Mullen Mouth Pelhams

[joy70]

In Heathers EE book, she recommends the use of a Mullen mouth Pelham with two reins and slight action of the curb, to encourage a horse to drop its head and soften its jaw

as my boys always been fussy in his mouth and far from relaxed, i thought this may be something to try, but i have a few questions

firstly he has quite a small mouth, ie. not much room inside, so would a rubber covered pelham be too much of a mouthful, or should i try the happy mouth type or just get the standard metal one?

Second question - is it o.k. to use rubber reins, as theyre the only ones I have

Thirdly - Is it necessary to put a noseband on?, he's currently in a Myler combi bit, but, when riding/schooling in more standard bits we have used a grackle due to the fact he crosses his jaw

[nix]

Hi Joy ... me again lol! :D

If you think Toddy's mouth is too small for the normal rubber mullen mouth, then the happymouth mullen would probably be a better bet than the metal as it's a bit milder. Do you get his teeth checked by a vet or a qualified equine dentist, because occasionally vets miss things that a dentist may pick up on ... could be worth exploring this avenue if you haven't already. Would also be worth having his saddle etc checked too in case the tension stems from there.

Rubber reins, especially two pairs, are probably a bit too much of a handful and could even cause sores on your fingers. If you can, borrow some plain reins from a friend, or have a dig around in your local tack shop's second-hand section or alternatively Libbys do some nice, reasonably priced webbing reins - www.libbys-tack.com .

Harve wears a cavesson cos he looks pretty in it and Zig doesn't wear a noseband cos he looks better without it. :D I, personally, don't like to use nosebands for jaw crossing or other similar evasions as I feel that it only masks the symptoms rather than getting to the root of the cause. You'll probably find that once you sort out the fussiness/relaxation problem he'll do it less and less.

Good luck, let us know how you get on! :D

[joy70]

Nix

Toddys teeth are done every 6-8 months by an EDT, and his saddle was recently checked too at the same time the chiro lady came out and had a look at his back

Toddy's alwasy been fussy in his mouth - and for the last 10 years ive battled in vain to try something that he'll like, unfortunately i can't use the English Hackamore on him now as he's learnt to evade me, by leaping off all fours and running off! tried him in it again last night! OMG no brakes and a pony running all over the forehand, back legs in a different continent, never mind a different country. This generally is the problem, we find a bit he likes then he learns to evade it. I think a lot of it is my problem, im not apportioning all the blame on him. Main problem is, with his pink soft mouth its very sensitive, but use something really mild and he pulls againts you leans etc., and cuts his mouth open. Really need to do lots of schooling in walk & trot, could prove difficult with winter coming up and no lights in our school

Ill ask me mates if they have any reins i could borrow, lord alone knows what happened with mine.

[Bebe]

Hi

Bebe found a normal rubber pelham too large and chomped like mad on it. I didn't want to go to a metal bit so I bought the happy mouth and she's really happy in it (no pun intended!). It's not much thicker than a standard metal bit really.

I use rubber reins on the snaffle ring and had a pair of continental reins (webbing with leather stoppers at 1" intervals) on the curb ring. I recently got a pair of the webbing half grip reins from Libbys and they're quite thin without being difficult to hold and I'm considering getting another pair. They were £13 including postage so not expensive (If you do decide to get some from Libby's, the full size are huge on my very long necked mare so you might want to try a smaller size than usual. Normally full size reins are verging on too short for work on a long rein with us but these are verging on too long).

It isn't necessary to use a noseband with a pelham, I don't. My mare would only have a cavesson on anyway and to be honest, it's just one extra thing to put on and clean and I think she looks good without it, so I don't use a noseband. Actually, I don't even have a nosband for her current bridle as I ordered the half bridle cause it was cheaper!

[chev]

Pelham is best used with a cavesson if you use a noseband; otherwise the action of the noseband can interfere with the action of the bit.

Have you tried a ported bit? If his tounge is quite thick particularly he may find it a more comfortable bit. We used a ported mouth metal pelham on a cob we loaned and he went really well in it, after trying straight metal and rubber pelhams and a metal mullen mouth pelham on him, none of which suited. He was big and strong but had pink skin and his mouth was maybe over sensitive with most curb bits, although he leaned on milder ones. We hired them from bit bank till we found what we wanted - definitely worth it.

I'm a big fan of continental webbing reins - light, non-slip, and non bulky. Most places stock them too.

[nix]

Chev, I don't know whether they used to, but it is currently Bitbank's policy not to "loan" rubber or rubber-coated bits due to damage ... it's sale only on those. :rolleyes:

[joy70]

:rolleyes: mmmm now im even more confused!

currently Toddys bit is a myler combi, which has a ported mouth, although he goes fairly well in this, he doesn't really relax and soften hence wanting to try a pelham for him

but now Chev's mentioned ported, made me think ahhh, he has a port now :o

Maybe it should just give up riding him altogether, then i wouldn't have these problems, im sure he'd love to retire!:(

[nix]

Do you know anyone with a rubber mullen mouth pelham near you who'd lend it to you? You can always try a ported from the bitbank. Then you could see which one Toddy gets on with best ... give them a good trial though as sometimes it takes a while for them to get used to a change (as I'm sure you know)! :)

[chev]

nix - didn't realise bit bank didn't hire them out now :rolleyes: Mind you, it was about five years ago, give or take... and we had to put a deposit down. Still, I guess you can understand it, although it does make trying different rubber mouthpieces darned expensive if you have to buy each one you try!

[joy70]

Nix

im wracking my brains to think of anyone who may have one, but i;ll ask them tonight:)

Ive just read a thread on EE website, though, stating that a horse that pulls or leans (Toddy does both), a mullen is a recipie for disaster:eek:

Ever get the feeling i wish i'd not gone down this road :rolleyes:

I bought my Myler from the Bit Bank, but we had loads of problems with deliveries and stuff, plus theyre very expensive, compared to a regular tack shop, our local tack shop has a 2nd hand section think i might have a look in there.

[rachil]

Funnily enough, I've just decided to sell a hard rubber pelham bit complete with two sets of reins, elastic curb and lip strap - have a look at my ad in the classifieds. The bit was just too thick for my cob. We've settled instead on a Myler ported bit!

[joy70]

Rachil

aww thanks for letting me know, but i think that the rubber pelham would be too large for my boys mouth too.

Thanks again.

I have a friend whos promised to loan me 3 pelham bits, 1 mullen mouth a jointed (not too keen on that) and a rubber think it might be too thick. Funny though the girl said one of them had only got a curb chain? thought all pelhams had curb chains on them

[Maria]

Originally posted by joy70

Ive just read a thread on EE website, though, stating that a horse that pulls or leans (Toddy does both), a mullen is a recipie for disaster:eek:


Hi

In the right hands a mullen mouthed pelham is not a recipe for disaster. Everyone has to start somewhere and if you're worried about how you will get on with the bit and two reins then ask a friend or an instructor to keep an eye on you while you experiment.

It's possible to conspire with any horse so that the horse ends up pulling or leaning on the bit - regardless of the type of the bit. But it does take two - and the horse can only lean or pull if he has something to lean or pull against.

I'm certainly no expert and I do get caught out sometimes by my strong and opinionated cob mare and end up providing an opportunity for her to lean or pull. And I'm not always quick enough to correct this quickly or to avoid it in the first place. She came from a riding school and was ridden by all sorts of people and had learnt how strong she was. But it is now possible to hack her out in a simple snaffle.

In many cases a novice or inexperienced rider is likely to do less damage to a horses's mouth with a pelham rather than a snaffle.

I tried a hard rubber mullen mouthed pelham on Carrie but she didn't like it - not sure whether it was the taste of the rubber of the fact that it was a large mouthful for a cob mouth.

I tried her in a metal mullen mouthed pelham with a metal curb chain - she was happier in that for a while but then began to have regular Carrie strops (ie refusing to go forward and shaking her head up and down violently). I think it was probably the curb chain she was unhappy with. I found it particularly difficult to react quickly enough to get her to relax her jaw in a metal pelham as she kept throwing a variety of different evasions at me. Tried her in a jointed pelham and elastic curb chain which had no effect whatsoever - she just ignored the action of the curb chain. Returned to a french link loose rein snaffle and persevered as she will eventually soften with a snaffle.

Some horses just don't like a pelham so don't force the issue and it's really a question of finding a bit that the horse is comfortable with. Carrie seems happiest in a relative thin french link snaffle - even a bradoon bit.

[joy70]

Maria

im currently schooling him in a sweet iron loose ring french link, although im struggling to get him to soften its the best one yet, we can acheive softening in halt, but then it all falls apart.

The pelham ported mouth i have had no effect and his hacking bridle which has a Myler short shank combi on it, well he wont relax his jaw in that either! im just wondering if its actually the loose rings that make the difference :) i daredn't take him out on a fast hack in the snaffle as i know for a fact i won't be able to stop without a battle! which is why im keeping the myler for faster work.

Im going to keep trying in the sweet iron for now, but will give the other pelhams ive been lent just to see

[DebO]

I have 2 brand new rubber straight bar pelhams, one is 5.5" and the other is 6". I have never used them as judging by the thickness I think they will be too much for my horses mouth.

If anyone wants to buy them, willing to sell.