So I was scrolling mindlessly through facebook yesterday afternoon, as one does, when this article caught my eye:
Link to it here, in case you also need your mind blown today.
See, I have a bump on the roof of my mouth. And until yesterday I had NO IDEA that most people don’t. NO IDEA. NONE. I THOUGHT THIS WAS HOW ALL HUMAN MOUTHS WERE SHAPED. Being the natural skeptic that I am, I starting asking friends. Surely everyone has this mouth bump right?
WRONG. Out of the first 8 people I asked, no one else had a mouth bump. They just have these big ol’ empty bat cave mouths, apparently. Finally I asked my dad and he too has a mouth bump. He is the standard by which I judge all other humans, therefore I concluded that our mouth bumps are normal and all you smooth-mouthed people are weird. What do y’all do with all that extra space? You hiding something in there? A weapon? A snack for later? Pills to help you cope?
Being a Weird Horse Girl, it only took a matter of minutes for me to make the leap over into wondering if horses have this or not (apparently not – the closest thing for them would be a low palate I suppose) and then thinking to myself “boy I would NOT like a ported tongue relief bit at all, would I?”.
But… it really does make you think about just how differently mouths can be shaped and why finding a comfortable bit for your horse is so important. I fell soooo deep into a rabbit hole about horse mouth anatomy. I know that Henry doesn’t have a low palate (I’ve spent a lot of time staring at the inside of his mouth thanks to his weird teeth and the vet bills they bring) but he does have a fat tongue… we’ve already been down this road with all of his mouth weirdness and bit-searching in the past. But I’ve not gotten a super good look inside of Presto’s mouth yet. When we pulled his wolf teeth I was more preoccupied with what was coming OUT of his mouth. I feel like we’re pretty programmed to be focused on teeth but maybe not so much on the shape and characteristics of the mouth itself. Not gonna lie, I’m gonna be creepin’ on the dentist for every horse I come across from now on. I must see more horse mouths, it’s fascinating.
I’m still a little shook about finding out that there is a whole other species of Bat Cave Mouthed humans out there, though. Some intense googling did reveal a study that loosely linked the mouth bump to higher bone density, but otherwise all I learned is that mouths are inexplicably freakin’ weird in all animals.
Do you have a bump-mouth or a bat cave?
breedrideevent.com 
As a braces kid with an already obscenely small mouth, who now permanently wears a retainer every night, I am so thankful to be a cave mouth 😂 I need all the space I can get! Lol
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Bat cave here too! Thankful as well due to a horrific dental torture device known as a palette spreader when I was a kid
But I just recently fell down a similar rabbit hole when I found out that not everyone has an inner monologue. That one about did my brain in 🤯
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YES the inner monologue one blew my mind too! I had no idea that some people don’t have a running commentary in their heads.
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What – seriously? On reflection – that explains a lot.
Add me to the mouth bumpers…
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Team bat cave mouth here apparently… hahahaha.
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ALIEN
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Lol, you must have been having a slow work day. I am just literally over here giggling and shaking my head. This is one of your weirder (is that a word) posts. 🤔
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What can I say, I like to bring the weird.
Legit had no idea most people don’t have a bump, how did I not know this for 36 years?
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I have one horse with a slightly off-set jaw. The story that came with him was that he was kicked in the face as a foal. He seems very uncomfortable to me with a bit in his mouth. He goes along and does his job but has a sour look on his face and is constantly opening his mouth, chomping and chewing. It bothered me that it bothered him so much that I decided pretty quickly after I brought him home that we would ride in a bitless bridle so that is what we do. I’d love to find a bit he carries comfortably, but for whatever reason, it’s not happening.
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Henry’s is very slightly offset too!
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Long time reader here because I really enjoy your focus on horses, tack, training, etc. (also your sense of humor!)
I have a mouth bump. I thought it was part of the normal structure of a mouth (I also have long feet with high arches … TMI ?)
Neither the dentist or orthodontist has every mentioned internal structure other than that I have minimal space for the size of my teeth. Its a tight fit in there. My only extractions were 3 wisdom teeth. Yep an odd number.
Now I will have to go do a little rabbit-hole reading myself , along with trying to remember to pester the dental staff when I do get back into the office. I was able to squeeze in a cleaning just before the all the offices started tightening procedures.
Let us know how Presto’s mouth structure compares to Henry or the norm?
M in NC
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I think it’s crazy that none of my dentists have ever mentioned the bump before or that it’s not something everyone has. Totally blown my mind lol.
I might have to wait for his next dental appointment to get a good look in Presto’s mouth!
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WHOA. I did not know this thing. Now I’m going to be asking EVERYONE lol. I’ve got a hibernaculum mouth.
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it resulted in a lot of weird mouth pictures being sent back and forth on messenger lol
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I wonder why your dentist never said anything? Every dentist I have gone to has mentions how high and narrow the roof of my mouth is. Now I wont to ask a dentist how often they see a bump on the roof of peoples mouths? The conversation at my June cleaning will be interesting.
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I’ve had like 5 different dentists in my life and no one ever mentioned it!
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Batcave mouth here. I totally didn’t know mouth bumps were a thing. I learned something new today.
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And I didn’t know they weren’t a thing lol
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Bump mouth here! I also thought that was the norm.. Now that I have learned something new today, can I go back to bed??
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Batcave mouth LOL But I suppose it’s balanced out because Amber has an extremely low pallet? The only mouthpieces she’s comfortable in are ones like Mylers (thank you horse for being even more expensive). She HATES ported bits, and when I figured that out it led me down a very long rabbit trail one day of mouths and ported bits and double bridles. It was a very interesting day lol.
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Cave mouth. The dentists always comment on my high palate, pair that with a somwhat narrow mouth and it makes for a very unpleasant experience getting dental impressions done…
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I can’t decide. I have a bump I guess, but it’s not like big? Pictures may be in order.
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Small bump on top (torus palatinus) with several on the bottom (mandibular tori) in varying sizes – one quite large!
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Team mouth bump. Hey!
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I think we’re up to like 6 or 7 members so far lol
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I’ve got a bump but it’s small. Husband has a cave mouth. He told me he’s 100% sure I’m an alien now. Between my RH RH negative blood and my bump mouth 😂
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Yeah SO said I have a tumor mouth and I said he’s got a eunuch mouth, then we both agreed that the other is disgusting. So this has to be a good development for relationships. LOL
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Also bumping over here. Just made an uncomfortable number of people send me photos of their mouth.
Also, Iggy has the LARGEST tongue I’ve ever seen on a horse.
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I have a bump, but was told it was normal to have one. What’s not normal about mine is that apparently it is larger than usual, and my soft palate is smaller than normal.
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So I kind of have that and also thought it was normal? Mine is like a skinny ridge down the middle though. Huh.
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Bat cave here.
Also something I find interesting: I can’t whistle worth a darn. My brother cannot either, but has developed an odd work around that’s not quite a whistle but loud enough for calling back his dog. My Dad could not whistle either. Mom can. I wonder how much of it is genetics.
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I’ve just seen a picture of you and Henry on an Instagram advert! I had to look twice like ‘hey I know that horse!’
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Which one?
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Ayr equestrian I think
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Hmm, I don’t know of any ads with them, I’ll have to poke around.
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Oh that’s weird! It came up as a sponsored ad, I can see if I can find it again and get a screenshot for you?
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I can’t tell… I had surgery up there awhile ago, and it’s kind of lumpy and smooth all at the same time.
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I’ve got a bat cave. And I’ve got pics of Cosmo’s mouth from his dental chart if you want to see some trippy mouth/teeth.
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Got me a bump, and like you, I never thought about anybody having anything different. It’s just that area I run my tongue over every once in a while. So cool, that it’s unique!!
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Had no idea about mouth bumps, but I definitely have one. My tongue likes to rest on the bump. 😀
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Team Bat Cave for me! But my horse, Magnus has a low pallet and a large tongue, he likes only really skinny snaffles, there’s just not much room in there! Totally worth looking at the structures of your horse’s mouth when considering bit type.
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Oooh thank you for the link to the article about bits and bitting, it’s fascinating!
(Batcave mouth here. I love finding stuff like this that blows your mind. Thanks, Buzzfeed XD)
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I have a bump!! HOW DO PEOPLE NOT HAVE BUMPS?!
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Team bump here! I also am flabbergasted that not everyone has one! And what is this craziness of people without inner monologues?! Are their minds just blank? How do they not endlessly critique past conversations, plan witty comebacks, or judge people?
And now, I’ll be harassing my mare, trying to look into her mouth…which is tiny because she’s half pony. But, very good point about bit comfort for different mouths.
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