baby crossing jaw

[belle]

I backed and started my young horse M in September, rode her through till the end of October in which time she learnt how to walk, trot and canter in the school. She was very well behaved.

Although I never tried to take any kind of contact with her mouth, she sometimes crosses her jaw. I was advised to fit a flash noseband which I tried, and it did help a bit. At the time I was only really concentrating on getting her used to a rider and going forward calm and relaxed and steering.

As soon as the weather improves, and the evenings get lighter I am going to bring her back into work.

How can I go about stopping her from crossing her jaw?

[Tootsie4U]

Hi belle-

I actually do not have any advice for you. But, I thought you would like to know that Im in exactly the same boat !! I too backed my guy just a few months ago and am now trying to ride. We have only established the walk and ho, and will be giving the trot a go around soon. I have the same issue. He is so preoccupied with the bit that he crosses, chews, tosses his head. I've tried switching bits too. The only thing that helps is the flash (put on loosely) to some degree. Thanks for posting this as I will be checking for the replies too. :D

[Sarah]

hello!

Is M crossing her jaw really an issue? If you use a flash to get her to keep her jaw straight then you are sort of masking the problem.

Would it be worth just not worrying about it for the meanwhile? What bit and noseband are you riding her in at the mo?

It may be something to do with her teeth, has she seen the dentist recently? It may be that a bit of a tooth filing may help the problem a bit.

bye!

[belle]

It is not really a problem to me, just alot of people keep telling me that crossing the jaw is an evasion, and must be stopped asap.

I currently ride her in a french link full cheek snaffle, with a flash noseband.

Do you think it would be kinder to change the noseband for a drop for a couple of weeks, then use no noseband at all?

[Sarah]

hello!

It may be worth trying M in a drop noseband for a couple of weeks, with maybe a mullen mouth bit to see if she is more comfortable in that.

Your friends are right, opening the mouth is an evasion, so clamping the jaw shut with a flash will just hide the problem, you need to see how you can avoid her avoiding the contact if you see what i mean!

I hope you don't mind that I've moved this post to teh EE forum, I just thought that Heather may be able to offer some useful advice.

bye!

[Heather]

Hi Belle,


Your horse is bound to be teething and often youngsters will chuck up all sorts of evasions whilst this is happening. I would get your dentist to check her and see if she has any irritation. If she is in any sort of discomfort, shutting her mouth with a flash or similar could exacerbate the problem, as the otheres have said. I tend to not worry about evasions at this stage as long as they are not doing anytihng dangerous. They are just testing things out too.


Heather

[belle]

I will definetely get the dentist out and see if anything needs doing.

Until the dentist has been, I will just do groundwork with her, and then afterwards we can start with a clean slate.:)