Ask the professionals: The Dentist

For every horse owner there are a list of professionals we have to deal with to keep our horses happy and healthy. Most of the time we get to talk to these guys every few weeks, or months, but the dentist may only come around once a year - so watch carefully, you never know what you might learn, and you have very little oppurtunity to do so!

Our new dentist came out yesterday to do about 5 horses on the property, I was crossing my fingers he'd be obliging and teach me a little as he worked. I was really in luck, and he was happy to not only talk about all sorts of stuff, but also to show me, let me feel and take a few pictures as well. I thought I'd share some of the interesting things we chatted about.

Here's the first guy, and we're looking at his canine tooth.
Notice the redness around the base of the tooth? He's just had a lot of soft plaquey stuff removed from it ( you can still see the green tinge to the base of the tooth), the dentist tells me that some sorts of feeds - in general specific types of grasses - often leed to this build up of ick on the horse's canine teeth as they don't get the general abraision the rest do. The other point of interest in this horse's mouth is the small area of wear to his inner lip, mid-way between the canine and the tip of the dentist's thumb( it's a little tricky to see it in the photo, but pretty easy on the day). This little wear was due to the canine being very sharp at the tip, which would normally not be too much of a problem, except when you have a drop noseband on. The drop noseband will push into this area, causing the lips to bulge into the canine teeth, causing rubbing. This is a very mild case, but if left may have caused a nasty ulcer.
Pulling the lip out like this makes it easy to see if rub is occurring here, and if there is, remove your noseband and get your dentist to come out and have a look!
The next horse up a mare. Notice no canines are present, most mares don't have any, whilst the majority of male horses will have 4. Also notice how the incisor has a "hook" to it's rear. This little hook helps to define age, and will come and go at different stages in the horse's life. This particular horse is 7 1/2yo, and the developement of the hook is typical to that age, and should be gone before the dentist has a return visit in a year's time. It should also reappear around age 12, again being worn away about a year later.

The last of the horse's of interest had what is called a TMJ (Temporal Mandibular Joint) problem, very mildly. This was evident when the dentist lightly rubbed a spot just beneath the horse's ear, to get a slight reaction of pain. He described to me a horse he had recently treated who had not seen a dentist for 5 years or more. This horse's pain had become so bad he was unable to be bridled, and eventually not able to be haltered, this horse had very BAD TMJ. The horse was a horror to treat and took about 20 minutes to get the gag on, but when it was all over, the horse was calm and was once again easy to halter. A week later there was no sign of there ever being a bridle issue, the jaws were able to relax and the pain gone.
TMJ happens when the molars are unable to meet up correctly because of uneven wear. Uneven wear can occur from a tooth being broken or a mis-shapen tooth or gum-line, with regular dental work these can be fixed, within reason, or at least be kept in check. These uneven points of wear will stop the horse from being able to relax its jaws properly, and causes tightness in the facial muscles that perform chewing motions. In people it can cause nasty head aches, and I can't imagine it would be any different for the horses!

Just by talking to the dentist while he did his work, I was able to gather lots of new information from him. Not only about my own horse, but about different things that can occurr to a horse in general, ways to see if it's happening and signs to look out for. These professionals have a wealth of information, they have both theoretical knowledge and plenty of hands on stuff too! Ask them questions, ask them to show you.... let them EDUCATE you so that you will be able to do better for your horses. Treat the cost of the visit as the price you pay for an invaluable lesson, not just the treatment. Look forward to the dentist's annual visit ( or more frequently for those babies and oldies) you never know what you will learn.

Television Trainers

Last night as I sat down to watch Catalyst( ABC 8pm good show), which had a special segment on horse behaviour, I became all excited with the anticipation of a good laugh: they did not let me down!

Scientific studies enthrall me, properly designed and run tests to understand animal behaviour are invaluable tools to help us learn how to train. The background study of Andrew McLean into horse cognition and behaviour is great, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was researched, studied and tested over years of learning and watching and you can really see he loves it - the knowledge and the proof.

What made me giggle the most is this statement:
Dr Andrew McLean:
"You really can't even afford to be one second late. It's got to be that much on time because there really isn't that computing ability, that ability to reflect back into what's happened, "
followed shortly after by Warrick's, Andrew's son, reaction ( at Equitana last year in "The way of the Horse" competition) to his colt's rear up and strike out. Warrick avoided a front hoof, and then let the horse drop to the ground and THEN yanked it one in the head with the halter and lead. On time laddio?? Me thinketh not. You just reefed your colts head for standing on the ground.
Now I am not saying we haven't all done this before, no one is perfect. When you are showcasing your abilities, and are speaking about an ideal, with scientific background, which you base your entire learning curve for a horse on - don't let the television public see you doing exactly what you preach NOT to do. The entire thing looked to be a great excercise in public relations and advertising. Although I am sure there are more than a few people who had a giggle at the poor colt getting his head yanked on at the wrong time.

On a bit of a different note, that colt ( branded over 5) would be what - 3yo ( at the time of Equitana)? Why on earth are you jumping it after let me see 3 hours of "training". Too young to be jumping, and not well muscled enough to be putting that much pressure on it's joints with no muscle tone to back it up for carrying the weight of a rider as well as the downforce coming off a jump. Think people before putting that stuff on TV - there are VERY susceptible minds out there that worship what trainers, especially those on the telly, say and do and follow them blindly.

If you'd like to watch the segment:
Catalyst: Equitana - ABC TV Science

So it's Raining.....

Looking outside all I can see is giant black clouds above and lakes of water below. The horses are mushing about in the mud, and the arena has ducks swimming happily on it. I have a closet full of clothes on the laundry floor awaiting the washing machine but there's no where to dry them so they'll sit there a while. I really need to buy a dryer.

We have big yards for the horses to spend their days in in the wet weather, but we're lucky. A lot of the horses in the area will be confined to boxes and not getting worked. For me this is the start of the bad things to come. When the horses get to go out again, they'll be feeling fresh and excitable. They'll run and buck and play on the wet paddocks, possibly hurting themselves, but in the mean-time causing no end of trouble to handle them. They need to run and get the energy out, SAFELY!

So what do we do for our four-legged buddies when the weather gets like this?
Cut down their grain intake, and increase the bulk. This will reduce the sugar content while increasing roughage, it will keep them sane and occupied for longer periods of time. It will also stop me ( and people like me) from getting squished when we try to change their rugs and clean their boxes.
Take your horse for a walk. Either in hand or in the saddle, a good one hour walk will not only be good excercise for both of you it will also stimulate your horse's brain making him less likely to go nutty when you get back on for the first time! It will give you a great excuse to practice your ground work, and also may allow you to overcome some of those demons in the bushes! At the moment we have coucil clean-up piles on the roadside - what better way to get your horse used to all sorts of objects than to go investigate them. Those horse-eating excercise bikes and bags will stand no chance against your horse's brave leader: YOU!
Groom your horse. With wet-weather rugs on your horse has no ability to scratch itself, your horse will thank you for the itches and he'll look better for it! Grooming is also a great way to bond with your buddy, it's the way a herd acknowledges each other, and friendships are formed. A great groom that does not end with a saddle on his back will give him no end of pleasure both physically and mentally. Follow with some little stretches to help him stay supple and you'll thank yourself next week.

Finally when you get back in the saddle when the wet weather subsides, remember your horse will not be as fit and supple as he was last week. Take it easy with them, bring them back slowly. The ground will be slippery, and the going a bit mushy so put some protection on for your horse - bell boots, brushing boots/bandages, just in case! Don't forget your own boots and helmet, so we can all stay safe and enjoy our horses.

Sometimes you can Believe in Magic

It's not often that I believe in things that science can't prove, but when it comes to horses you can trust their responses. Through them I have learned that there can be a little bit of magic, especially when it comes to healing.
Anyone that knows me knows the saga of my mare. Given to me in an utter mess, her hooves the size of tea-cups and her back bent like a bannana so she had no definition of wither or rump, it has been a very long, hard 2 years on both of us to get her to her current condition. Along the way she has taught me more than any course, person or book ever could, she is the one that has pushed me to learn, and also the one that has made me try to help others where I can. There is one person in particular who I owe a lot to for her recovery ( although there are many many others to!) and that is her muscle therapist. She has seen her through from the very beginning, encouraging me along the way while she helped my mare. More still she has the courage to say "I can't do" rather than just ignoring what can't be done and just keeping on going, even though there would be no results.
I owe her such a debt of gratitude, I only wish I could repay it some day.
Last week that day came.
I received the horror phonecall from a friend that my mare was lame - crippled I think was the word, so I rushed down to see her. When I arrived all I could think was she's torn a ligament or actually fractured her leg. Lame like this wasn't in my mare's vocab, she had huge problems when I got her and never a day lame. I checked her joints and feet and couldn't find the heat or lack of movement. The vet arrived shortly and decided on abscess, well maybe an abscess, maybe a bruise.... maybe we should rule that out so we know it's definately not that.
I believe in vets and science.

Poultice and boot on, we're set to treat this - even though I don't think it's the problem.
I call my muscle therapist to see if she can help the horse's recovery as I can feel the pain is high on her leg and across her hip. If nothing else a good rub-down will help. She arrives to a horse who is walking like a puppet in the hind legs, and looks at the boot and me and says it's not in the foot. We get my mare comfy in her stable eating her hay and see if she'll allow any work to be done. Not on your life is that going to happen. She may not be able to put it down but she can threaten very well with the sore leg. So we let her eat hay and discussed the options.
Suddenly we are accousted by a back end in our faces, my mare has decided that she wants treatment and positions herself by backing up into us ( yes she left food for this!!!!), and ensuring that the therapist is lined up with her sore side. My mare turns around to look at her, as if to say "Please will you do somthing about this, it is annoying me". There's not a lot the therapist can do - there's too much muscle spasming and tightness to work through safely. She lays her hands on the points of pain and starts to talk to me as if we were just chatting about life, as my horse's posture starts to change and become more relaxed. After ten minutes or so, she asks me to walk the horse out so was can see if there's any change.
We couldn't believe it.... there was a change, she moved far more freely!!! But nothing was done? How did it happen? The therapist nearly cried... it was her on of her first attempts at doing Reiki on a horse, and something had happened. More than a something - a positive change.
The next 2 visits gave more and more improvement, the muscles relaxed so quickly she could work in deep in the problem areas. A week after I watched her walking around like a cripple, she is now walking around better than ever before, her stride has lengthened and she swings. What we were expecting to be at least a few months of recovery time and rehab has reduced to a few weeks. You could knock me over with a feather.

Maybe science can't prove the healing energy's effect on pain and injury, but a horse can not believe in it and hence no placebo effect can occurr. Insano-horse-person logic, A horse can't lie, therefore the effect must be real.
I don't care as it helped and maybe sometimes my logical mind can believe in a little bit of magic every once in a while.