floating horse's teeth

[Jackie]

How do the mustang's that are living into their teens and twenties get by with noone to float their teeth? Do mustangs in captivity need their teeth floated?

[barbhorses]

Yes, they do. It is best to use an actual equine dentist and they are thoroughly trained in getting the teeth to meet evenly. They also correct any abnormalities. I used a regular vet for most of the time I have had Victoria. She was always sore afterwards and had to have her teeth done about every year. I had her teeth done this year with an equine dentist and she wasn't sore at all and her teeth look great! He even trimmed down the front teeth (which I have never seen done before). She still has no points on her teeth. I will see how her teeth look in April, but I suspect that I will be skipping a year! It is also critical to have their teeth done when you are riding your horse. You could have your horse fighting with you and acting like a punk, and then you feel their teeth and realize that their mouth is bothering them and that is the reason for the fighting. Get their teeth done, then they are fine again.

[DianneC]

Probably depends on the horse. But in captivity they should be checked and done if necessary. Smoke's needed doing every few years. I had Tia's teeth checked recently (wild until 11, currently 28) and she had a little imperfections but nothing the vet thought needed attention. Amazing, and lucky. But if you think about it, mustangs who have bad teeth wouldn't last long. That may be one reason why we see one skinny horse in a group where eveyone else is fat. They can't make it through the winter with bad teeth.

[barbhorses]

Agreed there Dianne! I wouldn't have to get Victoria's teeth done so often if she was just a brood mare. When I last had the regular vet attend to her teeth he said that her mouth looked fine with just a few things that could be tended to, but wasn't critical and could wait to do her teeth. I actually noticed that she needed her teeth done when I was riding her as she was acting stiff to the left side. She ate fine and everything was fine until we went out for a ride.

I think that wild horses naturally file down their teeth with some of the sand that they eat. I am not all that sure on how wild horses keep their teeth in good shape. Just a guess on my part.

[Michelle Clarke]

Teeth should be done every year - by an equine dentist. Ours is a vet that only does dental work. Young horses can have caps in the back that won't come loose, which makes that tooth higher than the rest of the mouth and every time they bite down, it hurts. They quickly loose weight. Older horses, begining in the early teens, get issues also in the back of the mouth. Not only with hooks in the back or sharp edges, but the fourth tooth back is often a problem.

This tooth is the first one to come in as a yearling, so it is the oldest tooth back there and as life goes on, it does not grow as much. It can be much shorter than the other two teeth that are next to it and many times they get agressive and move into the space. This makes horses drop weight very quickly. They are fine on grass (thus the wild horses don't have this issue), but hay is difficult to proccess. It winds up doing what is called "quidding", which is when they try to chew it, but it balls up in long cigar like masses and they spit it back out.

The thing about dentist work is P R E V E N T A T I V E. Once an issue sets in, it is hard to fix up. Our horses get done yearly starting as three year olds, unless we see an issue earlier. I've found that any vet that says they don't need work and they have not had any done in over a year, just does not have the experience to know what is going on. I had that happen two years ago with a general practice vet and Charro...now his fourth tooth is at gum level and he has to get his teeth done every six months until we get it fixed up.

As Dianne said, mustangs tend to have very correct mouths to begin with and in the wild they eat different things than domestic horses. I've even seen our guys in the back put rocks in their mouths and chew on them...

Our dentist was actually here last week; here's a pict of Nino getting his teeth done for the first time: