More Than Just an Annoying Habit (Bit Clanking part 1)

Butterball got his teeth done last Sunday. 

He was quite sensitive both on his maxillary incisors and his first premolars. He had some gingivitis around one of the incisors as well. So we shot some rads. 

And OMG you guys. This poor pony has damaged the roots of his teeth and the bone around the teeth with his bit gnashing habit. His dentist said it looked like he has done this his whole life, which tracks with what his old owner told me. This led to the roots of those teeth ending up in sort of a corkscrew shape, which is most likely going to interfere with their eruption. 

Then the ongoing "bit clanking" (seems to be the somewhat technical term for that) has led to the bone around those teeth being sclerotic on both sides and holding some fluid on the right side. 

The incisors are actually kind of interesting and less scary. Mostly less scary because who really needs incisors AND it's not a problem I've been part of perpetuating, so I don't feel guilty about them. He has congenital enamel hypoplasia (I believe I've gotten that right as to the hypo part of the tooth) of his two front teeth. So he'll be predisposed to EOTRH. Which is "easy" to fix with extractions. 

But back to his premolars... Fortunately his dentist also rides and noted my spiraling when I said "well I'll just quit competing and never put a bit in his mouth again". She reasonably asked what bit he was going in and then made a few suggestions. I did talk to her about my brief Winderen trial where he hung like he has never hung before, and I ended up with sore hands after a 30 minute trial ride. She said if there was no tongue relief then he likely HATED having his tongue squished and reacted by laying on it. Makes sense. I did wish I had ordered the ported version to try then rather than the straight bar. And I'm not ruling out circling back to that in the future since the material would likely be much more friendly for him to gnaw on. However, the fact that he definitely did manage to gnaw on it means that even the tongue relief version would likely allow him to continue to chew on it and chewing on a firm rubber material is better but probably still not good. She also suggested that whatever bit we try I put on a chin strap to limit the mobility of the bit in the back/up direction. 

Current bit - that nice soft loose ring french link, WAYYYYY too much mobility for him to grab and pull back with his tongue

Myler comfort snaffle with a low port that she suggested

The day after his dental we did our canter sets in his rope hackamore. It seemed like the best move regardless since his mouth was probably a bit sore from all the work. 

Turns out that he goes MUCH faster without a bit. He was a certified GOOD BOY for the whole thing and could've truly been a whole porpoise or more and I wouldn't have been able to do much, but he was very good. This go round our canter sets were at 500 mpm, 470 mpm, and 460 mpm. They would've averaged faster, but I was making him trot and pick up the right lead every time he did a flying change to the left. I was having some trouble controlling his shoulders and that led to a lot of right to left flying changes since he prefers to really gallop on his left lead.

The next day I picked up two Mylers to try from a friend. 

Less likely candidate

More likely candidate

And then I put in the more likely to work Myler (which I believe is an MB04 loose ring) and then fashioned a chin strap from a piece of baling twine. 

Two bit guards since it is a 5.5" and he needs a 5" 

My initial impression was pretty good. He immediately tried to start clanking when it was in. When the bit first enters his mouth is always the worst time. Then he twisted his head around some, trying desperately to clank it. Once we got moving he stopped screwing with it as much, but I could occasionally tell he was playing with it in his mouth. His dentist said he probably clanks excessively when the bit first goes in to numb the area basically.  

I had planned on just doing a no contact trail ride to let him get used to it and not trigger any screwing with it when I picked up the contact. But he had other plans and was too spooky and up to let us do that. So we trotted half our normal walk loop with light contact. I worked in the ring some when we got home. He was immediately much steadier in the contact than he has ever been. I could hear him doing something with the bit, but it wasn't making the same metal/tooth clanking sound he makes with other bits. 

The second ride he was busier in his mouth in the ring and the lovely, steady contact wasn't quite as good. We'll keep trying it to see how it pans out though, including jumping in it. I also think that a proper width Myler would have a better shot too since less bit width means less overall flexibility to yank the bit back. There are a number of stores that have bit trial programs, which means that early next week I'll probably be ordering a few to try.