Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hi ,

When I  got Piper, my Endurance horse, I noticed he was a finicky eater, and a 
hard keeper. I called his previous owner, who is a Vet, and she said his teeth 
had been done about 9 months before that.  After a few more months, pouring the 
grain and good hay, plus lush pasture, and no improvement, I had my regular vet 
take a look. He gave Piper a mild sedative, and waved a file around inside his 
mouth for a while and pronounced him good  to go. He wasn't.

Fast forward another 6-9 months later, and at a horse seminar, a vet was giving 
a talk about equine dentistry. He asked the group how many of us had had our 
horses teeth floated? Most of us raised our hands. He asked if the person spent 
more time on the front teeth or the back teeth?  Most of us raised our hands 
that more time was spent on the front teeth. 

He then showed us this weird clamp rachety looking thing and asked if the 
person doing the teeth used one of them. Most of us said no. He then said that 
most likely any equine dental problems we had were still with us. 

So I scheduled Piper for a visit. He sedated the heck out of him, cranked open 
the mouth, and showed me all the ulcers he had in his mouth. They were much 
further back than I could have seen in ordinary examinations. He showed me the 
points on the side of the teeth, and they were razor sharp. and the uneven rear 
teeth. He used powered files and grinders, and spent over 75% of his time on 
the rear part of the mouth.

After this treatment Piper gained weight, ate  better, and became an Endurance 
horse. His metabolics/gut sounds improved tremendously at vet checks.

So... last year, I got a TB racehorse mare. She was a hard keeper.and cranky as 
heck. Hated the bit. She had belonged to Toby Keith, and had the best of 
Kentucky horse farm care. She had been with two of the top trainers in the 
Mid-West. One of them told me that she was "just a hard keeper:"  I took her to 
the equine dentist, and surprise, surprise!! She had  sharp points on the sides 
of her mouth, open ulcerated sores there,  and was a dental mess. 30 minutes 
later she was fixed.  She bloomed, and became a whole different horse. 

I have never had a horse  refuse to eat any kind of grain. If they are hungry, 
(and they almost always are), they will eat pretty much whatever is set in 
front of them. If they don't clean up 4-5 pounds at one setting, there is 
something wrong. Most likely their teeth are bothering them.  Maybe your horse 
prefers the straight alfalfa because it has more soft fine leaves. The Orchard 
grass stems may stick him in the side of his mouth.

IF your vet did put your horse under heavy sedation, used a crank device to 
keep the mouth wide open,  and spent most of the time working on the back 
teeth, then it should be ok. If not, you may want to get  a second look from a  
vet that specializes in equine dental work. ( note: these are only my personal 
opinions based on what has worked for me).

Hope you can get him on the right track

Paul N. Sidio
Spokane MO




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