Young horse... teeth... sedation...? WWYD?

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ShadowFlame

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Okay, scenario. Just turned 4yo, potentially never had his teeth looked at (certainly not in the past 12mths). EDT is due at the yard next weekend, but 4yo will only have been there 3 weeks. He is being bitted up and doing well (horse, not EDT :p), he has also settled in well, but isn't keen on having his mouth / nose faffed with. Mr EDT is fantastic, but he avoids sedating unless absolutely necessary.

Sedate? Don't sedate? Revisit at a later date?

Can't decide. WWYD?
 
I would get on with it and see how it goes, if the dentist is good at handling them he should be fine, I recently had a new arrival done, the dentist felt he had never been done before and I had not really had any time to prepare him, apart from an initial look of horror when the gag went on he was absolutely fine and had a fair amount of work done.

Confident handling from you and the dentist is the main thing, since I started using my current dentist none of the horses have required sedation, several had before and one or two new ones had never been done requiring a lot of work.
 
I have ended up doing both with the same young horse. Vet sedated him to do his teeth as horsey was jumping about a bit.
Next year EDT visited and didn't sedate him, just backed him into a corner and got on with the job. Horsey did have his eyes quite wide open and looked a bit surprised by the whole thing, but stood absolutely fine for the teeth to be done.
Next year couldn't get EDT, so called Vet (very experienced horse vet), he came out again and sedated again, teeth done, horsey bit dopey for a while, but recovered quickly.
So, I would say if the EDT comes with a good reputation, he should be a good judge of what is a necessary/ safe way for him to work with the horse.
 
My four year old is very similar but was fine unsedated to have his mouth checked and teeth filed down, he didnt like the gag being fitted but was absolutely fine when it was on, he was subsequently sedated for the removal of his wolf teeth though

Nothing in your post rings alarm bells for me I must say but of course you know your horse best
 
I'd see how he gets on without sedation first, then use it if he is a ******...atleast then you would have tried and he may just surprise you and you'll end up with a cheaper bill :). I have to sedate my youngster as she's a cow when it comes to the dentist...doesn't even take a wormer :rolleyes:
 
Ask the EDT if your horse can go first, that way if he needs sedating they can get on with another horse while it kicks in that way no time is wasted
 
That's what I needed to hear. Just starting to think maybe I'm being a wicked cow by throwing him in the deep end! :o Mr EDT travels a fair way to us though, so it's a bit unfair to ask him to come back for one on their own.

I guess we'll see how he goes, even if it's just a look to see what kind of state they're in.

Thanks all!

P.S. Here's a token sleepy-donkey piccy for your troubles ;) :D

 
Mine was a danger ...I had him sedated the first time. We had to twitch him before we could sedate him.:eek:

Each time, the vet gives a lighter sedative....most recently he was awake halfway through and was fine.

Next time she's trying without.

Have to say....the vet is fab, my horse trusts her now which is half the battle.

He was the same with the farrier- although he's never been shod having his feet trimmed was downright dangerous despite my farrier being a star.

I got some Dormosedan gel from the vet and made him sleepy but not knocked out - took the edge off and made it a far calmer experience for him. Now....he nods off whilst having a trim:)
 
I sedate first time. Cupcake is having hers done this week. My vet specialises in dentistry so it's handy from that standpoint. The others are easy and need nothing more than standard float. No tranq needed.

Terri
 
Sedate , I was in exactly the same position last week didn't sedate and its made my horse head shy which is getting better but I wouldn't bother doing it again at least for the first couple of times .
 
my 28 yr old mare is always sedated, after one attempt without it, it was more hassle than it was worth, so when my 3yr old is done in Aug I am expecting him to be sedated, he's too big and strong to risk him being stupid with a big hunk of metal in his mouth!
 
I'd talk to your dentist in advance and see what he thinks.

We weren't sure if my 10 year old mare (a rescue) had ever had her teeth done. I think everyone on our yard uses the same dentist, so he was on the yard a lot and made a point of fussing her and handling her mouth whenever she was in. When the time came I asked his advice and he said not to sedate, but if she really got distressed he would come back at a later date and we could sedate her. If she was good under sedation we wouldn't know if it was the sedative or her behaving!

He was brilliant with her. He worked in the yard and followed her round - not that she went far - and the job was done in no time.

I'm near Coventry - who are you using?
 
Thanks all for the replies - I'm thinking I'll have a chat with him while he's there, see if he can get a look and check what's going on in there, see how neddy deals with that, and take it from there.

DD - It's TJ... his last name escapes me right now :o He did Rods unsedated which I'm sure was his first time being rasped without being knocked out - I'd had him over 12mths at that point though. He is good, majority of our yard use him.
 
sedate first time!!!

give them a good experience.........mine had her teeth done yesterday via the vet she was soo well behaved but for power tools the vet advised sedation....!
 
I had my youngster - almost 3 he'd have been, looked at by our old 'traditional' dentist. He got quite upset about the whole thing - normally all ours are very calm for this guy. Trialled a new dentist this spring and wanted now rising 4 yo looked at again. I was rather worried as he'd got in such a state before. However he was really pretty damn good. Never had a gag before and he wasn't bothered. The dentist is calm yet firm so I guess that puts horses at ease. I am hoping he will be the same next time. The majority of horses should not need sedating
 
As I know your EDT I'd say ring him and have a chat. If he's on the yard anyway he might just want to come and meet your boy and have a play with him, then make you an appointment for another day, depending on how your boy is, OTOH he might just want to go for it.

There's a young mare on our yard who's normally an absolute witch, but she behaved impeccably for him, even when he took her wolf teeth out.
 
My 4 YO had his teetch checked, rasped etc for the first time in April. I thought he was going to go nuts, so asked dentist if we should sedate. He advised not to, and he was absolutely right. Harry was good as gold. Started off looking a little worried, but soon relaxed.

So hoping that when hes done again, (as he was fully aware what was going on), he will remember that it was ok.
 
I always sedate first time, give him a good experience and don't make an issue out of it. It's not worth it in the long run.

Lovely boy btw :)
 
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