Teeth off

[shalamara minis]

Wow its been awhile since I've been on here but I have a question. We have a 14 month old colt whos teeth have gone off. This was going to be a show horse for us, but not now. I've kept track of this horse very closely through out the winter and his teeth have been perfect till recently. When we went to give him a body clip this spring in April we foud his teeth were off (monkey mouth). This happened to him in less than 45 days. I've never seen a horse go bad that quick. We had his teeth floated within 2 weeks of finding this. This was done by a large equine vet center, and yes they are used to doing minis. They found nothing wrong and said his teeth were fine and could see or feel no other problems, and had no reason for his jaw going off that quick. Yesterday we talked to OSU Vet College about this horse. Talked to 2 different instructers, neither had any reasons why this could happen so fast. We have offered him to the college for a case study and they are considering it. This horse is fed good grass hay, quality grain at night and a vitamin supplement with grain. And Yes , he now will be gelded.

But what are your thoughts on as horses mouth going bad in less than 45 days? We have no other horses with this problem, and he shows no dwarfism. He is now 31" tall.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

How off? Half inch? More? Less?

At 14 months I wouldn't panic yet- he's still growing! I've had foals with perfect mouths go off and then come right back on.

 

[shalamara minis]

just under half an inch

 

[ohmt]

I would have an equine dentist check him out. He is still growing as others have said and if they have been good up until now, there could be something else other than genetics going on.

 

[HGFarm]

I agree having someone who specializes in equine dentistry take a look. That's an awful lot to go off in a short amount of time- maybe it just wasnt noticed? Yes, he is still growing- he could have had a hook or something where his jaws are not sitting right that continued to just push his bite off. I just think a half inch is unusual for such a short time frame.

 

[shalamara minis]

The best people in central oregon were the ones we took him to at bend Equine. As I said he had been looked at several times over the winter, so I do know it happened in a short time. When they did his teeth there were no hooks or deformed teeth. We hope that the university will take him as a case study, but I thought I would go out on a limb and bring the question here also.

 

[Becky]

Young, growing horses can have bites that come and go while they are developing. Upper and lower jaws grow at different rates, so each of those can have a growth 'spurt' much the same as a horse being level in the back one day and high in the rear the next, so it seems.

I have occasionally had young show horses come in with bites that are off a bit and straighten out perfectly over time as the horse matures. The most important thing is to make sure there are no hooks that cause one jaw to hang up and grow excessively more than the other during this time.