[K F]

Good for you for not abandoning him after you found out his past was painful. What does it take to reclaim an abused horse? In a word, time. Lots of time handling, slow ground work, round pen work & in - hand work. Hours grooming and hand grazing, time in or next his stall, just reading and talking to him. Get him to realize you're not going to hurt him. This will tranfer to under saddle work, to a degree, but don't expect miracles. Read up on the theories taught by John Lyons & Monty Roberts. It's always about pressure, yield, release pressure. And 'pressure' doesn't always mean physical pressure. Body language speaks loudest to the abused horse. Touch isn't always necessary. Voice is. Might be that he needs to be started again, from scratch, always working on trust. Also, since his mouth is a major issue, I'd keep a bit out of it for now. I'd ride in a hackamore until he realizes that the rest of the riding experience won't hurt him otherwise. Lastly, is it possible his teeth need floating? Have his wolf teeth been removed? That would make *any* well behaved horse hyper sensitive about his mouth. Good luck.