lower canines,,,,wolf teeth

[finolover]

mo's lower canines are extremely long i think over an inch and quarter..
he eats his grain then swishes/ rinses his mouth out...never seen the such... :?:

[appyday]

Vence swishes and rinses his mouth too....I am having Bubbas wolf teeth pulled next week...Wolfs and the K9s are two different things

[Heidi]

Q eats her pellets, then walks to the water tub and drinks. Her last swallow, she holds in her mouth and then lets it dribble back out. I think having her water across the corral keeps too much from contaminating her water tub.

I bet that will change when I put her water in the stall with her. Do only male horses get wolf teeth? I'll ask the vet to take a look at Q next time she's out.
Heidi

[Terry Wallace]

Tushes.....are not "wolf teeth". Tushes are the k-9 teeth that all male horses get, and some female horses get too. The tushes are the "fighting teeth".
Wolf teeth lie right next to the molars...a good 1 or 1-1/2 inches away from the tushes. Wolf teeth have short roots, compared to the molars (the molars ERUPT - they don't "grow"- throughout the life of a horse, until they run out of tooth). The wolf teeth need to be pulled as they can cause pain...the short roots make them loose, and if a bit hits them...Ouch!
I have a whole collection of horse teeth...one of my many collections...from shed molar caps to pulled wolf teeth.... never know what you'll see at my house!

[GeorgeGuns]

Plus, the K-9s come in around age 5, whereas the wolf teeth may emerge as early as 6 months. K-9s don't get removed, but can be filed down if they are long enough to interfere with comfort or chewing. They don't keep growing either like the other teeth.

My dentist told me that the mares he has seen with K-9s (a very very few) are notoriously aggressive.

[Terry Wallace]

I had a Paso mare with tushes... had a QH mare with them too... I don't think its all that rare... but have not seen any official "count" or percentage.

Does anybody here have a Paso mare with tushes / K-9's? It would be interesting to see how many there are just among the BB member horses....

[PattiB]

Gaviota Bravo had canines. Also our mare Dulce Limosna and Creciente de Jose. None of them closely related but all good show horses.

[GeorgeGuns]

Canines can also be filed down if they are too long. It doesn't hurt the horse, they aren't filed to gumline, just to a length that doesn't interfere with eating etc.

[DebbieS]

My horse dentist 'clipped' the canines off to level. On the older guys especially, it really helped with chewing. The wolf teeth are usually pulled when they are young. Chex had his done when we was gelded (before we got him). The dentist said the wolf teeth will interfere with the bit, and sometimes be painful for them.

[halfmoonfino]

Only male horses get lower canines as a rule of thumb. However, I know someone who has seen several mares exhibiting lower canine teeth. It is not the norm. As for wolf teeth, they should always be removed. You can check to see if your horse has them by opening the mouth and looking at the top jaw behind the molars. If the wolf teeth are there, you'll see little, yet very sharp teeth in the groove. If not, you'll see flat gums. Pitty's wolf teeth have been removed, but to check I had to actually feel with my thumb because I couldn't see inside his little mouth. A friend warned me that using your fingers to feel around can result in nasty cuts on your fingers that get very infected. Thankfully I was almost 100% sure Pitty's were gone. Good thing I was right! But seriously, wolf teeth can cause a heap of problems, including sever pain while wearing a bit, grazing, or chewing grain. You need to be positive they aren't there.

The lower canines are supposed to be there! Just be sure to have your vet or equine dentist monitor the length and trim them so that all the teeth meet properly for grinding.

:D

[sherry k t]

my 5 y/o gld TWH had a baby tooth that should have came out on its own still in his mouth. Farrier/dentist removed it today. no roots. Also I had commented to him this same horse was chewing on his lead rope when tied or actually his nieghbors lead rope when tied next to him in the horse trailer. I mean really chewing it up in pieces. He immediately looked in roof of horses mouth and said thier is a bump or calleous there that some young horses have that doesnt go away on its own. Says foals have it to protect the mares when nurseing. he said young horses who it doesnt go away will generally chew on things. He said in the old days they would just slice it off with a knife but then had way to much problems with infection so now they take a very hot piece of metal and burn/cauterize the calleous off which he did, only took seconds and horse didnt act like it hurt at all. Hope this works. Hope it hasnt become an ingrained habit already chewing on the lead ropes. Anyone ever hear of this? I swear I learn something new everyday.

[SandyMM]

From KBR Horse Health Information website:
http://www.kbrhorse.net/hea/float.html

BTW - it is possible to have impacted wolf teeth which do not break through the gum line and can cause a number of problems!