Dental Health
In many cases you cannot tell whether your horse has dental problems. Gum disease, step mouth and wave mouth, for instance, are often present at a young age when there are few symptoms but become major agonising problems when the horse gets older.
However, it will help if you routinely observe the horse when it is ridden (or driven) and when it is eating.
Look for: head shaking, head tossing, pulling to one side, hanging, being hard to turn, blood on the bit, spilling feed
whilst eating, opening the mouth and at the same time "screwing" the jaws, excessive saliva production, bad appetite,
bad smell from the mouth, colic, undigested feed in the manure, gagging and many other symptoms.
Horses can encounter a number of dental induced problems throughout the course of their lives.
The following is a partial list of some of these dental problems.
- Performance demands
- Types of racing, polo, jumping, etc.
- Genetic Problems
- Environmental Problems
- Nutritional Problems
- Wolf Teeth
- Blind Wolf Teeth
- Blind Canines
- Missing or Broken Incisors
- Lampas
- Tartar
- Gingivitis
- Supernumerary/Extra Teeth
- Mouth Ulcers and Sores
- Fractured or Broken Molars
- Wavy Mouth
- Step Mouth
- Rostral Hooks or Beaks
- Ramped Up Molars
- Rear Hooks
- Bitting Injuries of Many Different Types
- Many Performance Type Injuries
- Loose Skin or Gum Over the Bars
- Parrot Mouth, Sow Mouth
- Lack of Abrasion of Incisors
- Many Malocclusion Problems
- Failure of Molars to make contact
- Improper Balance and Wear of Teeth
- Temperament Problems
- Conditioning Problems
- Performance Problems
- Lack of Proper Lateral Excursion of the Mandible
- Caries and Decay
- Miscellaneous Injuries
- Colic