Thursday, April 16, 2009

Horses grinding teeth?

I just want to know if any one else knows or has a horses that grinds their teeth.





When my TB mare was a yearling she broke her nose and that is when I noticed that she grinds her teeth. She stills does this at feeding time and when she is mad or in pain. Like I said I just want to know if anyone else’s horse does this.

Horses grinding teeth?
Boy oh boy am I glad to hear that so many people other than myself are hearing this awful sound. It is so annoying to be working a gelding of mine and he starts grinding away, I mean I spend a lot on those those teeth, does he care NO! he just goes ahead and throws his little %26quot;I don%26#039;t wanna work%26quot; tantrum,


I am sorry to say I was happy to hear that you are going the same thing as myself, I am just glad you brought up the subject, I am not alone. Thanks
Reply:there are a few horses in my barn that do this. they do this when they are irritated or angry. its a sharp grinding sound.
Reply:Yeah, I have an old gelding that will grind his teeth when other horses come up and bother him, and as he is waiting on me to give him his food. Terrible sounding. He has to have his teeth done regularly as he wears them goofy, way, way in the back where the vet really has to work to get them flattened out. This goofy ole man also likes to stand and cross his front legs, he scratches his fronts that way too. He doesn%26#039;t use his nose like most do, he just flips his other leg around and runs it up and down until he%26#039;s got it all taken care, lol.
Reply:There are two types of %26quot;normal%26quot; grinding:





first the side motion grinding of masticating grain which is the normal manner of eating grain for a horse,





the second is the same movement without the grain, so that it appears and sounds like an eating movement but not connected to eating.





The former is normal at all times, the later is just a variation of the former.





Inspect the horses molars, and compare to the horses age, and you will most probably find that your horse is within normal range for molar wear.





If there has been a dramatic wear beyond the age of the horse it is a habit or tic activity.





Place forage and water within reach of the animal.


This allows the normal eating process if the horse has a habit or tic of grinding.





Inspect the feces for worms and de-worm the horse. Pin worm infestations may manifest with grinding. This can be tested by applying a piece of scotch tape to the anus in the morning, and viewing it under a microscope or simply treat for this problem empirically.





If you determine the horse is abnormally grinding without food, inspect the hard palate of the mouth for any abnormal alignment, inspect the alignment of the upper and lower teeth, and air passage through each nostril for air flow and noise indicating obstruction.





When bones are broken and have a bad alignment upon healing it can result in nerves being pressed upon under certain conditions abnormally, blocked nasal passages with the equivalent of sinus blockage and infections, chronic pain, and the passage to the ear being blocked.





What you have described could be normal, a tic/habit, or structural abnormality for the trauma you mention.





If there is a problem, and it is structural do to poor bone alignment upon healing, once the abnormality is fully identified it may be corrected by a vet. who specializes in surgical procedures on large animals.





The first steps to do are focus on what you can do to determine if your horse is acting outside the normal, if it is a habit/tic, or a misaligned fracture.





If you have reason to believe a fracture healed out of alignment and is causing this, the next step is going to be looking for a vet with the expertise to diagnose and treat it.
Reply:Mine does this - when he%26#039;s feeling grumpy towards the other horses.
Reply:i have 2 horses that do that and now of many that do that.
Reply:Hi! How old is she now?





Teeth Grinding, is usually not a major issue, but it can be. However it most commonly due to relatively simple issues such as a mineral deficiency, lack of something in the diet, boredom, time for a float, or it can also just be nerves or stress related. When you feed your horse, she may become anxious, which is the case with one of geldings, He will grind his teeth a few minutes after he warms up before a barrel race. When he know he has to do a run, he will grind his teeth, and he will also grind his teeth anytime he gets nervous like a long distance haul or a trip to the vet. When I was training my gelding for barrels, he would grind his teeth when he was not 110% sure if he was doing something right. It started young, and he has carried with him all of these years, its just something some horses can pick up if they are naturally nervous like him.





From what you described, I%26#039;d say that when she broke her nose, she soon developed the grinding as a way to alleviate the pain and it eventually became a nervous or anxious habit. But if this is something new, you should have a vet look at her, she may be experiencing a degree or level or pain someplace and may need a doc to check her out and run some x-rays on that nose to really make sure everything healed up okay.





Best of luck! I hope that answers your question!
Reply:I work at a horse rescue and I have only seen this once from a horse that cribs ALOT but i woulnt be worried but i would call your vet and talk to him or her!
Reply:My 23 year old did this all the time and it got to the point I called my vet about it. My Vet told me that he was doing this cause he was bored or his teeth needed to be floated and well with my old boy it was his teeth needing to be floated and it fixed the problem for us as well as his weight problem he was starting to have. So if her teeth are fine maybe you can see if putting some toys to play with either in the field or stall (where ever you put him for most of the day) will help. If not maybe you can see if its just a bad habit that she got from mom seeing that mom did it as well.
Reply:YEa i no quite few horses that grind their teeth.. if u get 2 worried get a vet out jus 2 check her teeth r ok! xx
Reply:I have a horse named Jury Duty that is a horrible grinder. In my practice I have also come across other equine%26#039;s with this. The most important thing you can do is get together with your vet. Have his teeth checked frequently to assess wear and talk to your vet to rule out neurological disorders. The most common teeth grinder%26#039;s also experience sensitivity to light which can lead to seizures or head tossing and sometimes star gazing. It may be no big deal- but you want to check just in case.


Jury Duty use to grind all night, even when sleeping. I remember some night%26#039;s walking into my barn and hearing this horrible electric toothbrush like sound and going over to his stall to see him laying down, eye%26#039;s closed and jaw%26#039;s just a moving. I eventually made a nice rubber teeth guard and even though he look%26#039;s like that dorky kid that wears the face brace everyone knew in 2nd grade- his teeth are healthy.
Reply:alot of horses do this, your not the only one :)
Reply:take her to the vet she may need to get her teeth floated whitch means her teeth are not even and smooth on the top so the vet will file them down.



car makes

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