Teeth Floating

I've been looking forward to this day for a LONG time. Today is the day where Calvin's teeth got floated! I'm not sure why they call it floating, but it basically rasping the horse's teeth to be even and not all pointy and grindy. Super technical explanation, I know. Anyway, this is the device used for floating and what it looks like: floating (note: this is not Calvin nor is it my picture). This device looks medieval, but it just holds the horse's mouth open so you can see everything. It's amazing how long a horses' mouth is, you can almost stick your entire arm in their mouth. Keep in mind that the horse is usually sedated during this entire process, unless I suppose you own a very calm horse who doesn't mind the feeling of rasping. It's not painful, just a vibration, so some horses think it feels weird and others likely don't mind it as much. I had to sedate Calvin because he was also getting teeth pulled along with floating, but I probably would have to sedate him anyway because he's kind of feisty.

So why did I want Calvin's teeth done? Well, it's a process usually done every 12 months and he's never had it done before. I want to train him to take a bit, so I wanted to make sure his teeth were okay and it would be comfortable for him. Also, he has wolf teeth which you can see in this picture: horse teeth. Not all horses have wolf teeth (30% do not!), they are non-functional teeth left-over from the evolutionary process when, millions of years ago, they were larger and used as grinding teeth before horses started grazing primarily on the plains (source). Very interesting stuff! Unfortunately for us, Calvin was one of the 70% to get wolf teeth, which means they had to come out because they will interfere with the bit which causes pain.

Here's an older picture of his cute front teeth, so tiny! (And dirty) Don't worry they still hurt when he nips, just fyi.

Here are his wolf teeth and one baby molar (they lose their baby teeth so this is normal). Sorry if this grosses anyone out but I think it's interesting.

Poor baby all drugged up after the floating and pulling was completed. He had to have 2x the normal anesthetic apparently, according to the vet, "it's like he wasn't even sedated with one" haha. He woke up about 20 mins after this photo and got to enjoy some very soft and mushy beet pulp (if you remember my beet pulp post, it's great for older horses with teeth problems...or in this case young horses with ouchy teeth)

So the deed is done! I was debating whether to have his teeth pulled, but decided that I would for a number of reasons. If I ever have to sell him, he should be bit trained and 2, I would rather do it now than to realize his teeth were causing him pain with the bit. Since the teeth are useless anyway, I'd rather just not risk it and I'd rather have him pain free in the bit the entire time. I'll wait 1.5 weeks before introducing the bit so that he has time to heal. In the meantime, we'll practice more turns and yielding to pressure!

Random bonus picture: on my way out I saw the 2 deer that frequent the property. It's nice to see wildlife since I've been living in the 'burbs for too long.