I have never had a vet that didn’t use a speculum, but
among those who do – there seems to be a trend to spend more time on the
molars than the incisors and often ignoring the incisors altogether because
getting those points and other molar problems can cause such issues. We
actually had a boarder who had never had a vet touch her horses incisors and
refused to let him touch her horses because that wasn’t “normal”.
She was an odd bird – finally had to kick her (and her 5 horses) out
because she wouldn’t worm, vaccinate or get their teeth done. 3 of
her horses ate a 750# square bale every 3-4 days and still couldn’t
maintain weight. I was willing to try to educate her through a lot, but
not if she wouldn’t vaccinate with her horses next to my pregnant mare.
Anyhow, don’t let your vet go too far in the other
direction either. I am very lucky to have a vet whose husband is an
equine dentist with an excellent education. There are a lot of schools
out there that teach people more on how to convince clients that their work is
legal (in some states is it not, without a vet present) than actually how to do
teeth properly and how the mouth really works.
Marlene
Marlene
Moss
www.LosPinos-CO.com
- boarding, training, sales
www.KineticEquineAnalysis.com
- saddlefit for the horse in motion
