"Let Go Of The Bit You Silly Nag"!!Help!

[Still Falling]

I have owned my irish Sports Horse Mare for a couple of months now!

She has always been difficult to take her bridle off as she has never immediatly let go of the bit which has panicked her a bit before she realised she had to let go!

After slowly working with her and taking the bit off slowly, she began to get a bit better and there were occasions where she would take the bit straight out of her mouth without any complaints!

But recently, i have been doing the same with taking off the bridle and working slowly, but now everytime, she just snatches her head back with the bit still in her mouth, sticks her head right up and panicks in her box before letting go of the bit and there have been occasions where she has stuch her head up so high, the i have dropped the bridle before hse has let go of the bit!

Its starting to worry me as i am sure that this is doing no good for her teeth or for her trust in me and putting on/taking off the bridle as this is only associating with pain!

I think she needs to see a dentist and have her teeth done as she will be seen by one but as there is quite a long waiting list - in the mean time i need a solution to this problem so that i can ride her and not have to worry about the end of the lesson when i take off the bridle!

Help would be greatly appreciated!

[Tootsie4U]

Teeth is good.

I'd also be focusing on ear/head shy.

Does she allow you to hold her ears?

[Still Falling]

I dont think she's headshy - she has always let me touch her whole head inc. ears with or without a bridle on!
But it could have been a good possibility.

Also i have checked the bridle and it all fits well - including the bit which is an eggbut snaffle

[Cobby]

Maybe until the dentist sees her, you could try this: undo one of the cheek pieces and put your thumb in the corner of her mouth so she opens it, take the bit out and then take off the rest of the bridle.
It might be less stressful for you both, until you find out if she has teeth problems. Must get the dentist out myself too.

[MelanieD]

I had to deal with a horse at work that did this, she was throwing her head up and keeping hold of the bit because someone had been rough taking the bridle off, banged her teeth with the bit etc. so it was habit and expecting pain. This advice may not work so well if there is real pain causing it rather than previous bad experience or habit..

What we did was teach her to lower her head by pressing her poll, once she'd got the hang of that then did that while taking the bridle off gently. She quite quickly got used to the idea that she was meant to keep her head down and having her bridle taken off was far less unpleasant when she kept her head down.

[chev]

Horses usually hang onto the bit for one of two reasons; either they've had their teeth banged in the past and anticipate it happening again (which judging by the fact she's improved once and you're being very careful is probably not the case) or their mouth hurts. If she needs to see a dentist then I'd be inclined to think it's the latter. If that's the case then I'm afraid by insisting on continuing to use a bit you're probably just compounding the problem - all you'll be doing is reinforcing the idea that having a bit in your mouth hurts. I'd stop using it until she's seen a dentist. If you can ride in a halter it might be worth trying that, but I really think that to keep using a bit when chances are it's causing discomfort is a little unfair. If not, then a short break form riding while you focus on something different (like groundwork, without a bit) will do her no harm at all. Better a short break than taking a chance on making things worse.

[Volvic]

You should really wait for her to give you the bit. Have you tried sliding the headpiece off over her ears & holding the bridle like you would when you put it on. Then gradually slide the hand holding the bridle down her nose until she drops the bit. This may take a while the first few times, but it will be worth it. It may also be something to do with her teeth & if thats the case it should stop after she's had her teeth done.

Good luck :D

[Still Falling]

Thank you all for the great advice....

I really cannot stop riding her cus i am in the middle of working her with a schooling plan to improve her flatwork and although i could lunge her sometimes in just a cavesson - loose schooling her would generally not be a good idea as am curretly trying to get her to use her corners and loose schooling will make her cut corners off!

What i think i will do is try out all of the methods you guys suggested to find the one which bests suits her! I will also try hr in a hackamore or something but i dont think a halter/ bitless bridle will work as she is very strong!

Thanks again you guys! - will keep you posted on improvements (or not improvements if you now *** i mean lol) and must remember to get some pics posted so you can see what she looks like!!:D