One rein riding is simply riding your horse without a bridle, using instead a regular halter and lead, with the lead as your single rein. It’s a simple tack change, but a great way to brush up on the basics with all levels of horses. Can a halter be used Read more…
Feeds such as lucerne hay, grass hay and good quality sweetfeeds or pellets/cubes may be needed for the horse to maintain weight. If your horse won’t eat its normal feed you can try adding some things including: Bran. Honey. Molasses. Applesauce. Grated carrot or apple. Brewers yeast; or. Lucerne chaff. Read more…
Severe cases of parrot mouth can be treated using fixed dental or orthodontic appliances. These surgical treatments are appropriate in foals from four weeks to six months of age, where there is still potential for growth of the mandible and incisive bones. Should I buy a horse with parrot mouth? Read more…
When these ‘make do’ harnesses are used on animals working long hours under heavy loads, these painful harnesses can start to rub or cut the animals and create open wounds. Certain areas of the animal are more sensitive to this irritation and serious conditions such as fistulous withers can develop. Read more…
Bosals, side-pulls, and mechanical hackamores are all options you can try. Remember though, that you are not necessarily being kinder to your horse by using a bitless bridle. Why use a hackamore instead of a bit? The hackamore has more weight, which allows for more signal before direct contact. This Read more…
By all accounts, parrot mouth in horses is genetic. That means you should not ever breed a horse that exhibits this type of condition. In fact, when showing “halter”, a judge may ask to see a horse’s bite. What does it mean when a horse has a parrot mouth? The Read more…
Sometimes, horses get their tongues over the bit. When this happens, the tongue may loll out of the mouth in a very unsightly way, and all hope of achieving a good contact or communication line with the horse’s mouth will be lost. In horse racing, it is believed a tongue Read more…
The horse’s lower jaw (the mandible) is narrower than his upper jaw (the maxilla), and the lower teeth are positioned slightly to the inside of the upper teeth. What is a horse’s chin called? Muzzle: the chin, mouth, and nostrils of the face. Pastern: the connection between the coronet and Read more…
There are two types of malocclusion in horses; parrot mouth (overbite) where the maxilla is longer than the mandible, and monkey mouth (undershot jaw). In a horse with monkey mouth, the upper jaw is shorter than the lower jaw. Both conditions are inherited, but parrot mouth is considerably more common. Read more…
Horses that are pushy or barge when being handled are often tight in the neck and they may find it hard to stand since the neck is so important for balance. Tension in the shoulders and withers will create balance problems and is usually linked to the tension in the Read more…