Wolf Teeth

[Sooty]

There seem to be some conflicting opinions about the whereabouts of wolf teeth in the horse's mouth, and why some people have them removed. We had Beano's removed as with our previous horse they had caused problems with the bit, and in another horse we know they had got infected and caused enormous pain resulting in her starting rearing. They are in the gap where the bit goes:

wolf teeth

Do horses get teeth coming through and causing problems at the back of the mouth?

 

[Tia]

I have been surprised also at the amount of people who confuse the canine teeth with wolf teeth

.

Canine teeth are in the gap - whereas wolf teeth are right at the back just before the premolars.

http://www.horsedentist.com/Canines%20and%20Wolf%20Teeth%201.htm

 

[Seahorse]

I was going to post on here today anyway about wolf teeth, so thank you Sooty!

Just to say that Axey had his wolf teeth out a few weeks ago as they were causing him trouble to the extent that he wouldn't tolerate any contact with his mouth at all and had started rearing

I gave him some time off for this, then he had a cough so he's had about a month off all together, give or take the occasional hack!
Anyway rode him in the school today and am over the moon

He accepted the contact straight away and immediately was round and soft and not once did he do his 'flip top head' I'm delighted and as it was so obviously the wolf teeth causing him trouble I'm pleased he had them out

My pony however had wolf teeth removed on advice from an EDT, they were not causing him any trouble at all and were a nightmare to remove.

Sam x

 

[tigers_eye]

William had the dentist recently and he showed me his right where you say they are Tia. As he has a very small mouth when I take a contact the bit can come up high enough in his mouth to touch them. Interestingly he not only has them on his top jaw, he has one on his lower jaw, which the EDT was very surprised about, he said he'd only seen it on a handful of horses, and thought it might be another manifestation of his exmoorishness! I haven't had them out, I might whenever I have some money, but as a result I tried him in a straight bar and have a competely different horse

.

 

[parsley]

Our pony has got them but the vet said to leave them alone as they are not causing any problems at the moment.

 

[Sooty]

Our vet was quite keen to get Beano's out while he is still young, as they were tiny. The majority of horses seem to keep them it seems.

 

[Tia]

You're right Sooty. In England it seems that wolf teeth are rarely taken out unless there is a problem. Over here, they take them out as a matter of course.

 

[Sooty]

I suppose it's a bit like the dew claw debate. Having seen the struggle it was to get them out of an adult horse, and how stressed he was, it seemed a good idea to get Bean's done when he was young.

 

[JM07]

[ QUOTE ]
You're right Sooty. In England it seems that wolf teeth are rarely taken out unless there is a problem. Over here, they take them out as a matter of course.

[/ QUOTE ]

my EDT say's he does like to remove them as a matter of course, usually before the horse/pony is backed.
he feels it's prevention rather than cure.

 

[parsley]

I wonder if our vet might have wanted him out if he were younger but the pony is 8 or 9 and has been going happily since he was 4. I did look after a pony that had them out. It wasn't really traumatic for her and the aftercare was relatively short

 

[VictoriaEDT]

I suppose I can comment from both sides of the Atlantic seeing as I trained in the US (Tia I know you are in Canada!) as an EDT and also with BEVA/BAEDT in the UK. From both I have come to my own conclusion:

- Take out all blind wolf teeth (below the gum line)

- Remove all lower wolf teeth (very rare and can be very painful to the horse)

- Remove all WT that have come through on an angle.

Another useful fact is that most people think that the bit only comes into contact with wolf teeth when the rider picks up a firm contact on the reins. This is not true. The horses tongue fills the whole of his oral cavity when his mouth is closed and when the bit sits on the tongue; it has regular contact with the upper bars where WT sit.