Get your horses teeth checked!! *pics*

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Victoria25

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Hi all, as some of you may know I recently bought an ex racer who came with ‘issues’ as told by the old owner – they never even rode him as they were too scared (sounds fishy but if you’d seen them you could tell they were telling the truth) and the first owner kept getting thrown off and was he was deemed ‘unsafe’. What annoys me is that NOBODY in the two years these people had him hadn’t even checked his bloody teeth!!! :mad:

Last night we had them done and Im not looking for feedback but just thought I’d share the pics with you (Im like a Japanese tourist) to just remind people please please get your horses teeth checked regularly. He had the two hooks on the top as you can see from the pics but he also had two more – either side on his bottom jaw … obviously causing the poor animal to be unable to move his mouth side to side … causing a locking effect. :eek:

We were saying “new horse new teeth” last night but really we should be saying “new teeth, new horse”!!!!!!! :D

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Now that is some impressive photography!! :D Fingers crossed for you that his behaiour improves as a result.

I guess your dentist advised you of the importance of ground feeding him now, if you aren't already - that'll play a big part in preventing the problem coming back.
 
Yes, all mine have always been fed from the ground ... ;)

He only had them done last night so unsure of what changes have taken place although Im sure it’s going to make a massive difference! Although saying that he was like a highly strung steam train this morning compared to his usual grumpy head down ‘OK lets go for a walk’ attitude …. :rolleyes:
 
Very impressive photography!!

;) And while I avoid the dentist myself my lad has his done regular as clockwork...his dentist is the nicest man ever and very reasonabiliy priced so it's a pleasure to spend time with him and he's got the most facinating stories so I never put off tooth time!!:D
 
You are absolutly right. It makes you wonder just how many "problem" horses out there with sharp teeth?! And how many have been sent to the meat man?!!!

My mare came from a succesful jumping yard. She had been through 8 dealer yards in 6 months, presumably because of her issues before she came to me.

Yes she did have issues, but she also had a pierced hole through her tounge and a big slash on the inside of her cheek!!!

According to my dentist, she had never had her teeth done?!!!

No wonder she ran about like a giraffe and wouldn't go forward and span. wouldn't anyone??

Brill pics BTW
 
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Wow, what a change, and fantastic pics! Bet he is a much happier chap now.

There is a chance he had his teeth done those - all those who attempt teeth are not equal! When I got my new mare, one of her 'not quite right' things was that she was happy in a grakle, but would not tollerate a caverson. So I had our (well respected equine practise) out for a general mot and teeth. All done, no probs apparently and that was that. Problem unchanged, back and saddle also checked, so I put it down to one of those things and so since we were hacking at that time I just took the noseband off. 6 months later time to check teeth again, but this time I thought I would try a dentist as there was one near us that I had heard alot of good things about. Turns out poor mare never had anything done to her back teeth and had hooks all along with ulcers along the cheek too. Not suprised she didn't like any noseband that pressed those sore cheeks along her sharp teeth! She is still very sensitive in her face (remembered pain perhaps?), but is happy in a caverson, so we are off being dressage divas now! Dentist says only need 12 monthly check ups now as she has a pretty much text book mouth confo and needs barely anything doing. How long had she been left is anyones guess. She stands like a brick so no reason not to do a proper job!
 
Those are very very good photographs, and very useful as a study in mouth conformation, which is something I find that people know very little about! I am always amazed that people know every inch, lump, and bump of their horse OUTSIDE, but when asked to describe the mouth (fat toungue, fleshy roof bars, etc etc), people generally look at you as if you are speaking Martian, and yet this is such an important part of communicating with your horse when riding it!

I think teeth, and the art of bitting correctly, are hugely underestimated. We spend a fortune on the right saddle being correctly fitted, and yet people seem content to chuck a "fat snaffle" in and be done with it. A bitting expert should be on the list with a decent farrier, vet, and saddler.

Off my soap box now, and I hope that the treatment this horse received from the dentist makes him comfortable and able to be ridden without danger! x
 
Can't see the pics just yet as am at work, but will look later, I always have my horses teeth checked regulary.

I got my new lad coming up 3 weeks ago, the 1st week he was with me I had his feet and teeth done, his teeth were also terrible and the back ones were so sharp and had caused lacerations to both sides of his gums inside, so was obviously in some discomfort and since doing it he seems alot happier, bit perky really :D

So important to feed from ground where possible too, it's so natural to feed this way.

Glad you got them done poor boy must've been so sore :( :(
 
Poor boy - hopefully problem sorted now!!

I bought a sec A as few years ago for my daughters 1st pony off lead rein- was told teeth were regularly done, but she kept putting her nose on the floor & galloping off so dentist was swiftly called .......he thought 3yrs since her teeth were last looked at & the poor thing had been trying to use her bit to unhook her teeth :( she really was a new pony afterwards!! It's not as if its even expensive to get their teeth checked so there is no excuse!! I get ours done every 6 months without fail!!
 
Those pictures are brilliant.I have to have teeth done alot because I have a lot of Miniature shetlands. Because they have such small heads but large teeth they dont wear them down evenly like a large horse would so I have to get some of them done every 6 months.

A couple of the ponies when I first brought them had 3 lots of work done just to get them right,1 treatment had to be done while they were sedated because they were so bad. The vet actually said they were horrific :eek:
 
Ahh, thanks for all your lovely comments about the photos :o luckily my vet puts up with me clicking away (trying not to get in his way too much).

Thankfully Mr B was well and truly sedated when they were done as the electric rasp was needed for those big buggers. My fiancé wanted to be there really when it was done (and probably because he was paying the bill) so thought I’d take before and after pics for him but its just nice to see in general the difference and hopefully useful for others!?

Here's another of him during the process :rolleyes: just gooooooooo to sleeeepp my precious man :)

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Well done you. It never ceases to amaze me that so many horses expected to wear a bit, never see a dentist.
A BSJA mare I bought, had hooks, sharp edges and sores inside her mouth. Dentist suspected that she had never seen a dentist. She was 13 years old.
 
thats some impressive photography!! You may do my wedding photos if you like?!?

My ex racer had his teeth done as soon as he was bought last year and were told his teeth were good, had them done 1yr later and still fine. He was struggling to eat carrots/small treats and was nodding and tossing his head lots when ridden. about 5weeks later when putting his bit in i felt a very sharp part of his tooth and got dentist back who said nothing wrong but fille dhis teeth again just to be "safe". Miraculously the sharp endge disappeared and he can now eat carrots and doesnt head shake anymore. So he obviously did have an issue the dentist just didnt want to admit he had missed it!!
But your boys are much worse than mine was! Hope he is now happy in his head!
 
Brilliant pictures, there's a fair few people I'd like to show them too who have never had their ponies teeth done and wonder why it's a bugger to break in! But sometimes it just all falls on deaf ears unfortunately for the pony. My old pony was struggling to eat once and I had my usual 'dentist' out he said he had a cracked tooth but it wasn't causing any problems. I wasn't happy so i got a second opinion 3 days later and this dentist that I have now been using the past 9 years was able to pull the 'cracked' tooth out with her fingers, the tooth wasn't rotten it was dead, he'd got food stuck under the tooth that had caused an infection. Hence to say there are horse dentists and 'proper' horse dentists.
 
Great pictures - hope you don't mind I've saved them to my computer to show to my Pony Clubbers.

I once had a TB who despite regular dental floating was skinny and dropped food - dentist assured me the teeth were fine. I found he couldn't eat hay or long feed.

A couple of years later I moved to a different area and used a different dentist - this one used a gag - previous one hadn't! - and then he showed me - the top fronts had a hook which would develop again after each floating but at the back! The bottom jaw had hooks at the back - growing up into the roof of the mouth - I was flabbergasted no wonder my poor boy didn't eat well. After a long and painful (for me dentist phobic) the hooks were removed the smell and the sound of the high speed grinder - I shudder at the thought - after that horse put on weight, went kindly and happily on the bit and scoffed his hay like only a horse can.

I learnt a valuable lesson - never use a dentist that doesn't use a gag - they can't get the back teeth properly.
 
I learnt a valuable lesson - never use a dentist that doesn't use a gag - they can't get the back teeth properly.[/QUOTE said:
As I breed, and have quite a few horses here, I bought myself a gag (good old EBay!) and check all of mine regularly. I had two yearlings this year who had very sharp points on their molars, and its not the first time I've had a yearling rasped. The other side of the coin is the "so called" EDT who power rasped my mare while she was out on loan and took all the tables off, whilst leaving a hook at the back. My vet says it will be a year before they are back to normal (hopefully)
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Thanks for fab pics. I had the same situation with a mare I bought - she was a real stargazer, but also unridden at rest in the field. I tried allsorts of different bits and a hackamore to no avail. Her teeth had been seen to twice in 10 months by myself and previous owner (same dentist!!). Anyway due to an injury an Equine Touch therapist who treated her said there was something amiss mouth/jaw wise and I got a very respected dentist out who surprise surprise found horrendous sharp hooks in my mare's mouth.
The result was instant relief for her but unfortunately months of 'remembered pain', which has now gone :D
 
My god looking at the pics is a real eye opener poor lad must have been in so much pain, glad they are all better now.

What amazing photography how on earth did you manage to get them?...
 
HI

Thanks for posting those pictures - they are really interesting to see. Although I have always had my horses teeth done I have never really seen in such clarity what is going on in the horses mouth.
 
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