It is always important to monitor your horse’s dental health and provide preventative care. Dental issues can be serious, causing pain, behavioural issues such as head shaking, schooling issues such as avoiding the bit or overall reduced health.
Ensure you know what normal is for your horse so you can monitor changes. Watch your horse as they eat their hay and bucket feeds, so you are able to spot subtle changes in good time. Did you know? You can also spot dental issues in their droppings; large pieces of undigested fibre can be an indication of chewing issues.
Horse’s teeth constantly erupt throughout their life, grinding them down as they chew forage. Teeth can wear unevenly due to differences in composition (e.g. enamel is harder than dentine), so it is important to have a qualified Equine Dental Technician (known as an EDT) or vet who has specialised in dentistry to check regularly, correcting wear patterns and filing down sharp edges.
Regularly check your horse's cheeks, jaw and nasal area for any swelling, heat or sensitivities. Get them used to you handling their mouth and teeth. Some horses will find this a bit worrying at first so go slowly and reward them with plenty of scratches.
Poor dental health can make it difficult for your horse to chew, limiting essential fibre provision their diet. Signs that they may be struggling to chew include quidding, weight loss (especially when on a mostly hay diet), slower chewing, bad breath and even choke. If they struggle to chew hay, there are alternative forage sources. We spoke about them in a previous video so we will link that below.
Last but not least, make sure your horse is getting the correct nutrients to support tooth health. Vitamins and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D and potassium all contribute to healthy teeth and gums as well as other functions within the body, this is why they are included in all of our balancers.
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