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JMHO, but part of his behavior just sounds like green horse who hasn't 
figured out that it's better not to misbehave at rides because it wastes 
too much energy.  It also seems to me that the head tossing may be in 
part a habit.  If so, in a hackamore where there's nothing hurting 
inside his mouth, he can be taught to quit doing it.
Good luck,
Laney

Beth Walker wrote:
> > On Oct 10, 2007, at 8:35 PM, Laney Humphrey wrote:
> > > Beth, have you had a trained equine dentist look at your horse's 
> > > mouth?  He may have dental problems that are causing the sores on his 
> > > tongue and also could be causing his behavior since he's in pain.
> > > Laney
>
> 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)
>
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