Help, please! Teething questions

[Peace]

Quanah, my three and a half year old paint, has been a very willing, humble sort for the three weeks I've had him. But this weekend, he acted up a bit - snapped at my foot when I used a direct rein after he refused to turn, and was just generally cranky and full of himself.

He had a food change this week - the feed store accidentally switched my barn owner's order with someone else's, so he got a richer mix than he's used to. And he wasn't ridden all week, because I was away at school.

My barn owner offered to ride him this week, to try and work off a little energy. I'm a little worried though, because I suspect he may be teething.

I watched my barn owner ride him in the ring today, and I noticed he was mouthing the bit pretty often and tossing his head around. He also wants to keep his mouth in his water trough while he's not actually drinking. I have three questions:

How can I tell if he is teething?

If he is teething, should he be ridden, or will the bit irritate him? I don't want him to start associating his bit with pain!

If he shouldn't be ridden while he's teething, how long a break should I give him?

Advice greatly appreciated! This is my first experience with a youngster!

 

[ros]

At three and a half his lateral permanent incisors should be coming through, and in geldings tushes usually appear between three and a half and four, so he may well be teething.

The bit would have to be pretty low to interfere with front incisor teeth, but tushes sit a bit higher; if you pull his lips apart you might be able to feel or even see if there's anything coming through - if you're not sure, or if the problem continues for any length of time, the best way would be to ask the vet, of course.

I think horses are a bit like human babies - some sail through teething without any problems, others get fretful and sore. I know people who have resorted to bitless bridles during teething, but I guess how you tackle it depends a) on the horse and b) on whether you really have to carry on riding. Certainly it isn't a good idea to carry on regardless if your horse tells you he's more than very mildly uncomfortable.

 

[chev]

Might also be an idea to get a dentist to have a look, just in case there's any sharp edges; they can make a horse's mouth really sore.

In the meantime, try groundwork without a bit to work off excess energy, or maybe some loose schooling if you have somewhere to do that.

 

[Peace]

Good advice

I guess when I posted originally, I was wondering how to tell the difference between a horse who's acting up from lack of exercise and high-octane feed and one who's teething. But, considering that Quanah was an angel for my instructor after not being ridden for almost five months, I'm leaning towards the latter explanation.

ros- I don't really have to ride Quanah - I could always continue riding lessons on my former lesson horse and great good friend, Goldrush. He's been on nanny duty since I bought Quanah, and might like a break from looking after the foal.

chev - funny you should mention that. I asked my instructor if she thought some groundwork might help. The only problem is, I'm such a rookie I've no idea how to do it! I think I'll ask her if, instead of a riding lesson, I might have a groundwork lesson. I'll check out some websites and books for hints, too!

 

[galadriel]

Groundwork is _always_ useful, even for a well-trained horse. I think you might enjoy doing a fair amount of it with your boy. A groundwork lesson sounds like just the thing

I defer to others' experience with teething but even an angel under saddle can get REALLY hyped up and even cranky when given food that's too rich. I had Kat on a 14% protein pellet when I was trying to put weight on her; she went from fizzy and spastic to totally unrideable. We went back to the 10% and worked on building up weight in other ways!

If he's already teething, having too much energy may just be making him more vocal about it. It could be a combination of the two, or one, or the other...if you can get him back to his regular feed and he still is funny about his mouth, then you'll know, hmm?