seabiscuit
Well-Known Member
So I took both horses up to the dentist on Monday and he spent 1 1/2 hours doing Woody's teeth and about 1 hour on Poppy's. This guy is thorough!!
He let me have a good feel of the teeth before and after treatment and the difference was amazing...He said that Woody must have been virtually un-rideable, no way would he have ever been able to have turned right comfortably and that he would have just run through ANY bit that was in his mouth...the teeth were so sharp that it actually hurt to touch them.. lots of random bits jutting out everywhere. He's always had these frightfully long canine teeth at the front - literally a good 1 1/2 inches long- I had always wondered about these and have always thought them to look oddly long and sharp!! Anyway, these were broken off with pliers ( quite scary) nearly all of the canines were taken off and about 2cms were left over afterwards! Apparently he would have constantly been biting his tongue with these canine teeth being so long and pointed. The bit was also constantly cutting the corners of his mouth, even when I hardly touched his mouth in a snaffle, his mouth would cut..the dentist said that bits cutting the mouth like that will always be due to painfull/poorly balanced teeth..
Anyway, finally got to ride him today...and what a completly different horse. So soft,round and supple!, So totally EVEN on both reins- never sat on something that was so even!! and he could flex right, which he never could before..yes he was still tending to buzz up, and rush, but this time I could just flex him and he immediately softened and relaxed...you could never flex him before, it always just seemed to make him more tense.. today he was trotting round on a nice loose rein..
At the end of the session he was cantering on the buckle with his nose stretched down...I let go of the reins and rode with one hand just on the buckle and he calmly stayed cantering steadily on a circle without rushing...anyone who has ever known or ridden Woody will know that him cantering like this is an incredible feat for him
This is the horse that was always wanting to charge off when trying to canter a simple 20 metre circle last year...
He looked so happy and pleased with himself afterwards. Today was the best he has ever gone in his life...and he hasnt been ridden or worked for absolutely weeks and weeks, which is usually an excuse for him to be a total nightmare. It normally takes me two weeks of riding every day to get him to settle down for his flatwork..
Yes I know that I should have slowly bought him back into work again, but I just had to school him to see if he was any better, to give us both an idea of wether he has a future
Tomorrow it will be straight back to a couple of weeks of walking...
Still early days yet to really say that he is going to be 100 %, but nevertheless I am quite excited about him now
I haven't had time to ride Poppy yet to see if there is a difference, but hopefully soon..
I am just so inspired by this dentist, I wish he could train me to do his job!! He had 45 horses to do for John and Ellen Whitaker this month, they all come down from Yorkshire to see him.. he also said that he was doing the teeth for the majority of the top international competition horses across Europe..although how that is physically possible , I dont know, he said that he never has a day off and works 12 hour days! He totally despairs about the direction that dentistry is going in, as nearly all the training they now do is all so wrong
He let me have a good feel of the teeth before and after treatment and the difference was amazing...He said that Woody must have been virtually un-rideable, no way would he have ever been able to have turned right comfortably and that he would have just run through ANY bit that was in his mouth...the teeth were so sharp that it actually hurt to touch them.. lots of random bits jutting out everywhere. He's always had these frightfully long canine teeth at the front - literally a good 1 1/2 inches long- I had always wondered about these and have always thought them to look oddly long and sharp!! Anyway, these were broken off with pliers ( quite scary) nearly all of the canines were taken off and about 2cms were left over afterwards! Apparently he would have constantly been biting his tongue with these canine teeth being so long and pointed. The bit was also constantly cutting the corners of his mouth, even when I hardly touched his mouth in a snaffle, his mouth would cut..the dentist said that bits cutting the mouth like that will always be due to painfull/poorly balanced teeth..
Anyway, finally got to ride him today...and what a completly different horse. So soft,round and supple!, So totally EVEN on both reins- never sat on something that was so even!! and he could flex right, which he never could before..yes he was still tending to buzz up, and rush, but this time I could just flex him and he immediately softened and relaxed...you could never flex him before, it always just seemed to make him more tense.. today he was trotting round on a nice loose rein..
At the end of the session he was cantering on the buckle with his nose stretched down...I let go of the reins and rode with one hand just on the buckle and he calmly stayed cantering steadily on a circle without rushing...anyone who has ever known or ridden Woody will know that him cantering like this is an incredible feat for him
He looked so happy and pleased with himself afterwards. Today was the best he has ever gone in his life...and he hasnt been ridden or worked for absolutely weeks and weeks, which is usually an excuse for him to be a total nightmare. It normally takes me two weeks of riding every day to get him to settle down for his flatwork..
Yes I know that I should have slowly bought him back into work again, but I just had to school him to see if he was any better, to give us both an idea of wether he has a future
Tomorrow it will be straight back to a couple of weeks of walking...Still early days yet to really say that he is going to be 100 %, but nevertheless I am quite excited about him now
I am just so inspired by this dentist, I wish he could train me to do his job!! He had 45 horses to do for John and Ellen Whitaker this month, they all come down from Yorkshire to see him.. he also said that he was doing the teeth for the majority of the top international competition horses across Europe..although how that is physically possible , I dont know, he said that he never has a day off and works 12 hour days! He totally despairs about the direction that dentistry is going in, as nearly all the training they now do is all so wrong
