Horse dentist

[harveydales]

I had the horse dentist for my lot yesterday and, as usual, I was dreading it. I tried a new lady who's been highly recommended to me (my previous dentist has moved abroad) and she was brilliant. She is a tiny lady, lovely quiet manner and Eve was good as gold the whole time.

I'm posting this because I've got a few tooth questions. Eve turned 5 last Sunday but I was told she has the mouth of a 4 year old. This ties in with my previous dentist last year who told me she had the mouth of a 3 year old. Is this usual for Dales Ponies? I do know I definately have the right pony lol

She also has 2 wolf teeth, quite large and very close to her molars so shouldn't be a problem. I was told it is the small wolf teeth which tend to cause problems bitting. I know some people would have them removed anyway, just in case, but I'm undecided. What are your thoughts?

She also has little tushes which my dentist says happens in mares who have high levels of testosterone - something I didn't know and found interesting. These mares end to be dominant types which Eve certainly is.

Wondered what your thoughts are as I have no experience with Dales Pony youngsters.

[tinkeralison]

I wouldn't routinely remove wolf teeth, only if they were causing problems, like Alfie who had managed to break one of his!

Tinker has tushes,   none of the other mares do

[harveydales]

May 11, 2018 16:41:50 GMT -1 tinkeralison said:

I wouldn't routinely remove wolf teeth, only if they were causing problems, like Alfie who had managed to break one of his!

Tinker has tushes,   none of the other mares do

Thanks Alison. I think I will leave her wolf teeth. I should know this about Tinker but what is her personality like? Is she a more dominant mare?

[tinkeralison]

I had to chuckle when I read what you said about the testosterone 😁 Tinker can be bossy, but it's mainly food related 😍 .

She is a definite middle of the herd mare x

[Fi]

I was advised not to remove Sammie’s wolf teeth, so haven’t. Not had any problems yet!

[Debbie]

How lovely, it's such a relief when you find someone who's gentle and not at all in a hurry with them. I'm glad Eve was good as gold for her. I've always had my vet do Blossom's teeth under sedation.

Interesting about her mouth being a year younger than her true age. I've no clue about tushes or wolf teeth, though. While they routinely remove wolf teeth during gelding here, I don't think anyone routinely removes teeth for the mares? My guess is if it's not bothering her, leave it be. I think in the case of the geldings, they remove them to prevent a possible trainwreck while riding/training.

[valerie n scout]

My old Dales has his Wolf teeth removed, wasn’t really offered the choice !
Don’t think Scout has developed them... do they all get them ?