9 Ways How to Take Care of Your Horse’s Teeth

Teeth are an important part of anyone alive, whether it is human or animal. Teeth help horses chew their food, which is important for their survival. If anything happens to their teeth, they will not be able to eat and thus they will starve and die.

When taking care of a horse it is difficult to predict how the health or their teeth will develop. But, as a caregiver, you need to pay attention to the general health of your horse and especially to their teeth. At the age of 5, the deciduous teeth fall and the permanent teeth erupt.

They continue to grow until the age of 20 when the growth declines and ceases. Therefore, you need to pay attention to your horse’s teeth and maintain their health. Here are 9 ways that will help you take better care of your horse’s teeth.

Dental Check

If your horse has less than 18 years, you need to have his teeth checked every 6 months. If you have a senior horse of over 18 years, you can have his teeth checked every 12 months. It is important to choose an equine dental technician. They are qualified people that can rapidly identify the problem and propose solutions.

Pay Attention to Your Horse’s General Behavior

Besides the periodical dental checks, you need to make sure that your horse has anything that needs. On average, horses have between 36 and 42 teeth which grow approximately 2-3 mm per year until the age of 20. If your horse has a problem, he will let you know this by behaving differently.

To prevent any infections and teeth loss, pay attention to his behavior. If he is losing weight or has difficulties wearing a bit, then maybe he has a dental problem. He can have an infection or an abscess that can result in lower performance.

Pay Attention to His Eating Behavior

Your horse’s eating behavior can tell you a lot about his dental health. If he drops feed or quidding hay, then for sure he has a dental problem. Quidding hay means that your horse is spitting balls of semi-chewed food due to mouth pain.

It may be that your horse’s teeth are uneven or are too sharp, and you need to ask an equine dentist for help. If your horse is also eating slow, he may have a dental problem, says Mariah Jackson editor at essay help and assignment help on equine topics.

Smell Your Horse’s Breath 

If you are sure that your horse’s teeth are in the best condition, take some moments to smell his breath. Even though he does not have problems now, doing this constantly can help you prevent them.

If your horse will have problems with these teeth, his breath will change. Bad breath means that your horse has halitosis, and you need to contact an equine dentist.

Check for Wolf Teeth

At the age of two, when the milk teeth are growing, it may happen that wolf teeth can grow too. These are very sharp teeth that can affect the eating behavior of your horse. And they can also cause mouth pain.

If you notice that your horse has wolf teeth, you need to ask a vet or an equine dental technician to remove them. When introducing the bit, they can cause enormous mouth pains so check them before doing this.

Check for Capped Teeth

Sometimes, the milk teeth do not fall and become capped between the permanent teeth. This can seriously affect your horse’s eating behavior because it traps food. And so, serious infection can appear and your horse will have mouth pain.

Among the symptoms of a capped tooth are bad breath, quidding hay, dropping grains or playing with his tongue. If your horse has these symptoms and you also notice a capped tooth, you need to call the vet or an equine dentist to have his capped tooth removed.

Flush His Mouth with Clean Water

To make sure that there is no food trapped between his teeth, you can flush your horse’s mouth with clean water after every meal. You can use a large dose of a syringe to flush water. This is especially beneficial for older horses when dental problems are more likely to appear.

Feed Your Horse from the Ground

Your horse’s teeth are adapted to eating from the ground, so you should feed him like this. By doing this, your horse’s teeth will wear even and future dental problems will be prevented.

Make sure that their jaw is aligned to prevent uneven wear of the teeth. Also, pay attention to the feeding spot and eliminate possible traps for his legs. This can lead to trauma and your horse might avoid eating.

Pay Attention to Signs of Choke

If your horse has teeth problems, he is not able to chew his food how it should. And so, less saliva is produced and the balls of food will be dry.

This means that they can get stuck in your horse’s esophagus and this will prevent him to eat. Not being able to swallow the food can seriously impact your horse’s health.

Conclusion

Caring for horses is not easy, nor difficult. If you pay attention to his general and eating behavior, you can prevent serious illnesses from developing. Check regularly your horse’s teeth and make sure that there is no food trapped.

No wolf teeth or capped milk teeth should be in your horse’s mouth, as they will seriously damage his eating behaviors and health. Quidding the hay or bad breath are among the symptoms of a dental problem.

Becky Holton is a journalist and a blogger at college paper writing services. She is interested in education technologies, custom essay writing, research paper writing help and is always ready to support informative speaking. Follow her on Twitter.