What can you tell me about a 'parrot mouth' horse?

make sure you speak to a edt.....our big boy is slightly parrot mouthed ie his top teeth protrude over his bottom...he has yearly treatments and it never bothers him....
 
Parrot mouth is when the top front teeth (incisors) overlap the lower incisors resulting in an uneven bite - sometimes there may still be contact between the upper and lower jaw but in extreme cases there is no contact. The problem with parrot mouths is that the horse delicately nibbles his food with his front teeth (eg grass) before moving the food to the back of the mouth on to the molars where it is chewed. If the horse can't bite the food it can make it very difficult for the horse to eat enough to maintain a healthy body weight.
 
My old boy (TB) had a bad parrot mouth and it never cause him any problems. He had the usual visits from a dentist and never needed any more treatment than the others. Also kept weight on well which was a god send for a TB
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As long as the bit doesn't end up banging against his front teeth (which it shouldn't do if it is correctly fitted!) then biting a parrot mouthed horse is no different to a normal horse.
 
My mare has quite a bad parrot mouth, you can fit a finger inbetween her front teeth
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i have a problem keeping the weight off of her
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and as far as bitting goes the EDT says she has plenty of room for a bit and shouldn't cause any problems
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Ted is parrot mouth and he is ridden in a frech link loose ring snaffle with no problems..

Only problem i've ever had is one one ignorent woman got caught wollopin him up his face and when ased why replyed 'He just tried to bite me i felt his teeth' What had acctually happened as she had fed him and she'd fet his top teth on her hand.

Lou x
 
something to add, if the parrot mouth is relatively bad, it is better to have the teeth checked every 6 months as if the front teeth are not aligned, it also means that the molars are not either and you are likely to get hooks where the molars do not meet properly at the front and at the back.
My horse has a moderate parrot mouth, it causes him no problems.. but I do have his teeth checked every 6 months. When I had him vetted the vet commented on it, but was not worried about it.
 
I evented a mare with a bad parrot mouth. We used a fairly thin snaffle on her and her teeth were done 6 monthly but other than that, it wasnt a problem
 
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something to add, if the parrot mouth is relatively bad, it is better to have the teeth checked every 6 months as if the front teeth are not aligned, it also means that the molars are not either and you are likely to get hooks where the molars do not meet properly at the front and at the back.


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this happens with my horse, otherwise I have no problems with him at all because of it
 
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