Equine Dentistry - I Got My Heels Leveled And I Don't Like It
Posted by Geoff Tucker on Fri, Oct 09, 2009
I love my buffalo hide boots. They're comfortable and waterproof. I wear them everywhere I go. My boot care is hosing them off when leaving the barn.
I must walk funny though because after about 9 months the heels are worn on the back outside edge to the point where the rubber is gone. So off to the cobbler where my boots get new - level - heels.
Well if you thought I walked funny before.... It feels awkward but in a few days I forget about it. I assure myself my heels will soon wear down and my boots will be comfortable again.
What is our obsession with symmetry and balance? It seems that if the word "balance" is used it must be good. From athletic gear to nutrition, balance appears everywhere. Let's be honest here. Do you lead a "balanced" life? We spend money with therapists when many of us should be embracing the chaos in our lives.
If there is an organic disease, then a therapist, a doctor, a veterinarian, an orthotic device, and feng shui all will ease the pain. These people move us from DISease to ease. I like to call this FLOW or life without restrictions. Balanced never enters my equation. Like water in a river, life should keep moving, occasionally hitting obstacles but never becoming trapped and getting stagnant.
Horses want flow too. Symmetry and balance I believe is a man made concept which is applied to the horse, often with bad results. We are bombarded with "natural" and "balanced" in the omnipresent advertising to the point where we think we need it everywhere.
It is my observation that in life, we adapt to the forces applied to our bodies. This is why our bones don't look like I beams or 2 by 4's. They are actually shaped by the applied forces into curves with different thicknesses. We adapt to outside forces and one of the most prevalent abnormal forces applied to us and our horses is pain.
When we experience pain, physical or mental, we start to adapt. It is undeniably the way of our world. How we adapt is dependent on how we perceive the pain. I call it our threshold of pain.
A pebble in your shoe and the same pebble in your friend's shoe. Both are asked to run. One cries out in pain and stops while the other runs without complaint. That is what I mean by threshold of pain.
With horses, we have whimps and we have tough guys. If you try to "balance" them, things could actually get worse. However, if you find the source of pain and remove it, they will find their own "balance" or what I call their flow.
This is what we do in equine dentistry at The Equine Practice, Inc. Our job is to remove the cause of pain. It is ludicrous to think we can balance the mouth. The horse has been documented to chew 10,000 to 40,000 times every day. If a horse's mouth is balanced today, is it still balanced in 10 days after a quarter of a million chews? It's like me and my boots with the new heels. The teeth, like my heels, will soon be back to where they were due to a combination of anatomy and bad habits.
By removing the source of pain - removing all sharp edges on the teeth - the horse can return to flow and chew the way that individual is supposed to chew.
If there is an organic block to the flow of a horse chewing then it needs to be addressed. For 90 plus percent of horses floated in this practice, the removal of pain caused by sharp tooth edges brings immediate and profound relief. The eyes soften, lips are licked, and the head lowers often with a quick head shake.
What is the most fascinating to me is how the teeth move in the mouth. If all pain is removed from the mouth for about two years through twice a year floating, crooked teeth become aligned as if they were wearing braces. In older horses with loose or wiggling teeth, one floating allows the tongue to freely move about the mouth. This movement cleans and strengthens the teeth and in 3 to 6 months the teeth no longer wiggle.
The power of removing pain cannot be overstated. It is the underlying reason all good equine dentists become successful. There is no reason for the power tool dentists not to also achieve a pain free mouth. It has nothing to do, however, with incisor reduction, equilibration, or "balancing" the mouth. It can be achieved with hand floats and usually without drugs. I know this because we do Equine Dentistry Without Drama™ every day.
Melissa Buday Joins The Equine Practice, Inc As Our New Apprentice
Melissa Buday is from Palm City Florida and comes with 20 years of experience with horses. Like all of you, she is happiest in the barn and with horses. She is brave, tough, resourceful, tenacious, kind, and laughs constantly. Truly a horseman, she has impressed me with her skills with horses.
She had a brief career as a law enforcement officer in Port St Lucie. While she hated writing speeding tickets, she had no problem taking on the the bad guys cuffing them and throwing them in jail. I'd bet her horsemanship experience was at the root of her ability not to be intimidated.
Melissa is married to another L.E.O. She has decided that one cop in the family is enough and has decided to pursue her passion of horses. When not traveling with me learning the art of equine dentistry, she trains for three day eventing.
She joins Brandon Gager and me to bring to you horsemanship when we care for your horse's teeth. Please offer her a warm welcome when you meet her.
Brandon Gagaer - A Full Time Dentist At The Equine Practice, Inc
Brandon Gager has far exceeded my expectations as a horseman, a people person, and as an equine dentist. But this is not just my opinion. I have received many calls and notes from clients praising him. One called him "my brother." The forum on the Wellington - WEF site is also praising him. And not one complaint.
Brandon is a blessing to me and every horse owner who comes in contact with him. I am proud having him represent me and all that I stand for. You now have two (and soon three) that offer Equine Dentistry Without Drama™.
Blog 091009 by
Geoff Tucker, DVM is licensed under a
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