My horse was recently diagnosed with mild flapper displacement, meaning he doesn't do it constantly but he will displace. They told me the two surgery options, one a short stand up procedure, one more invasive with more recovery time (don't remember the technical names). I was just curious as to everyone else's experiences with it. Since it is mild, I've been looking for other ways to control it without surgery (unless of course it worsens and comes to that). An Equi Resp rep told me the stronger of their units is very helpful in treating displacement. How is this? Someone suggested to me to tie his tongue. What is everyone's opinion on this for running barrels? Is it hard to do? Just looking for some outside info and experiences.
He is displacing the palate. I know tongue tying is common in race horses, but wasn't sure if it was as effective in barrel horses? I don't know if it is too distracting, or uncomfortable. It seems as though a barrel horse might have to "think" and listen a little more than a racehorse, so I didn't know if tying interfered with that or not. I might be overthinking it also! Haha
My horse will do this during a run when you pull on the bit with both reins. He will start making a roaring noise. Only really does it at the end of a run when I am stopping him or doing slow work and I have to stop him. But I did start using a bit called the Winning Tounge Plate http://www.iiwinners.com/WTP/ without the plate. That seemed to help. If your horse is bad, I would think the bit with the plate should really help.
Flapper displacement...
