Rolling hay up and spitting it back out???

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becksten

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My 3 year old has just learnt how to eat out of a haynet!! But, when we go up to muck them out we have noticed rolled up hay all over his stable floor. He takes bits of hay, chews it, and then spits it out. He does eats some of it, but most of it he leaves rolled up. We have started to wet the hay, and hes eating a bit more than he did, but hes still leaving a lot. He does eat his feed with no problems. He had his teeth checked when we got him (which was abot 3months ago). Anyone have any ideas? Should i get the dentist out again just incase?
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EDT = proper horse dentist, sorry.

Yep Id be inclined to think there was something sharp going on in your youngsters mouth. Horses will ball food up and wedge it into the side of the mouth to try and cushion the pain a bit.
 
It's called "quidding" and is usually a sign of a dental or oral problem, so I would get it checked out
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I have bad opinion of dentists and always use my vet as it happens - be careful your dentist doesn't overdo things with a 3yo mouth.
 
A pony at our yard years ago used to do this because he only had 5 teeth, all of which were rotten (he was 34) so it was impossible for him to break the hay down enough to swollow.

Defo something not right with his teeth i would get them checked ASAP.
 
Totally agree you need to get an Equine Dental Techinician out. Possibly he is suffering from changing his teeth, but it shouldn't affect him this much.
 
At this age, it's almost certainly retained caps. As the new permanent teeth come through, they push out the old ones. Sometimes the remnants of the old ones stick to the tops of the new ones, making it impossible for the horse to chew properly.

Getting this seen to is URGENT as the presence of the caps can force the new teeth to grow apart, leaving gaps between them which accumulate food and get 'nasty'. But it takes care to remove the caps - and it might not be possible to do it immediately without the risk of breaking the new teeth - in which case he would need to be closely monitored and fed some soft, easily digested food (soggy sugar beet etc) to ensure he doesn't lose weight in the meantime.

If gaps DO form, then chances are they will close up again once the caps are removed - but he will need rasping more often than normal because of uneven wear. (I've just been through this with a 3 year old (now 4) - it took several months before we could get the caps off, a total of 6 months before the gaps closed up and he could chew properly, and he had to have his teeth rasped several times during that period.
 
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