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…
Horses that pull on the bit or through the bit haven’t been taught how to accept bit pressure and what to do with contact. There is also a good chance that their neck is being held uncomfortable tight. How do I stop my horse from grabbing bits? To help your Read more…
JAW CLENCHING – A RESPONSE TO STRESS AND PAIN The combination of possible physical discomfort or pain on the horse’s behalf or rider, coupled with intensity of concentration and stress can trigger this reaction in both. How do you get a horse to relax it’s jaw? Place a thumb or Read more…
It’s harder for your horse to properly chew with a bit. The bit rests on the tongue and therefore interferes with tongue/chewing action. I have seen a bit after a horse has snacked along the trail, often there are wads of grass mucked up on the bit. Should you cut Read more…