what do you do when you "Mouth" a horse?

You are checking the AGE of a horse.

Short, small teeth, horse is younger than 2 years.

2 large front teeth and the rest small, 2 yr old

4 large front teeth and the rest small 3 yr old

6 large front teeth no small in sight, angle of teeth is straight up and down, 4 yrs old.

Then you start looking at "cups"...

When a horse has NO cups typically the horse is called smoothed mouthed and is 15 or over.

You can also tell the age of a horse by the slant of the adult teeth, the more of a horizontal slant, the more over 20 the horse is.

Mouthing a horse is preparing him to take a bit and getting him used to having a lump of metal in his mouth. I start them at short sessions with a mouthing bit gradually building them up to taking a regular bit in the mouth to be worked with

I'm pretty sure there are a few meanings to the word. The one I know of is checking to see the age of the horse by looking at it's teeth.

'Mouthing' a horse, in the UK, is introducing the bit to the young horse.

It's a question that has been asked here before:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200802...

Just imagine if someone came along and put a finger-thick bar of metal in your mouth. You try to move forward. Suddenly both sides of the bar are pulled back, quite hard: you stop, unsure what this means. Then out of the blue, a pull comes on the right-hand end of the metal bar. It's uncomfortable - and you don't know what to do about it. You shake your head in irritation. The pull comes again, even harder. It's starting to hurt - you have a sharp edge on one of your teeth, and it's now cutting into your cheek. You are now confused, hurt, and getting annoyed.

This gives some idea of how damaging it can be if a bit is introduced without taking the time, sympathy and patience to do it right. Many behavioural problems seen in young horses can be traced to a simple pain response to a poorly-fitting or badly-used bit. It is possible to save yourself, and your horse, a lot of frustration by paying proper attention to this vital part of his education.

The key ingredient is time, and plenty of it. Since you will be thinking of starting to train and eventually ride your horse in his third year, you should make sure he is very used to his tack well before this. Horses wear halters from foals, and winter rugs from not long after - it is a simple extension to introduce a bridle and saddle.

I began introducing a bit to my horse when he was about two. Some prefer to start right from the start, by putting the bit into a feed bucket and allowing an inquisitive foal to play with it, mouthing it and investigating it for himself. Personally, I don't use this approach simply because a more timid foal is just as likely to be afraid of the bit and develop a morbid distrust of it: but you know your horse best, and how he is likely to react.

Whatever age you choose, the first thing you need to reach for is not the bit and bridle, but the telephone and the number for your nearest vet or horse dentist. Get your horse checked out BEFORE you introduce the bit.

The soft tissue in a horse's mouth gets damaged very easily, and probably the most common cause of discomfort in a horse's mouth is sharp or uneven teeth. Young horses should, in any case, have their teeth checked every six months (and older horses once a year) by a professional. A dentist or vet will rasp spurs and spikes which develop on growing teeth down to a smooth, comfortable surface. This is especially important when starting to use a bit, when the horse's cheeks can be pressed against his teeth by the bit rings, and a call in the vet or dentist to see your youngster's teeth in the weeks leading up to the day the bit will be introduced is an essential part of his preparation.

So, your horse is calm and obedient after two years of painstaking training on the ground, and you are confident his mouth is comfortable. The big day arrives, and you march into the tack room - only to be faced with a bewildering array of choice over exactly which bit you should be putting into his mouth.

Sometimes it can seem impossible to decide between the many conflicting opinions on this subject, but there are a few rules of thumb to follow which can make it easier.

At this stage, when you will not be using the bit for riding the horse, the basic rule is - the kinder, the better. Straight-bar bits are more gentle than jointed bits; you can experience this for yourself by putting a bit over your forearm, attaching two reins to it and getting a friend to pull back. You'll find a jointed bit can be really painful if enough force is applied!

Another rule of thumb is that coated or non-metal bits (such as nylon, rubber or plastic) are better than metal, which tends to be too unforgiving and heavy for a young horse's mouth.

Snaffles - bits with rings rather than levers - are far more gentle than curbs, which should never be used on young horses, whether for mouthing or riding. Snaffle bits come in loose ring, eggbutt or d-ring designs. Larger rings make it more difficult for the horse to pull the bit through his mouth: and fixed rings (eggbutt or d-ring) avoid the problem occasionally caused by loose rings where the bit rings catch on a horse's lips.

Rubber bits are very kind, but many young horses love to chew these and they may not last very long! Rubber bits also tend to be thick, and sit less happily in a young horse's mouth. A two-year-old's teeth are very short in comparison to a full-grown horse's, and may not meet properly over a thick mouthpiece. If your horse has particularly short teeth, it may be necessary to use a really thin bit, such as a bradoon, to begin with, so that he doesn't get uncomfortable: but such a bit should never be used to ride with, as thin bits are far harsher in action than thicker ones. As your horse's teeth grow, and certainly before you

well actually that guy is not to dumb. I guess there are different terms for mouthing. Yah I know it as something that has to do with the bit in the mouth.

that guy is a dumb **** when you mouth a horse you look at its teeth to see how old it is