19/06/2025
🐴 Quite an interesting case here.
I'll be honest it had me perplexed for a while.
The horse underwent its routine dental check when the dentist noticed wear to the teeth and suggested a bit fitter to find something more anatomically suited for the horse.
She was in a neue schule team up loose ring and on inspection in the mouth I saw that the gum around the bars on both sides was raw.
I also noticed that the bit had been chewed to the point that the cannons were quite angular.
When we popped it in so I could see how it sat, when rein pressure was applied, the bit lifted way above where the redness was. Under where the bit lay under rein tension, there was no redness.
We toyed with the idea she had pulled back and created the bruising, but I couldn't see how she would do that. Potentially, she had eaten something or managed to bite a stick and got it caught in her mouth?
Then it occurred to me when the rider mentioned that the horse hadn't been herself for 10 days, and they had just hacked on a loose rein for 10 days.
The bit was too big in the mouth, and when the rein was loose, it sat lower in the mouth, sagged, and the angular edges rubbed over the gum, creating the redness.
In the photo taken here, the tongue is withdrawn back as I have my finger in her mouth so you can see the redness. I swapped it for a verbindend in the photo, which suited her anatomy much better.
I've only ever seen bits chewed sharp like this is plastic/rubber and older softer copper mixes. Newer copper mix is made harder to prevent this.
Always check your tack regularly for what might be going on! You might not feel the horse being any different or outwardly showing you that anything is wrong.
Thank you to the rider for letting me share the experience!
