# Other Pets > Horses >  Bonnet got her teeth floated!!! (pictures and video)

## SlitherinSisters

Sorry I have so many threads going on right now, but I'm so excited! She's been needing it done for awhile! When she ate grains most of it would fall out of her mouth. I thought she was about 22 years old, but it turns out she's younger, he thinks 20. At least she's not older than I thought!!! 

They used power tools! I've seen floating done before, but it was with a hand held metal file. The sound of the hand held file was much more pleasing than the power tools! 



He said her mouth was really good and most likely had never had any work done. Although her wolf teeth were pulled. She must have had a fairly decent owner at one point in her life, which I'm quite surprised about. She's been through at least 4 homes that I know of and was used heavily as a brood mare. 


Doing her front teeth


Poor old Bonnie stood like that for about 20 minutes after she was done. She was a tad drugged  :Razz: 


A really short video. 



Something I want to ask you guys! He told us that if we rode more than once a week we needed to get their teeth floated twice a year?!  :Surprised:  I've never heard of this before. As far as I knew they didn't need floated until they had troubles eating. He said every horse needs floated once a year??? He works on performance horses mostly, racehorses, competition, etc. Was my family totally out of the loop on this one, or does this once a year thing sound excessive for trail horses?

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## tonkatoyman

Saw the video reminds me of going to the dentist. I hope this fixed her problem. :Very Happy:

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## 2kdime

Can I ask what teeth floating is?

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## SlitherinSisters

> Can I ask what teeth floating is?


They file down the horses teeth because they get sharp/jagged after awhile. Horses teeth keep growing so they need filed to help get their teeth back in shape. With them being sharp and jagged they could bite the inside of their cheeks and stop eating. Also, the bit pulls the lips back to the teeth and could rub on the jagged teeth. She has tissue scares on her cheeks from biting them and from the bit pulling her lips to her teeth. 

The main reason I wanted hers done was because she had a lot of trouble eating grains because she couldn't hold it in her mouth.

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_2kdime_ (09-23-2009)

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## 2kdime

Learn something every day!

Thanks :Very Happy:

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## SlitherinSisters

> Learn something every day!
> 
> Thanks


Lol no problem! It's definitely an interesting ordeal! My aunts horses got done and her mule actually had to have two teeth pulled because they were infected! The strange thing is that they don't need pain meds after this. He said the mule will feel much better now that the teeth are out. My aunts mare had her wolf teeth pulled as well. I have pictures of the teeth, but it's a tad gross and I didn't really want to post it!

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## ZinniaZ

I get my horses done once a year.  My equine dentist says they need to be done yearly, unless they have a rough mouth.  One of mine DOES have a rough mouth-- meaning the teeth grow unevenly creating waves in the bite-- so he has to be done twice a year.  

A LOT of people are not aware how big a difference regualr dental work makes.  But horses tend to be happier in the bridle, able to maintain a healthy mouth for longer, etc.  If you only get it done when the food is falling uout of their mouth, it is a lot harder to fix.  If they get it done yearly, it doesn't get to that point.  

If you feel inside your horse's mouth that was just done, you'll be able to feel how smooth her teeth are.  Then go feel inside the mouth of a horse who has not been done recently.  You can cut yourself on the sharp edges of the teeth and so can they.  The sharp edges affect them all day, but generally they cope with it until it hurts so much or their teeth are so out of alignment that they can't chew.  Move your hand along the side of the teeth between the cheek and teeth.  They can be sharp there and some horses get sharp points on that side AND on the inside close to their tongues.  I've seen horses' mouths with ulcerated cheeks where their teeth constantly ground into the skin.  Horse never  complained.

I wish that vets were better about explaining this to people.  Good horse owners WANT to know this stuff so they can help their animals.  Makes me feel bad when good people aren't given the information they need.

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## SlitherinSisters

It is frustrating because I've never even heard of getting their teeth done that often!!! Horse 4-H is pretty good at explaining horse health and what you need to do, but even they said floating wasn't needed till old age!  :Confused:   :Mad:

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## ZinniaZ

But 4-h still depends on individuals to teach it plus I think dentistry has made some advancements.  I know that my vets all recommend once per year.  I don't know why some people say not til old age.

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## SlitherinSisters

> But 4-h still depends on individuals to teach it plus I think dentistry has made some advancements.  I know that my vets all recommend once per year.  I don't know why some people say not til old age.


That's true, I just figured since this horse group has been around for decades and is run by a major western pleasure trainer/shower that he would have had his kids, or another kid, do something on floating. Sigh

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