RC: Stallion behavior

["Spencer" <spencer@inu.net>]

I have just started riding my stallion again..after 4 years of not being ridden.  He has always 'mouthed' things---puts anything and everything in his mouth.. ie grabs the reins, the whip handle, the lead rope, the cavesson... all of which make it awkward and slow down the tacking up process.  Has anyone experienced this and if so, what did you do??  Or any suggestions would be helpful.  Otherwise, he did very well today for not being worked for a while. He is 11 yrs old in Mar 2000.... definitely puts some babies on the ground that like to run (He is Muscat grandson,ie Russian racing lines). When he was 2 and I started him getting used to tack, etc.. one day I looked over to find him going in circles while tied... turned out he had gotten the stirrup iron in his mouth along with the bit that was already there and could not get it back out!!!!  (it was english type) .  I hoped he would grow out of it.  Thanks for any suggestions.  Mary Ann