Clicking jaw

[nassaunellie]

My Miniature (age 7) has a clicking jaw when he eats. I talked to the vet and the equine dentist about it and they just said, "Some horses have this." It doesn't seem to bother him (it bothers me more because I don't know the long-term implications of this) and he isn't bothered by the bit when we drive. His back teeth and bite are correct but his upper front teeth came in at odd angles.

Anyone out there have experience with this? Just curious.

 

[nootka]

I would insist on getting a visual inspection of the horse's mouth by either a dentist or a vet that is knowledgeable in dentistry.

There are a lot of reasons this could happen and it might help to have an actual examination.

Other than checking for signs of discomfort when eating (loss of condition/preferring NOT to eat because it hurts that much) and running your hands over the outside of the head to feel for lumps or sore spots and peeking in yourself to look for hooks in the back that could be causing the "click" as they come together or apart, I don't know what else to advise.

Just what I would do given your situation.

Good luck and let us know what you discover, if anything....

Liz

 

[Mona]

Yes, I also had a mare like this, and had the vet check her and her teeth and all was OK according to him. As with yours, it doesn;t seem to bother her at all, bothered me more hearing it thinking something must be out of whack.

 

[Minimor]

I've got a gelding with the same thing, only his comes and goes. It's not a click, more like a klunk, it's so loud. The first time I heard it I thought he'd seriously hurt himself & his jaw was either broken or dislocated--it sounded BAD. But, I checked him out & he was eating hay just fine, no sign of pain, discomfort or awkwardness. This was late one night, so I was thankful to see no reason to make an emergency call to the vet. Next morning he wasn't making this noise. That was several weeks ago. Then he was doing it again one night last week--again sounded terrible, but wasn't having any problem from it. Awhile later, no more noise.

 

[Connie Ballard]

They can have TMJ or have their jaw out of place just like we can. An equine chiropractor should be able to adjust him. Sometimes they are out at the atlas...where the skull pivots at the top of the spinal cord so to speak.

I bet the horse that was clicking...then stopped...somehow got himself readjusted by rubbing or rolling.

I took a class with a friend few years back on doing hands on equine chiropractic...it was really interesting and learned lot of great tips to help my own horses.