What’s Going On In Your Horse’s Mouth?

To understand how these factors affect your horse’s mouth, you must understand how your horse chews his food, and most importantly, realize that the basic chewing motion and saliva production is the first step in the horse’s digestion process.

 When you look at the normal equine mouth and teeth, you will notice that when the mouth is closed, the cheek teeth (molars) and the incisors should come together bluntly and simultaneously.  The angles of the cheek teeth and the incisors must match exactly to allow the proper chewing of food.    

Although processed feeds still give your horse's cheek grinders a workout, he does not nip these foods before bringing them into his mouth. Over time, what happens is the incisors don’t keep pace in wear with the cheek teeth (molars). The incisors become longer and this partially or totally prevents the cheek teeth from making contact. This makes it impossible for your horse to chew his food properly.  And that, in turn, can have some serious consequences.  Many of the specific irregularities seen in horses will be discussed in a future section.

               Thank you California Equine Dentistry

                           (760) 749-5403    

          email:  calequine@yahoo.com

 Tony Grillo Member, Intl Assoc of Equine Dentistry