Help with horse gritting teeth

[Sandi L Costa]

I need some help, my horse is a 5 year old paint. Last week he was treated
for a toxic poison. We don't know what it was. My vet asked about lime,
creosote (sp?) and other things that might cause this problem but we came
up with nothing. He had blisters in in mouth, like someone had given him
a douse with a blow torch. We live in a very secluded area. My nearest
neighbor is 25 acres away. There are no kids in the area to bother the
horses and they are kept in a stall at night, let out in the day. Anyway
we treated the horse for poison, he is doing fine, but he has picked up
a habit of gritting his teeth when I bit him up. could this be a result
of his mouth hurting? We have checked his teeth, his mouth is now clear
of all absceses, everything looks fine. But this gritting is driving me
nuts.

When I ride him he starts out fine, then as we warm up he starts gritting
his teeth. I immediately tell him to quit, stop and back, start again,
repeating this over and over. When he canters he is extremely loud.
I have thought of changing bits, maybe a broke bit with a roller? I use
a tom thumb now or a D ring.

Any ideas are appreciated. I tried to use a nose band to keep his mouth
shut but this didn't work either.

Thanks
Sandi Costa
co...@cs.tamu.edu

[kdtwt@kdtwt]

>When I ride him he starts out fine, then as we warm up he starts gritting
>his teeth. I immediately tell him to quit, stop and back, start again,
>repeating this over and over. When he canters he is extremely loud.
>I have thought of changing bits, maybe a broke bit with a roller? I use
>a tom thumb now or a D ring.

Sandi;

You didn't say how your horse handled the bit before he got the blisters,
but if he started gritting his teeth after the blisters , I would suggest
using a side pull.(like a bosal) That way he would stop gritting his teeth or at
least he should. Or it could be that he had time off from riding and just doesn't
want to go back to work. If that is the case, then ride him for short periods
of time and take the worry off his mind. Make his rides stress free. If he is
five years old, I would take him out of the tom thumb bit after he relaxes and
change him to a mild port bit, but keep his training sessions short until he
starts to relax.