Looking for some advice on bridling and older horse that just isn't having it. I took in this mid-teens horse to ride for 30 days...just some wet saddle pads kind of thing. The mare rides around good and actually has a decent handle but she turns into a complete freak when trying to bridle. I'm on day 4 with her now and have been doing my rides in the round pen with a loping hackamore to try and get something done. I've spent some time everyday working on getting her bridled, really just trying to start over with it because she obviously has some bad issues with it that has been created over time.
I'm going to suggest the owner have her teeth checked, I'm sure they haven't done that but short of that being the issue, I don't seem to be making much progress. I spend time each day just getting her head in the right spot, pulling the headstall over her face and just rubbing my fingers on the side of her mouth and she throws her head a lot. If you try for the bit, she gets pretty violent with the head tossing. I have gotten her to where I can pull the headstall over and rub on the side of her face some without it being as much of a fight, but that's about it.
Was wondering if there is anything I'm missing or that I could try to help her.
