MY BELIEFS & PHILOSOPHIES OF

                                EQUINE DENTISTRY

1. Horsemanship is better than drugs and force.
   
   
2. Proper and judicious use of pain medication is indicated in about 1 of every 5 to 10 horses, not in every horse.
   
   
3. The use of hand tools and the hand as a mouth speculum is effective in addressing every edge of every tooth.
   
   
4. Every edge of every tooth must be made smooth to achieve comfort for the horse.
   
   
5. Floating should be done every 6 months in horses between 5 and 25 years of age to be preventive in bit issues. On occasion some horses need it more often. Some, due to limited use or if they are over 25 years old only need an annual float.
   
   
6. Horses between 2 ½ and 5 years of age should be floated every 3 to 6 months depending on their training schedules. The teeth are softer and become sharp more quickly plus 24 baby "caps" are shed during this time and are replaced by sharp permanent teeth.
   
   
7. Good dentistry has been practiced for generations. While some changes are good, not all changes in technique or technology benefit the horse. The philosophy here is simple. If the change helps the horse, it is made. If it only helps the floater but is detrimental to the horse, the change is not made.

I have read the articles by the experts describing "good dentistry." I have attended meetings and wet labs here and in Europe. If I believed what they told me I would buy the equipment and do what they do.

However, from both a scientific and a horsemanship point of view, I find deficiencies in their theories. Since 1983 I have been using hand floating to achieve comfort in the horse's mouth. I believe that power tools are useful and are not necessarily bad for the horse. It is the technique of jacking the mouth open and hanging the head from the ceiling plus over drugging that goes against all the horsemanship I know. There are now reports that this technique of power floating is leading to injury of the neck. Scientifically, most, if not all, of the theories described in the vet journals and texts are poor in design and suspect in their conclusions.