chomping

Question
hi, my name is kateyn and i am training this horse that my friend got a couple weeks ago, (he got him at a auction so we are not sure on his past.) i got on him today and i was ridin him around with just a haulter. i noticed everytime i would ask something with his face, for example turning, i would put my leg on and progress to the rein. the only thing is whenever i was on his face he would hold it open like he was trying to escape the bit (even though there was no bit it was just a halter) so it got me thinking that hs previous owners where either too hard on the mouth or the horse didn't like the bit. i dunno something along those lines, so now everytime there is contact on his face even with a halter he opens and keeps his mouth open and chomps. how do i fix that? i wasn't hard on his face i was very gentle and if possible i dont want to strap something on thats just gunna piss him off or only work when the strap is on.
thanks alot for your time
katelyn

Answer
Hello Katelyn,
It sounds like your guy had a bad feeling inside when he feels pressure on his nose. You are right, it could have been something that happened in the past that is causing this, either way it is your issue to help him with now. If he felt good about giving to pressure and getting a release, if he was sure it would happen and felt good about it I bet he would not make faces. Take your time, you could even start on the ground, how do you keep a small amount of pressure on until he "thinks" of moving his head, even if it does not move. If he just moves his eye in your direction give for that, show him that you want this to be a conversation and not a pulling match.
Let me know how it works out for you,
Caitlin Day Huntress