Natural Horse World Articles-Healthcare

Teeth Check Time

One of the few things horses and humans have in common is the need for annual check up with the dentist.

In days gone by the farrier also practiced horse dentistry so it was easy to slot in a quick check of the teeth when he visited on a regular basis. But now horse dentistry is much more specialized and requires a little more skill than being able to wield a rasp to knock off the sharp edges. Therefore, we need to make a special effort to book the dentist for a yearly check up and do the necessary preparation before he arrives.

“Preparation – what preparation?” most people would say – thinking it’s the dentists job to educate your horse to have his mouth handled. Unfortunately, this approach has led to a lot of dentists having to resort to tranquilizers so they can do the job without injury and trauma to themselves and the horse. Then you end up with a horse who increasingly fears the dentists visit.

It need not be this way if you are prepared to spend a few minutes a day or even a couple of times a week, desensitizing your horse to things around and in his or her mouth.

Just having a stranger wanting to prod and poke in the most sensitive part of their body is fear causing enough for a horse, so by getting them used to mouth handling, you are going to have a calmer, more accepting horse which your dentist will love.

To start with, you should be able to rub your horse’s nose and lips with your fingers without him shying away – use approach and retreat and gentle rhythmic pressure while gently holding the halter so you can follow his movement if he pulls away. Keep the rubbing going until your horse is showing signs of acceptance then immediately leave him alone for a minute.

As your horse accepts your hand and fingers in and around the lips, start with rubbing the gums (which some horses love) and then the tongue, remembering to stop when there are signs of acceptance (not pulling away, relaxing the head, licking).

Once they are comfortable with you rubbing the tongue on the side where there is a gap in the teeth, work towards acceptance of your fingers in the mouth on top of the tongue, entering where the gap is. Then see if you can gently hold the tongue for a second before releasing it, being careful not to pull it as you can break a very fragile bone connected to the back of the tongue, rendering it useless.

When your horse accepts you gently holding the tongue for a second or two, you can then work on acceptance of simulated dentists tools in the mouth. The rubber handle on a training stick or crop is a good thing to start with as its soft with rounded edges. You might even get them to like it by smearing it with molasses or apple sauce.

Acceptance of a worming tube will also help and I’ve heard from a student that cleaning the teeth with a toothbrush is something her ponies really seem to enjoy.

Remember to allow the horse to check out anything you want to put in his mouth first, and even use it to groom him with so you are not being too direct line about getting it straight in the mouth.

The process may be quite fast for some young horses who are very mouthy anyway and love holding onto and chewing things so its good to introduce them to different objects and being able to gently rub their teeth with them.

For older horses who have maybe had a bad experience or who are naturally more wary and protective of their mouth, you will need to take it slowly and use some incentives like molasses or apple sauce.

Start with it on your finger then move onto other objects as they gain confidence which may have previously been shattered by rough handling or no preparation.

Choosing a dentist who has the right approach (slow and gentle) is also important for future confidence so ask around experienced horse people for recommendations.

We need to realize that mouth handling should be a part of our grooming routine, just like cleaning out the hooves to check on growth and for anything caught in the hoof.

It gives you the opportunity to notice anything out of the ordinary such as an abscess, grass seeds lodged in the gums or other problems.

Some horses even need regular cleaning of tartar build up around the edges of some teeth on a regular basis which is something the dentist can show you how to do quite easily.

And the other big benefit is the trust it builds in the relationship with your horse so don’t delay, use the winter months when less riding time is available to develop your horsemanship in other ways just as beneficial for you and your horse.

Regular teeth checks can help you notice problems like this offset jaw which may need special treatment.

THE HEALING POWER OF HONEY on Severe Wounds by Cynthia Cooper

I'm always looking for natural alternatives when it comes to treating horses and I believe they can work well in conjunction with modern medicine.
A while ago now, I had a yearling filly (Ruby) badly injured from wire cuts. She had severed the flexor (front) tendons on her off fore and near hind, and had stripped an 8" section of flesh to the bone on the front of her off hind.

Both back legs had severed tendons and even after 10 days the bone showed through and proud flesh was rapidly developing following conventional treatment.

After initially stitching the worst cut, I had the tendons operated on so they would have some hope of repairing.
A week after the operation I had her home as a full time patient requiring her bandages changed every couple of days, confinement and a diet to help her heal.
Initially, I followed the vet's advice and used the antiseptic lotion and 'green grease' provided for under the bandages.

It only took about 5 days for the flesh to cover the exposed bone and at that point I started my alternative treatments.
I cleaned the wounds with Calendula tea and then applied pure Tasmanian bush honey.
I can't recall where I'd heard of using honey, but I was amazed at what I discovered.
Usually, leg wounds develop a lot of proud flesh which can become a real problem if not controlled.
Traditional methods include using things like 'Yellow Lotion", copper sulphate solution and very firm bandaging.
Or simply allowing it to grow then having it surgically removed.
What I found was that the honey seemed to naturally control the growth of the flesh so that it didn't develop more than necessary.

Upon further research, I found that Honey has long been known for its special anti bacterial qualities and ability to heal.
It has been used since Egyptian times and is currently making a comeback in human treatment of long standing wounds.
Apparently there are is even a certain type of honey from Queensland known for its exceptional healing ability.

The one thing that is important I discovered, is to use only pure, un-processed honey.
Heat treating honey (as they do for longer shelf life) seems to ruin its anti -bacterial qualities.
Back to the treatment of Ruby - as I lived only a 15 minute float trip from the beach I decided to use the sea to cleanse her wounds.
It became a great educational experience with regular float trips, learning to go in the sea (no waves) and to lead from another horse.
The only disaster I had, was once when riding Manny with Ruby in tow - he must have stepped on something that moved for all of a sudden he shot forward and I got dumped over the back, landing with a big splash under Ruby's nose!
This scared her enough to want out of there so she started to head out to sea! Luckily she responded to my calls and came straight back.

After treatment with honey and salt water, they were much improved.

After a month of bandaging, there was enough healthy flesh reducing the size of the wounds, to leave them open to the air.
I continued to apply honey twice daily as she often licked it off! Even though it was summer, I didn't have any problems with the honey attracting wasps.
As you can see from the photos, the healing was clean and the scarring minimal considering the original size of the wounds.

A few months later the scars are almost healed and proud flesh reduced.

Now her legs are healed and sound even though there is still some unsightly scars.

Fortunately she didn't suffer any loss of movement and the tendons repaired effectively.
I have since heard of several cases (and experienced myself) where honey was used straight onto smaller cuts and they healed very nicely.
For more information search on "honey + for + healing" which gives you hundreds of web sites to choose from.

Stringhalt is a common seasonal condition.
In Australia, stringhalt is commonly seen in summer and autumn as drought stressed pastures are overtaken with weeds such as false Dandelion (also known as Catsear or Flatweed) and Capeweed. Toxins from these weeds affect the nervous system resulting in an exagerated high stepping action in one or both hind legs.
In mild cases the symptoms show when the horse is asked to back-up or if there is a change of terrain, cold weather or if the horse becomes nervous or excited.
Horses with stringhalt can walk, canter and gallop but have trouble trotting properly.
If your horse is supected as having stringhalt there are several things you can do:

Horses left un-treated for this condition will suffer from muscle wastage and may never completely recover. Most cases resolve once the horse is removed from the pasture in a period of 2 weeks to 2 years, depending on the severity of the stringhalt.

Prevention is better - check your pastures for the offending weeds and if you have them, remove your horse before it shows symptoms and feed it on grass hay and supplementary feed according to use and condition.

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