The health of a horse largely depends on that of its teeth. If they are bad or missing, the animal cannot chew food properly and inevitably runs into health problems. For this reason, a periodic check of the teeth is strictly necessary to prevent any diseases and ensure that the animal is always in perfect shape.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Check Your Horse's Teeth
Step 1. Do regular checks
A responsible owner regularly checks his horse's teeth.
- The complete examination of the molars requires the use of special equipment, but you can still partially check them, together with the incisors, in search of any signs of disease.
- Ideally, you should check the horse's teeth every time you put the bridle on it; if not possible, do it once a week.
Step 2. Smell the horse's breath
This will help you understand what it must be like when the animal is healthy, allowing you to detect any cases of halitosis.
Step 3. Examine the incisors
An adult specimen has 6 upper incisors and 6 lower incisors in the anterior part of the muzzle. To inspect them, lift the upper lip of the animal and lower the lower one, then look at the teeth from the front and from the side.
- In profile, the teeth should meet in a regular line. Tooth enamel should not be fractured and the teeth should be firmly rooted.
- Where the tooth meets the gum, the latter should not have swelling or color variations. Also, there should be no trace of secretions along the gum line.
Step 4. Examine the diastema
It is quite normal for spaces to form between the horse's teeth (between the incisors as well as between the molars). This space is known as the diastema.
- In this space, in the mouth of some foals, excess teeth are formed called "wolf teeth". These teeth, technically known as first premolars, begin to erupt together with adult teeth at the age of 5-12 months.
- Knowing how to recognize these teeth is very important, because the bite could beat against us, making the animal suffer. Fortunately, a simple veterinary intervention is enough to extract them.
Step 5. Examine the molars
At the bottom of the mouth are the molars. With these teeth the horse chops up food. If bony growths form on the molars, these can dig wounds in the cheeks or tongue of the animal.
- If your horse is tame or is used to having his mouth opened, you can use a flashlight to examine the lingual (inside of the tongue) area of the molars. Often, in these cases, the tongue hides the teeth from view and it is difficult to see clearly. However, if you notice blood-stained saliva in an area of the mouth, it is very possible that the fault is a bone growth.
- As for the buccal side (that of the cheek), place your open hand on the horse's head and run it along the cheek applying light pressure. If there is a bone growth, this will penetrate slightly inside the cheek and the horse will show it by shaking his head or withdrawing.
Part 2 of 4: Take Care of the Horse's Teeth in the Different Stages of Growth
Step 1. Take care of your foal's teeth
Examine the foal's teeth to make sure the incisors are tightened well. From the anatomical point of view, the most common anomalies have to do with the lower jaw, which can be too much or too little protruding; in the first case the upper dental arch is set back with respect to the lower one, in the second the opposite occurs.
- These anomalies must be identified in time, so that the veterinarian can give the best indications to correct the problem.
- Generally, milk teeth (deciduous) grow in the first 9 months of age and begin to fall out when the foal turns 2 and a half years old. Even young horses can develop bone growths on their teeth, so you must always pay attention to any signs of discomfort from the animal.
Step 2. Around two years of age, check if the animal has "wolf teeth"
Check if there are wolf teeth in the diastema and, if so, before biting the animal, contact your trusted veterinarian to remove them.
Step 3. When the horse is between three and five years old, see if all of its milk teeth have fallen out
Sometimes the deciduous teeth do not fall out and remain next to the permanent ones, then we speak of retention of the deciduous teeth.
- When this phenomenon occurs, the remaining teeth can trap food residues, thus favoring the spread of infections; for this reason it is better to contact a veterinarian to remove them.
- To recognize the phenomenon it is necessary to observe the horse well. If you have bad breath or drool, keep food in your mouth or there are traces of undigested food in your stool, it is possible that you have this problem.
- Since adult teeth do not all come out at the same time, it is possible that, in younger specimens, the problem will occur several times and it may be necessary to see the vet at different times.
Step 4. Take care of the horse's teeth when it is an adult (from 5 to 20 years old)
From 6 years of age, all adult teeth should have come out. Problems in this age group will mainly be the formation of bone growths on the molars. Permanent teeth are open rooted, which means they continue to grow throughout the horse's life, replacing the crown that wears out during chewing.
- If the wear process of the teeth is not regular, spikes or bone growths can form on their surface capable of digging wounds inside the cheeks or tongue. These imperfections must be removed by the vet.
- The problem may be that the horse is holding food in its mouth, drooling, traces of blood in its saliva or undigested food in its faeces.
Step 5. When the horse is over twenty years old, have it checked regularly by the veterinarian
Although the horse's teeth continue to grow, they are still doomed to die. Nowadays, given the advances in modern veterinary medicine, a horse may very well live longer than its teeth.
- This means that some teeth may fall out making it difficult for him to chew. An older horse with dental problems can drool a lot and drop food while chewing, so its condition needs to be monitored regularly by a veterinarian.
- A horse that has lost its teeth can be fed soft foods, such as beet pulp or hay-based mash. These foods are highly digestible and their high calorie content helps keep the animal in shape.
Part 3 of 4: Prevent Problems
Step 1. Give him as little sugar as possible
Just like with humans, sugar can compromise the horse's dental health. When you give him a treat, limit the use of sugars, give him a sugar-free mint or, even better, a carrot.
Step 2. Avoid biting his teeth
Be careful when bit the horse, acting rudely could damage his teeth.
Step 3. Feed the horse so that its head is close to the ground as it eats
Burning and chewing the grass in this way promotes regular wear of the teeth. If possible, take your horse to graze in the fields, always making sure that he does not accidentally injure his leg.
Part 4 of 4: Recognize Any Signs of Discomfort
Step 1. Notice if the horse shakes its head while eating
If the horse expresses discomfort by shaking its head during the meal, it may be that it is trying to avoid chewing with a tooth.
Step 2. Smell the horse's breath
Food trapped between the teeth or the presence of gum infections can cause bad breath problems, an important factor in assessing the horse's dental health.
Step 3. Be careful if the horse refuses the bit
If the bit touches a sore spot inside the mouth, the horse can begin to flex the neck or hold the bit between the teeth to prevent the latter from coming into contact with the diseased part.
Step 4. See if it holds food in its mouth
If the horse has a bony growth that penetrates its cheeks while eating, it can learn to chew hay to form a sort of cushion to protect between the tooth and the cheek. After eating, the animal spits this cushion on the ground. Look for such scraps on the barn floor.
Step 5. Check for undigested food in your stool
If the horse feels pain while eating, it is very likely that the horse is not chewing its food properly and swallowing at least part of it whole. Non-chewed food, passing through the intestine, can then be found in the animal's feces.
Step 6. See if the animal chokes on food
If the animal does not chew properly, its salivation is poor and, when it swallows dry hay, it is possible that it forms a lump and gets stuck in its throat.
Step 7. If your horse exhibits these signs of discomfort, call your vet
Always pay close attention to your horse's oral health. If you have a toothache, call your vet, even if it's not time for a checkup yet.
Advice
- Wild horses spend most of their time grazing. The grass they chew is contaminated with earth and this promotes the natural wear of the teeth. They also eat with their snouts at ground level, which guarantees regular wear. Domestic horses not only ingest softer foods, but they feed from feeders, so what they eat and the position they take during the meal do not guarantee proper wear of the teeth.
- A horse that has toothache eats less, loses weight and its coat loses its lucidity.
