Well it would be hard to take the horses to the dentist so we took the dentist to the horses out at the ranch. Horses can get uneven wear on their teeth which makes it hard for them to chew and use their feed efficiently. That is usually older horses.
The younger ones can get sharp edges that dig into their inner cheeks and cause canker sores. Like when I wore braces and a wire would poke out and cause a sore place in my mouth. These sores make it very uncomfortable for them and interfere with them responding to bit cues. Since performance horses need to respond quickly and comfortably to the bit during competitions it is worth it to have the dental work done.
First the dentist/vet gives the horse a dose of a tranquilizer. Then a device is placed on the horse's mouth to hold it open and provide light. The horse's chin rests on a sling so the assistant doesn't have to hold it up. The horse doesn't care what is happening. He is tripping. Kind of like nitro at my dentist's office.
I tried to get a picture of the sores and the tooth spurs but they are up in the shadowed area. Say Ahhhhh!
The tool to remove the sharp edges looks like a rough file attached to a power tool. It does the job great and after three days for the canker sores to clear up the horse has a pain free mouth!
Just a few minutes and the work it done.
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