[oursarge]

I have a 7 yr old horse who hasn't been ridden alot by me but he's very good natured and why I have him.

He's always been good about getting his bridle on and off. The other night I rode him bareback, our first time with that. He was perfect. I felt like I had my balance, all was fine. We were done and I went to take his bridle off like I always take bridles off and he freaked. I am not even sure what happened to know what to avoid doing the next time. It seems like he didn't want to drop the bit, got scared and pulled back. His eyes looked wild.

When that happened then the trick was to get the bit back in his mouth. It took awhile but he finally took it and then I was able to get it off with no trouble. The next day we worked putting a string in and out of his mouth [Idea from the girl I got him from], he was fine with that. I then moved to a bigger bit [I think what he has is too small] and he was semi OK. He also chews on the bit something awful when it's in his mouth, he bobs his head some but he does that with no bridle or saddle on, I think it's just a habit.

I guess my question is how do I get him to drop the bit? My other horses and all the horses at the stable can't wait to get it out. I don't know if he's being pinched. I just don't know. I'm nervous about riding him again because I don't want him to hurt him because I am not sure what went wrong.

I know if you weren't there you probably have no clue what I mean but if you do have a horse that didn't want to drop the bit but is OK now how did you fix it? Thanks.

[tbtrainer]

Have his teeth checked, sounds like from the chewing he might have some sharp points...

If he threw his head while you were taking the bridle off he probably banged the bit on his teeth... causing trauma on an already sore mouth.

Just a thought.

[rageandglory]

yup, checking teeth is a good place to start : )

[oursarge]

Thank you, he had his teeth checked 3X's this past yr, all was OK after taking wolf teeth out. I just had them checked a couple months ago by the vet and dentist who came for my other horse and was told things were fine. I might have them checked for the 4th time if he does it again. The bit seems too small to me so I'm going to measure, I thought maybe he got pinched in the rings on the side. I just never met a horse who wouldn't drop the bit. The other ones would take it out of their mouths on their own if they could!!!! If I was a better rider I'd ride him without one.

He's such a good boy I don't want to mess him up and the girl who trained him and who I relied on for most things has moved far away so now it's e-mail chats and it's hard. I have to have the vet out again so I'll have him recheck his teeth again just in case. Thank you.

[Honey46]

Try taking the headstall off over one eye at a time. Or placing your finger in the side of his mouth on his tongue to ask him to open his mouth. Or both if you like.
That has worked for some horses I've had.

[alaskahorse]

another thing you might work on is teach him to lower his head to your waist or chest level before taking out the bit. This way with his head down the bit more readily falls forward rather the wacks across his teeth if his head is up ( his nose pointed outor up) If you teach him to bend at the poll and lower his head, then usuing your hands as previous post suggested, to help the bit slide out slowly you can avoid the banging it on his teeth that probably caused the problem. When taking the bit out if he anticipates the bump on his teeth his nose will come up, stop and ask him to lower his head, repeat until he trusts that you are not going to bang his teeth and the bit will come out perfectly..Happy you... happy horse

[oursarge]

Thank you everyone. He's such a nice horse I don't want to do anything to mess him up, I'll try all of the suggestions. I appreciate them.

[puzzles mom]

As Alaskahorse pointed out, the horse needs to be flexed at the poll, if his nose is forward, the bit gets hung up on the bottom front teeth and that hurts/scares the horse causing them to fling their head in the air and "hold onto the bit" . Stand beside your horse, slip the headstall over his ears but don't let it slip down until you use your other hand to hold his nose in a vertical position. Let the bit down slowly, you are asking the horse to "spit the bit out" as opposed to just letting it fall out,when the horse uses his tongue to work the bit down and out, it is less likely to get hung up on the lower teeth. This process has worked well for me and my horses are very easy to bridle/unbridle.

[SKB]

If he continues to have issues, you can try a bitless bridle. I have one and we love it... although changing to one may defeat the purpose of trying to figure out why he is doing this. Did his prior owner ever see him doing this?

[Endorphins4u2]

When you take the bridle off you should let it out so it's loose and can be lifted off without pulling it over the ears. Never drag a bridle off the horses head just because you can.

If his eyes looked wild it's because he has been traumatized before and he was waiting and he will do this ever time from here on until he just his trust back taking the bridle off.

Let the bridle out, flex his head to the near-side, wait till his head gets heavy and goes sleepy. Then "SLOWLY" ease it off with his head still in the flexed position. Don't practice, just do it once when it's time to get the bridle off after each ride. You want him to know once it's off that's it and things are fine not, it's going back on again and again..