Question
Hi I have a 7year old Anglo Arab Mare that I bred myself. We do endurance riding and I make sure that her back, saddle, teeth, feet etc are all checked regularly by professionals. She has been in the 14ml NS Tranz Eggbutt since she was 4 and I have had no problems up until recently. Now every time I ride her, even after a short ride, the corners of her lips are rubbed and this is becoming a major problem as she no longer wants me to put her bridle on. The dentist came out recently and assured me that everything was ok in her mouth. I am at a loss as to understand why this is suddenly happening as nothing has changed. She is amazingly easy to bring back from faster work so there has never been any need to consider upgrading and I don’t have to pull so it is not this causing any rubbing.
Suggestion
You have been using the same bit since she was 4 and she is now 7 years old. She will have grown and matured in that time and we would suspect that this is a simple case of needing a larger bit! This scenario is not uncommon, the horse’s mouth will develop and widen many times even between 6 and 7 years with the larger breeds. You should rest the mouth until all evidence of rubbing has disappeared. Try going at least ¼” bigger keeping a very close eye out for any rubs and let me know how you go.
After 4 weeks this problem was resolved with the larger size bit in the same design.
Resources
The Recommendation Given Is As A Result Of Information Gained From The Completed Bitting Questionnaire And In Some Instances An In-Depth Telephone Conversation.