Friday Feeding Tips

Dentistry. It is really important that we keep on top of our horse’s teeth so that they eat and digest their food properly and to also ensure that they are not in any pain from them as well. I have put a very extreme example up of what can go wrong due to a lack of dental work (Thanks Alison J) The reason that things can go so worng is that horses teeth continually grow down. They slowly grind down their teeth by chewing and grinding up their food. If the teeth don’t line up completely perfect then you will get bits that don’t get ground down and continue to grow up. These can often form in to quite sharp edges and spikes which can cut the gums and tongue or can form ramps which inhibit the jaw movement. Bad teeth can also result in bad behavioural issues when being ridden as the teeth can be causing a lot of pain and discomfort to the horse which they then show by misbehaving to try and get out and away from the pain. Make sure that you get a qualified Vet or Equine dentist as this is quite a tricky task to get done and most horses will require sedation for it.