underbite in newborn miniature colt

[mkf]

My mare just gave birth to a beautiful miniature colt. The colt has no faults except about a 1/4" undershot bite. Will this correct itself as he matures or get worse or stay the same? He has no dwarf characteristics. He is 22" tall. His dam is 36" (Boones Little Andy daughter) and his sire (Buckeroo Son) is 30". I have never had a foal with a bad bite.

 

[Mona]

It may or may not. There is no way to know for sure, other than to give it time and watch to see what happens. Some do, some don;t...good luck with yours, and congratulations on his arrival!

 

[wcr]

I wouldn't worry about it. I noticed an underbite on one of my babies which corrected quickly and then started checking all the babies bite and found most of them had an underbite when born.

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

I am not an expert. I have been breeding minis since 1997. I have had one born with an underbite, sire and dam had perfect bites. It did not correct itself. I have had one born with a perfect bite. At 6 months of age it went off. Horse dentist saw her and said that molars are lined up perfectly and he doesn't know why this happened, no hooks. I am sure that it will not go back on. Both sire and dam have perfect bites. All of my foals except that one were born with perfect bites.

 

[Genie]

I haven't had a newborn with an off bite.

I hear they can go off and go back on as well.

I just bought one, sight unseen with an off bite, and hope he goes back on.

 

[Cathy_H]

We've had a few foals that had an underbite as weanlings but teeth straightened up as yearlings.

 

[christina_ski]

She was not mine but she was born here. Pretty little near leopard appy filly. Had a BAD underbite. A whole tumbnail apart. She could nurse and was otherwise fine. We were told it was probably a tight squeeze since her mom was a maiden, and it should correct. Well it tried to go back on, but it was still pretty bad. She eats and gets along just fine if she has longer grass, and she will actually cock her head to the side to eat grain since one side is more on then the other. She is now 3 this year and its still off just almost as bad. We even had her teeth checked, it could have been corrected with much pain to the horse soon after birth, but we decided against it since she was just fine and healthy. And since it was a major conformation problem reguardless if it was hereditary or not, we gave her away to a pet home. Neither parent had a bad bite, or has had another foal with a bad bite to my knowledge.

Sometime its hit and miss, they go back and forth. All the others I have seen had right on or slightly off at birth, but once the teeth came in they were right on.

 

[Sunrise Valley]

I would not be too concerned until the teeth emerge. I had a foal that I was sure had an underbite, but when her teeth came in her bite was perfect.

Lisa

 

[Minimor]

I agree--wait until the teeth come in & then see what you've got.

 

[HGFarm]

Ok, as this foals teeth come in, and the baby grows, PLEASE have her back teeth and all monitored for hooks that will develope BECAUSE of the current underbite. The hooks will wear and get worse and prevent the bite from going back on normally if it's going to, because they will hold the jaw where it is, or worse.

Make sure this baby gets good dental care... and I would have the foal checked as it grows to see what is happening in there. Many times, hooks can develope in the back, where you cannot see, and you have no idea what is going on in there.

The underbite could be caused by a variety of reasons- not enough room inside, or another problem. A good equine dentist can possibly take a look in a few weeks and check her out and let you know. Dont let her grow for a year or so and then decide to have her checked. She needs every advantage she can get to straighten out as she grows.

And yes, they CAN come back on, but sometimes just need the hooks kept off to keep the bite good and flat. I bought a young mare that had a terrible bite, and with just regular dental care (that didnt start til about age 4 by the way) to keep her floated, her bite DID come back on by itself!!

 

[Miniv]

This is another DON'T PANIC message......

Already people are telling you that you should "wait and see" and I would agree.

We tend to check our foals' mouths at birth to see how their gums line up. However, we have had one or two babys that were basically MUSHED inside the womb and under those situations it takes time for things to unfold.

 

[REO]

Since the others already said what I would have.......

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your colt!

 

[Margaret]

I agree with the others about letting things adjust before deciding.

I have had a colt born here that had an underbite at birth, and a perfect bite at 3-4 months old, and it stayed that way as he matured.

Some just mature differently.