A comfortable mouth is of paramount importance in achieving contented horses that are happy in their work. Removing sharp points on the buccal (next to the cheek) side of the upper molar arcades and lingual (next to the tongue) side of the lower molar arcades will give your horse a more comfortable mouth. Hooks, ramps, waves and step mouths must be removed with extra care to ensure your horse’s teeth are working properly and not causing any discomfort or restriction in the movement of the mouth.
Up until a horse is in its 20’s the teeth are constantly erupting at approximately 3mm per year. Whilst 3mm might not sound a lot, in three years a single tooth can become overgrown up to and over 1cm.
In their natural environment horses will graze for most of the day with their heads in the natural downward position, which wear their teeth in the way nature intended. Domestic horses have less opportunity for this and are generally fed from hay-nets and with hard feed, a misleading name as course mix, grain, etc., is actually very soft and doesn’t give the teeth a chance to wear down naturally. This is where professional equine dental care comes in.
It’s important to remember horses will often suffer in silence, so even if your horse seems ‘normal’ he/she still requires regular dental check-ups to remain healthy and pain free.
You can detect many dental problems by observing your horse. Some behaviours that look like ‘quirks’ may actually be due to a dental problem. It isn’t possible for owners to check inside their horse’s mouth without the use of a full mouth speculum (gag). You should never put your hand inside a horse’s mouth to feel its teeth as you could easily lose a finger!
Open your horse’s lips and look at the incisor teeth from the front. What does his ‘smile’ look like? An uneven, upside-down, slanted or s-shaped ‘smile’ almost certainly means trouble with the cheek grinders/molars.
Signs of teeth and mouth problems:
• Head shaking or tossing
• Facial pain, temporomandibular sensitivity
• Reluctance to accept a contact when being ridden
• Head tilting whilst being ridden
• Opening of mouth while being ridden
• Loss of performance
• Unable to move lower jaw sideways
• Bad breath
• Dropping of feed, quidding
• Large particles of undigested feed in droppings
• Dunking hay in water bucket
• Stuffing as much food as possible into his mouth with each bite
• Losing weight and condition
• Sinusitis, with or without nasal discharge
This is not a complete list of symptoms, but with regular check-ups your horse should remain healthy and pain free. |
