Alright Readers (all 5 of you...hehe),
I need your help!
As you know, Granite has been lunging in his bridle/bit for months now. He carries it wonderfully. Yesterday I went to put his bridle on and he would not let me near his mouth. I tried for 30 minutes! I eventually lunged in his halter hoping to wear him out. I tried and again with no results. I am truly praying that he is just having a 2 year old tantrum. But I think it may be an issue with his teeth. He is 2 years and 7 months old. Wolfe teeth? Caps coming off?
Do any of you A.) have any suggestions for correcting this bad behavior (which I hope is all it is)
or
B.) know more than I do about the dental development of a horse his age?
I will do some web research and speak with his trainer (I tired calling last night and left her a voicemail). Its just that my recent DC trip has wiped me clean of any funds I have at it seems that I owe everyone money. Lets all pray its not his teeth! Cause this will entail farm call, sedation, dental work! Ahhhh! I am STRESSED now! I never thought I would pray that my horse is just being a jerk. Any advice is much appreciated.
THANK YOU!
Bodhi was always cranky and sensitive about the bit and having his mouth messed with in general when he had loose teeth/teeth coming in. Also it could be wolfe teeth though are you sure he has them? A lot of vets will remove them when they geld horses, and some horses are born without them.
ReplyDeleteAs for the behavior issue. I would just keep my hand up and ask but I would not chase or tug. I would reward any relaxation or giving with a rest and a pat. Bodhi would also receive a peppermint with the bit to sweeten the deal :) Also I tried to only free lunge or lunge with the halter when he was particularly sensitive just so I did not give him bad associations.
Hope this helps. Babies are always changing their minds about things, the key is to be consistent and patient and they will come around :)
My first thought would be wolfe teeth, but that's only because the same thing happened with my baby. But not all horses get their wolfe teeth. He could just have some loose teeth and it's bothering him a little. Sorry that I can't be of anymore help.
ReplyDeleteHmmm by 2 he should have had those wolf teeth for a few months meaning if they were bugging him, they'd have already caused this bitting issue. But, maybe he's a late bloomer and they were slow to errupt. See if you can get him to at least open his mouth so you can check to see if there is anything in there that might be hurting him, wolf teeth or other abrasions or tongue or tooth problems. If he's a real pill about you having a looksie, maybe ACE him and do it (just looking in there, I'm not saying ACE him to get the bit in). I think trying sweet treats might help if it's not the teeth...sometimes these kiddos get an idea in their head out of nowhere that normal things are suddenly scary things so stay patient.
ReplyDeletefrom my highly technical internet research I see that between 2.5-3ish years they are losing 3 sets of baby teeth and thus cutting 3 sets of adult teeth... If this is the case, I am safe... just have to wait it out. I will try to pry his mouth open tomorrow and see what I can see but we are getting the tail of Hurricane Ida so it may be difficult to navigate the slop to get him in, def no lunging! Thanks for all the advice ladies... makes me happy to have someone to bounce ideas off of!
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