Tongue out of mouth !

[Rick]

Hi everyone,I hope all will have a great Christmas.

Has anyone ever heard of horses that stick thier tongue out when riding. My Q/H does. He only does this when you put a bit in. We have tried about 20 different bits, I had a vet check and float his teeth, nothing wrong thier. He never sticks it out if you work him on the ground in a halter, but the second that you put the bit in he sticks it out. He does it when he's excited and when he looks like he will fall asleep just standing there. I have seen one other horse with thier tongue out and that was at Congress in Columbus,Ohio in a Halter class while being shown and they came in 4th place.

I have been told that this may be nerves, but I'm not to sure about that. I think that it may be a habit from something that may have happened b4 I bought him. The only thing that I have not tried is a hackmore or something along the bitless control line.

Look forward to you wisdom. :p

[Allie]

Rick- One thing I can think of is that there may not be enough room in his mouth for the bit- were any of the bits narrow? You might also try a hackamore as you have mentioned. I ride one of my horses in a mechanical hackamore, and she is very responsive. She responds to neck reining, and slows at the slightest pull on the reins. There is an article about this in the current issue of Equus. If you can buy a copy somewhere, it might be helpful (I haven't had time to read it yet, but I can look at it and get back to you if you'd like).

Allie

[Horselover2]

Rick, the article in Equus is on p. 16, it addresses the reasons that some horses do this, and also had suggestions for eliminating the behavior. They did suggest trying bits that are broken, such as French snaffle, but you've probably already done that. A mechanical hack may be your answer, but according to the article, a few die hard tongue lollers will even do so in a hack! Good luck and let us know how it goes!!

Best wishes,
HL2

[Vee]

I tried out a horse for 2 weeks last spring that carried her tongue outside of her mouth when she wore a bit. She was a Thoroughbred that'd been used as a hunter. Eventually, we took some latex tape and created a big, round ball in the center of a simple snaffle bit. The round ball, the size of a large pea, rested on her tongue and she stopped the tongue stuff immediately. This was my trainer's idea (she's a 71 year old wise woman--you know the type!). Anyway, it worked very well. I didn't buy the horse after all and returned her to the owner who was pretty happy at this solution.

[Farm_Girl5]

ok this may or may not help but my best friends horse which I ride sticks his tongue out when he's had a drink. Maybe this is because he really does think he is a dog I'm not sure. But after he's finished his drink he swallows and puts his tongue out at you.
Just my thought
Kristy

[Rick]

Allie, I do not get the article that you stated but would very much like to know what it saya. I live in the U.S. and I am fairly new to the big horse world. Is it published here?

I have tried several bits as I stated b4 and even one that was broken with a small copper ball in the middle that spins. So far no luck.

I had one person tell me to coat a bit with petroleum jelly and then pure salt all over the bar and put it on. This, according to them , will make him suck on the bit like a pacifier and will teach him to keep his tongue in. This sounds terrible, not to mention what this may do for the digestive track.

Looking forward to you wisdom ! :)

[Allie]

Rick- yes, Equus is published in America. I live in Kansas. You can probably buy it at the grocery store, sometimes pet stores have horse magazines. It wasn't a very long article. Basically it said to try a dropped or flash noseband, or a hackamore, and that some horses just like to do it, rather than from discomfort.

Allie

[Rick]

Allie

Thanks, I live in Ohio and will look for it. The look really does not bother me, kinda gives him character. But My daughter was going to show for the 1st time in 4H this coming summer and thought it nice to correct this. If not He will be shown anyway.We really like him and the tongue.

[Bejeweld]

Hey Rick! I know this is kinda old, but I just read an article about horses who have this tongue prob, and I remeber you. You might want to check out the Febuary issue of Equus. It classifies this as a vice and gives ways to fix it. Hope this can help you some. Good Luck!

[summer]

Hi Rick
It sounds like your horse just enjoys lolling his tongue about. If he does it when he's just standing, when there's no contact, and you've had your vet check everything, then it's probably the way he is. It isn't a bad thing, it's not necessarily an evasion, and it may go away as his training progresses. He might have a dry mouth, so maybe a copper bit could help, but it sounds like he just enjoys it. The only other thing you might try is to let your vet or horse dentist have a look at him with the bridle on, just to make sure everything fits correctly. Some horse's do it when their teeth are coming in, but your vet probably would have spotted that. Good luck, and remember horses are individuals, and it's characteristics like this that make them special!