Pearly Whites

This morning we loaded Flash, Lucy and Pistol into the trailer and drove them down to the vet's office to have their teeth floated. A very few horses rarely, or never, need to have their teeth filed but most do. Mufasa and Jackson's teeth look pretty good and don't require any attention this year, so they got to stay home.

Flash was loaded first, with Lucy going next. They immediately started bickering.

Lucy: Keep your face on your side. Squeal, stomp, head toss.
Flash: Get a grip.
Lucy: He touched me! Boy germs! aaaagh!
Flash: Don't be such a drama queen. Look at Pistol; she's not making a fuss.
Lucy: Give me a cookie and I'll quit squealing.

When we arrived at the clinic, we put the two mares in a round pen

and Brett unloaded Flash. He launched himself out of the trailer and pranced.
Woo boy! A deployment! Look -- there's cars in the parking lot and people and dogs. It must be a crowd control assignment. Tack me up and let's go.

Instead, the vet listened to Flash's heart and then led him into the stockade where he was sedated. Flash's lower teeth have worn way down and he may have trouble chewing hay thoroughly soon. We will start adding a pelleted feed to his morning bucket to make sure he is getting adequate nutrition -- although, he is in good weight. Flash will be 19 this year and the condition of his teeth is to be expected at his age.

Lucy was up next. Her teeth had some pointy areas where they didn't wear evenly. Dr. Mike filed them down level with the rest of her molars. This way, she won't gouge her cheek when she's eating. Overall, she has good teeth and it looked like she had gotten regular dental work in her past.

Pistol, the unflappable, was up last. She took one look at the stockade and planted her feet. No way, Jose. She was not going in hell, high water or cookie bribes. She ended up getting her shot of sedative, and then we led her in on wobbly legs. Her teeth are in excellent shape for an almost 19 year old horse. Unlike Flash, the lowers weren't worn down at all. In fact, her teeth are so hard that Dr. Mike had to work hard to even out the waves that were preventing her teeth from sliding evenly across each other to grind her hay.

Once the horses were alert, we loaded back up and headed home. Brett is thinking about trying to ride Flash one of these days. In the last month, he's been acting very peppy and not walking as if the ground were eggshells. He's been on pasture rest for two years; maybe whatever was hurting him so much has healed. Both he and Jackson are doing so much better up here at Oak Creek Ranch than they did down south.  The ground up here is much softer; not the hard pack cement-like ground at Aspen Meadows.  Its the only difference I can think of that would make such a big difference.

A Different Side of Winston

This morning dawned clear and dry after our rain non-event yesterday afternoon and last night.  We only got a few light sprinkles of rain; barely enough to record.  We are far below normal amounts and there is particular concern about the snow pack in the Sierra Nevada mountains.  It isn't as deep as it should be and the snow is very dry.  Most of our water comes from that snow pack so it isn't a good situation.

We went down to the barn early so Winston could finish his breakfast before the equine dentist arrived.  Brett had groomed the arena in advance of the rain.  He takes great pride in his arena grooming, leaving artistic marks with the harrow when he finishes. 

He completed the new fencing around the horse pond.  The horses and donkeys shouldn't be able to destroy this:

Back at the barn, the rabbits were anxiously waiting for their breakfast. 

...the horses were waiting too.  We bring them in to eat their buckets of vitamins and carrots and then turn them back out for their hay.  We try to have the horses outside 24/7 whenever possible.  In the summer, we bring them in during the heat of the day and in the winter during rain or windy weather. 

The equine vet pulled up right at 8:00 and I pulled Winston from the pasture.  The vet tech was setting up the equipment and Winston was not happy.  I led Winston over to the open area near the arena so he could watch from a distance.  He was very looky and when the vet came over to do a brief physical, he started hopping all over the place.  The vet who did the prepurchase exam told me that Winston was pretty wild at first - kicking out even- but had settled down by the end.  Everytime this vet put his stethoscope on Winston, Winston jumped and scooted.  He even managed to bonk me in the face once.  Giving him the sedation shot was also difficult.  Our equine dentist is a very kind and calm vet so this caught me by surprise.  Flash and Jackson are pretty ho-hum about vets.  Dr. Kelly said he sees this behavior in horses who have had a bad experience with a vet -- who knows.  Hopefully, he will get over it with time and experience.  He certainly isn't a spooky, wild, hot-head normally.

Winston's mouth was full of points on his teeth and ulcers on his cheeks and tongue (from the points).  Otherwise, his mouth was in good shape.  He has some fairly significant TMJ but that should resolve now that his mouth will be more comfortable.

The only other thing that Dr. Kelly suggested was using a bit that gives Winston's tongue clearance.  He pushed against Dr. Kelly with his tongue the entire time and so needs a bit that doesn't restrict his tongue.  My current bit is a double jointed snaffle and that would wrap and lay heavy on his tongue.  He thinks Winston would be more comfortable in a solid bit with a high port.  I put the Happy Mouth bit that came with him-- and which is solid -- on my bridle.  Hopefully, he will be happier with the contact.

Not a good configuration for Winston's mouth

I looked through my Dover catalog and didn't see any snaffle bits that are solid.  ...I think by definition they have a joint?  I am so uneducated about bits.  It looks like I'll be making a visit to the tack store soon.  Can I use the Happy Mouth bit for USDF competition?  Have any of you had a horse with a busy/sensitive tongue that can share their solution?

Pearly Whites

This morning the equine dentist came to work on Jackson and Flash.  We have this done annually.  We had cold, foggy weather with heavy drizzle yesterday and it was forecast to continue this morning.  Fortunately, we woke to clear skies and sweatshirt temperatures.  ...a perfect fall day.

Jackson was up first.  Last year, he quite a bit of work done since it was his first visit with the equine dentist.  At that time, the two main things I took away from the visit were that (1) Jackson is very crooked in his mouth and his body and (2) that he had a pretty severe case of sugar mouth. -- Picture teeth that are brown at the gum line and look yuccy.  This time, Jackson had no sugar mouth at all.  The vet (in California, you must be a vet to practice equine dentistry) said he has noticed that horses on diets with no sugar are experiencing sugar mouth.  He has started tracking it and talking to colleagues and is formulating a theory that it has to do with the water -- maybe flouride -- and not sugar.  Our water treatment was changed a year or two ago so that could explain why Jackson didn't have any sugar mouth this time.  Of course, I've also drastically reduced his carrot intake because of his ulcers/tummy issues.

He also said that while Jackson will never be a straight horse, he is definitely straighter than he was a year ago.  We attributed this to all the dressage work.  Yes! 

Jackson watched the treatment room being set up.  Not too sure...

When the tech led him in, Jackson had to check for hay.  You never know where there might be food.

First, Dr. Kelly did a visual exam and took pictures. 

I love how he shows us everything he finds and explains it all.

Jackson was done pretty quickly.  He got a shot of bute and was put in his stall to rest while the sedative wore off.  Dr. Kelly also recommended giving him GastroGuard to counteract any stress he might have from the dental work.

Next up was Flash.  He didn't have any sugar mouth at all -- and Brett is very liberal with carrots and cookies and sugar cubes.  Hmmmmm.  The water theory sounds plausible.  Flash's teeth were also in good shape with minimal work needed.

Good for another year!