I've had my mare for a little over a couple months, and she is very different from any of my other horses. She's a sweet girl, very soft in the face, is very broke.. but among other things, she does not like a bit. 

She will tolerate a fixed bit or a snaffle. She doesn't like gags..at all. The copper wrapped bits are better and chains, but anything else she is not having it. She doesn't shake her head, but she will throw it on occasion but always comes back to me. She gets more anxious with a bit in her mouth, but if you throw a hackamore on her she is super calm. I rode her briefly(about 20 minutes) today in a roundpen bridleless (just walk/trot) and she did great. Listened to leg cues, voice commands. 

She has seen a vet, she is sound. Her teeth have been done. She has seen a chiro. She'll be getting a new set of shoes next week. I've had her TMJ joint checked multiple times.  She does not have ulcers and is on maintenance for it as preventative measure. We are planning to do a flex test sometime next month just to see if she needs hock injections (she has mild bone spurs on both of her hocks, but the joint itself is in pretty good shape). So I have been communicating with my vet on that. 

My thing is, I have been working with her on collection and flexion, as she can get a bit stiff at times. My thing is, what can I put on her to where she will be able to tolerate it..and still be able to do all the fancy footwork? I've never had a horse this sensitive on their head. Can I make her do it, yes. However, she just does not seem to like it.  Even if you're on the ground and you have a bit(I've been using a locked snaffle with a copper mouth and lifesaver) in her mouth, and you grab the reins to say lead her and you apply that pressure, she will jerk her head up. But if you have a hack or a halter, she doesn't care. Bitless bridle maybe? Help!

I knew a girl years ago that ran her horse in a halter because that was all he could tolerate. This horse was a pro horse and she won money on him all over Texas. 

did by chance you check her ears for ticks or any foreign bugs................something I always check out on a new horse................

youll get her figured out and I recommend taking a lesson from someone with alot of experience you may learn something else to try............

goodluck!

Yep, ears were checked at her PPE and I've been keeping an eye on them, ticks aren't really prevalent where I am. She does have some plaque in her ears and put a flymask with ears on her as I have read that is the best way to handle that.  

And I have considered lessons,  but I dont know a lot of good trainers in my area.. and the closest one I would trust is 4 hours away.  Hence why I am asking for opinions, I just ask a lot of questions in general anyway. It's just in my nature. 

If you are talking about aural plaque,that can be so bad it makes a horse dangerous.Im sure you have read up on it,I did deal with it,and it turned the horse crazy at times.There are good articles on it,but I believe nothing cures it.

well honestly if you don't get any good suggestions on here I would drive the 4 hours.  Better to continue on with a strong foundation on your new horse then have to back track...................

I’d try her in a leather mouthpiece if she’s that soft. A lot of soft face horses love a leather mouthpiece. You can find them on Etsy for about $45 for a simple O ring. Shanks are a little more.

I have a mare that was broke to be a reined cow horse. Super light, fancy broke, can ride bridleless.  Took a lesson from the guy who broke/trained her and was made to realize those kind of horses are taught to work with a very loose rein, and a lot are only trained to go in a bosal and don’t go on with training from there if they don’t make it past that level/age. Problem with that I found for trying to turn my super broke horse into a barrel horse is she is trained by cues on a super loose rein in a bosal (similar to a mild hack such as the S hack or Beetle Hack) so when u try to ride them with contact or a bit you are actually “interfering” with how they have been taught. It’s challenging but she is learning and it must be possible to overcome for a lot of cutters and reiners (who are trained very similar, very loose reins, low hands or one handed) go on to be great barrel horses. I for one find myself thinking it may just b easier to ride in the mild hack and just only have to overcome the tighter rein issue...

If you can reach out to the person who trained her - or someone in the same discipline, that could be helpful.

One thing I’m not afraid to try on a horse anymore is a ported bit.  It’s the fastest growing part of our bit collection.  A 3 piece bit applies tongue pressure - furthermore when you apply pressure on a lifesaver, it stands up on the tongue.  For some horses, the tongue is pretty sensitive.  A port provides tongue relief.  For some horses, they are much much more comfortable with it.  General rule is under a 2” port you won’t interfear with the pallet.  I have a Jim Warner V correctional that I really like.  It’s also pretty thick with a good weight, meaning the horse feels more of the bit and nothing “surprises” them.

they really aren’t as harsh as people make them out to be once you understand the mechanics.

Have you tried running her in the hack?

I make several different lengths and weights.  More ride better today in a hackamore. Reson from experience with a lot of horses calf horses barrel horses cow horses.  The horses we have today can not take curb pressure as before and most have such a shallow mouth. Any mouthpiece hurts. And young horses are cutting teeth just like people. Their mouth hurts. There is no law that says you can not win in a hackamore. Mine take the trap off their head.  They will not make a horse stiff or raise them up,they will not lock their shoulders the horse bends in the ribs. They release from the pull side push from the offside. You don't pull the horse through the turns you push them.  They work more like a traditional hackamore a bosal. Those are signal devises no leverage. Mine add the leverage. Just enough not to scare them. Balance the withers under you. Take the trap off you take the fear factor away. 

I ride a horse that is super light mouthed as well. I ride her in a s hackamore with a rope noseband. She loves it!!!! The lady that gave it to me said they either love it or hate it, and thankfully she loved it!!! She has plenty of stop, plenty of bend. Something to maybe try. 

I had a mare that was very sensitive, would gape her mouth with any bit. I tried a Hodges futurity bit with a chain mouth, and that did the trick. Might be worth a try.  Look on lwbits.com - it's called the circle hack combination.

I have several really sensitive horses and i make sure that i use a leather curb with any/every bit i have.  I even have a leather curb on my S Hackamore.

Another option is to try a Mullen mouth bit.  I find that most horses love those bits.

You can try a true hollow mouth egg but snaffle. They are very feather light1

If she likes the hack, then go with the hack!

You could still ride her in a snaffle from time-to-time, to work on your footwork/collection etc.

I have one right now that is also super super soft and very particular. I've tried what bits I have and I keep coming back to a cheap one that I bought on horse.com because he just seems to like it the best. Double jointed mouth with really short shanks. Last fall I started running him in a Little S Hack which seemed to work at the time, but now this year it wasn't "fast enough" on the cues because he's so catty, so I just started using his regular bit this time and it's working great (last fall he was still too "bendy" with that in the pattern, but he's learned more so probably why it's working better).

Yes, it's really important to train our horses well so they travel well and are BROKE. But .... also try to work with the horse on what they like the best too.