CANINE TEETH IN HORSES ...

[Jade Raleigh]

My boy is rising 6, has two upper canines coming down, he evades the contact, head shakes and is constantly trying to touch the ground with his nose.

Vet thinks this is due to the canines coming down but my dentist doesn’t think they should cause any pain.

Has anyone had any experience with canine teeth causing any pain with their horse ?

 

[Mule]

Nope. Is the dentist a vet or a qualified equine dentist?
Did this start recently, ie, spring or summer?

 

[Jade Raleigh]

Nope. Is the dentist a vet or a qualified equine dentist?
Did this start recently, ie, spring or summer?

A qualified dentist, started in late January

 

[Mule]

I was just wondering whether it could be allergies. I don't want to throw you off or confuse things but the symptoms are the same as my horse who has allergic rhinitis. He has a pollen allergy.

As for the canine teeth, you could try riding him in a headcollar/bitless. If the symptoms occur when bitless you should know whether the bit acting on the teeth is causing the problem or not.

*Also, does he have the symptoms only when being ridden or also when he's unridden?

 

[cobgoblin]

Yes. One of ours was very fidgety with his mouth when his canines erupted, he was about 4.5 to 5yrs at the time.

 

[Jade Raleigh]

I was just wondering whether it could be allergies. I don't want to throw you off or confuse things but the symptoms are the same as my horse who has allergic rhinitis. He has a pollen allergy.

As for the canine teeth, you could try riding him in a headcollar/bitless. If the symptoms occur when bitless you should know whether the bit acting on the teeth is causing the problem or not.

*Also, does he have the symptoms only when being ridden or also when he's unridden?

He has it mildly in the field/ stable, was worse about a month ago now it’s mainly when ridden, especially when he is asked to canter, he even does it on the lunge with a head collar, but only 1-2 head shakes, it’s mainly him stretching down, then he struggles to keep the canter because he is so focused on stretching ? He constantly fights the bit and figets with the bit too

 

[Mule]

He has it mildly in the field/ stable, was worse about a month ago now it’s mainly when ridden, especially when he is asked to canter, he even does it on the lunge with a head collar, but only 1-2 head shakes, it’s mainly him stretching down, then he struggles to keep the canter because he is so focused on stretching ? He constantly fights the bit and figets with the bit too

I really don't know. Perhaps get a second opinion from a different vet. You could also ask the dentist is there anything that they would recommend doing if it is the canines.

 

[Marigold4]

Mine is 5 and has canines coming through. He did some of the things you describe. Part of this turned out to be that he had changed shape and needed a new saddle, but I also changed to a Sprenger duo non-jointed rubber bit but shaped over the tongue and this works really well. I experimented a lot riding both bareback and bitless to find out what made him comfortable. Took a while but he's happy now and his canines are properly through now.