A Reader Asks: How Do I Prevent My Horse From Chewing on the Bit Shanks?
Wednesday June 25, 2008
What do you do if your horse constantly pulls and bites at the shanks of the bit in its mouth?
Photo 2006 K. Blocksdorf
Some horses play with the shanks--the long parts of the bit that hang down on either side of the horse's mouth. One reader asks how to stop this annoying habit. What would you do? Leave your comments below.
Some horses play with the shanks--the long parts of the bit that hang down on either side of the horse's mouth.
Comments
Some horses like to “chew on their bit”, one of mine uses it to focus and relax himself. If he is chewing on the shanks, I would think that the bit is not right. I have been using an eggbutt snaffle. While chewing my horse makes “ice cream” which all trainers have said is a good thing.
i give my horse a shout like hoe and then he stops. but if u mean wehn your riding your horse and it dose that then pull back on his rain.
Pulling on the rein will confuse your horse. Better always to ask why a horse is doing an undesirable behavior, rather than go for the quick fix.
I am kind of having this same problem. I use a snaffle, but my horse is always grabbing at the reins and chewing..Not hard like he is trying to get them away, just a comfort/baby thing. I have just been pulling them out of his mouth and saying no or quit, which is kind of working, but does anyone else have any other ideas?
Hi, I also have the same problem, my little guy chews on the shanks as well, or he will grab a hold of the reins, even while I am riding him, he is 8 yrs old, so it could be a bordom thing, he is not as bad if he keeps walking, I do pay attention to him when he does this and I do scold him, ( it works for a little while ) I have tried the eggbutt snaffle, but how do you attach a chin strap to this, thats the only problem. Other than that he is a wonderful horse .
Hi Vicky,
Because the eggbutt snaffle is a snaffle bit and does not rotate in the mouth the way a curb would without a chin strap, one is not required.
I would say that a horse who is doing this with the schenks but isn’t giving you that “something hurts” vibe is probably doing it out of a nervous twitch. It’s like their mind is running all over the place and they bit the schenk repetatively out of nervous mental energy. Kind of like when you get a strong shiver all of a sudden when your all wound up in your head. Once the rider repremands the horse for the behavior the horse is distracted for a moment and focused on what the rider might do next. But as a few moments pass the horses mind goes back to where it was before and he starts snatching at the schenk again. I just got done training one like this and what worked for him was to establish a set rutin. I always caught him the same way, saddled him in the same order, warmed him up the same way, and cooled him down the same way every day. WHile riding I also kept him busy doing something. If you are a quiet/patient/tyrent about it and keep bringing your horses focus back on what you are communicating … over time he will develop a habit of quit focus on you. = his mind will quiet down = nervous twitches go away. although with subsequent random treatment over a period of time he’ll probably go back to his hold mind. the horse i just got done with wasn’t nervous in his body, just really unfocused in his mind. it was odd.
I appreciate all the great information I read on the forums. I do have a problem with the mispellings and lack of capitalization, commas, etc. It would be more helpful if correct english and puncuation were used.
Aren’t the forums great! So many helpful and interesting people use them. I know what it’s like to be a bad speller, and we all make grammatical mistakes. Just like learning about horses, we are all in a different point in our journey in that respect too. I hope you’ll drop back and say hi!
I have the same problem and i was told by an expert after the horse is done eating put the bit in his mouth so he can get used to it being there.