Wolf teeth/dentists

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Amanda Reynolds

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Mar 14, 2001
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This isn't strictly about Enlightened methods, but you are such a knowledgeable lot and I think Bebe mentioned something about Wolf teeth in a previous post.

Davey has Wolf teeth and tushes (I think!) and he is due for a dental anyway. Can anyone recommend a good dentist who might come to North London?

He is also quite difficult to size up for gear, as he is a large beast. His current bit is a 6 inch but he could really do with a size up and you generally need to special order. The bit company I was going to speak to about this has a Q&A about Wolf teeth on their site and they seem to think they should ALWAYS be taken out. Does anyone have any views on this - seems a bit drastic on a 10 year old horse.

One thing he does tend to do is fall out a lot on corners. You can establish a bit of bend but he does still tend to travel in the other direction on corners, so he ends up looking quite stiff - so that his head is going to the inside but his body is definitely drifting out from under him! It could well be my riding, but I have seen him do this with others and was wondering whether this could be a teeth thing as well.

Grateful for any thoughts - but I will arrange that dentist soon!

Amanda
 
Hi

I can highly recommend Chris Keate - who writes the equine dental column in Horse & Hound. He covers all Southern Counties but I don't know whether that extends to North London. His number is 01323 842176

He came out to see Carrie last Autumn and said that she had wolf teeth on her upper jaw but to leave them if they weren't causing any problems.

Maria
 
I'm trying to decide whether to have Bebe's wolf tooth pulled or not. As far as I can tell it doesn't bother her, she takes and gives the bit easily, doesn't toss her head or get annoyed when I use rein aids and her bending is just as dodgy as it's always been (I don't actually ask for bend at all, what with her back and everything).

A friend of mine had her mares wolf tooth pulled in the hopes that it was the cause of her rearing. Didn't make any difference to how she went.

I think it's just standard procedure to pull wolf teeth but I think I'm going to let Bebe hang onto hers until she tells me she's uncomfortable with it.

As for tushes, they can't be removed (roots go too deep to make it a routine procedure) but I have heard of them being rounded off so they aren't sharp. My dentist did say that I'd probably find she preferred straight bar bits to jointed ones as they'd interfere with the tushes less, and he was right.

Have you tried bitbank.co.uk for larger bits? I believe they have a new range that go up to 7". I can't remember if they had to be ordered but do remember thinking the prices were pretty reasonable.

Amanda
 
Hi Amanda

My vets have usually said wolf teeth needn't come out unless they're causing a problem.

I suspect the drifting on corners is not so much teeth as turning method. Every horse I rode used to do the same, wolf teeth or not! I would turn my shoulders to the inside (as instructed ha ha), give with the outside rein, try to steer the bend with my inside rein because there didn't seem to be any other way to get the direction, push like mad with my inside leg and draw my outside leg back, and bingo! Horse does impression of jack-knifing lorry on course for collision with school wall.

As soon as I learned (more or less!) how to use my weight aid I found that I could dictate the direction fairly well just by tilting my inside hip forward. Lifting the inside hand slightly and asking with tiny squeezes does help to get slight flexion to the inside, which is all you need, and keeping the outside rein against the horse's neck instead of giving it helps tremendously in stopping the outside drift; outside leg still contains quarters as before.

I had major psychological problems with circles pre-Heather! Now, although I'm still nowhere near perfect, I can at least do a reasonable impression of one without worrying about it.

Of course, I may be preaching to the converted and you could be right about the teeth in that case!
 
I have likewise, been under the impression that the wolf teeth are only removed if they are causing a problem. I thought I might add that the wolf teeth are commonly a problem with racehorses as they are forced to wear the bit very high in the mouth. Therefore riding horses don't usually have any problems with the wolf teeth as they have the bit at a comfortable level in their mouths.
 
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Thanks everyone, that all makes sense, so it will be interesting to see what the dentist has to say. My feeling is that we don't have a serious teeth problem, but it is worth getting them checked anyway. And due to size and all those extra teeth, it will always be trial and error to find the right bit.

Ros, I am sort of converted, just desperately in need of more lessons from Heather! Luckily, she is coming this way in June and will meet Davey at Lea Valley.

Amanda
 
I wouldn't automatically pull wolf teeth. In most cases they cause no problems whatsoever, and it can be a major expense and discomfort for the horse. It doesn not always go to plan either.

Recent clarification of legislation in this area has made it all but impossible for dentists to do this procedure - it has been classified as invasive surgery - and a trip to the vet surgery can be expensive.

Personally unless you have an expert and/or a vet tell you that it is almost certainly a problem then I would leave them.
 
HI Amanda,

I seem to be getting my mails bounced back from your email address, so thought I would try to nab you here. Do you still want me to do a seminar at the RM in June after Caron's clinic/

Cheers,

Heather
 
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