'll have a good excuse to question her =P
 
#7 ·
Sara said:
Why no caveson? Just curious...looking in to a roller bit, checking the teeth are all good suggestions too.
he used to have a caveson on for awhile but as soon as I took it off of him he got right to chewing so I'm thinking maybe he'll be happy with a roller bit and it won't take as much effort for him to roll it as it does to chew at the bit so maybe he'll concentrate a little better

I'm not totally sure exactly what I'm gonna do, I'm thinking I'll probably try out a roller bit and if that doesn't work maybe I'll just live with a caveson on him or possibly try a hackamore..who knows
 
#8 ·
Spirithorse said:
It could be that the bit is uncomfortable for him to wear. How many wrinkles do you have in his mouth?

One thing I would not suggest you do is use a flash or anything to tie his mouth shut.

It could be that he is just bored. Chewing on the bit is a displaced behavior, and if you aren't engaging his mind in a very creative way that could be his way of expressing his bordom or frustration. Try doing a lot of patterns, go on trail rides, and do a ton of stuff on a loose rein. Horses will also chew on the bit if the rider always has contact on the reins or their hands are hard. Again, riding on a loose rein is very important.
I've tried messing with the adjustments a little, I had it on one or two wrinkles and then I tried making it a little looser and it was a little worse so I put it back to one or two

I think that it probably is like boredom, because he seems to always want to keep himself busy no matter what I do with him, whether he's just standing tied or being ridden..I try to keep him busy as best I can but it seems like no matter what I do he keeps on chewing, whether on trails around where he lives or out at other places or riding around working on different things..
I know it can't be my hands though cause I'm very gentle with him..usually I just pull a tiny bit and add a little bit more until he does what I'm asking, it varies because sometimes he's so busy with that bit but I try not to pull any harder than is necessary
 
#9 ·
BluMagic said:
Blu is the SAME way! I recently switched his bit, to one he responds all around better with, but now that he doesn't have a roller he bites and bites. Its like his teeth hurt or something. Or he is trying to eat his own tongue! lol. I don't mind it. But you can get a dog-bone snaffle with donut rings on it. In order o have a roller i think the bit has to be a correction or unjointed...not sure.

I knew a horse that had a racing bit. it was a snaffle with a big kinda roller type thingee. His rider had the bit way to tight so he bit it and broke his bit in half! Just goes to show, not all bits need wrinkles to make it fit!

I don't go by that. I go by my horse's response, chewing, and leverage stuffs. He does really good with the Twisted Wire Wonder Gag I have. I don't like gags at all but it seems to be the perfect bit for Boo. Hope this helps...
oops thought I answered this one =P

well I'll have to look at those..I looked at tons of roller bits and they all seemed to make sense, I found one that's a lot like the one I have but with a roller on the center piece, too..and so many things it's overwhelming haha
but I don't know exactly what to look for..hmm
 
#10 ·
You could always try the flavoured bits or a key bit, simialr to rollers and commonly used in breaking they have about three small 'keys' dangling from the joint and allow the horse to play with them.
 
#13 ·
Hmmm...he doesn't pay attention to you and chews on the bit. If his teeth are ok and the bit is in the proper place, I would say he needs lunged to get the excitement out of him. Let him play on the lunge line.
Another thing my trainer does with some young horses is put a rubber bit in his mouth and let him chew on it for awhile. Then when you ride him, his mouth will be tired of chewing.
Good luck.
 
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