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[RC] Mouth Conformation & Race Brain - Beth Walker
He has had his teeth checked & floated by my vet. He is due to be checked again in November. My vet has taken advanced dental training, and uses the whole works: sedation, puts the horses head on a stand, mouth speculum, etc. He didn't see anything abnormal when the teeth were done last time, but I will check with him again. I think the problem is his basic mouth conformation - he looks like he has a big tongue (it bulges out past his teeth when his mouth is closed) rather than lying nicely inside the space of the jaw. I can see him having trouble getting it pinched between his teeth and a bit. I can attribute some of his behavior (head tossing) to pain from the bit (somewhat - he will also toss his head with a hackamore...), but not the competitiveness -- that only shows up on race day, or with another competitive horse. I'm going to try riding him on trail in a hackamore again, at least until his mouth heals up and I find another bit to try. I tried a hackamore once right after I got him, and decided that was a non- starter as he tossed his head any time I attempted to use the reins. Since his head-tossing is much better now, I'll give the hackamore another try. If it works out, I might not even try another bit for trail. I really didn't have any idea this one was causing problems until I used it on a ride, since on training rides he doesn't spend the entire time trying to pull, jerk, head-toss and go faster.... (Actually, on training rides, he goes on a loose rein, and voice commands - a total Jeckel and Hyde) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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