At a large barrel, I had to have the vet there look at my horse. He even mentioned my horse had a heck of a bit seat. I have had my horses' teeth maintained for about 40 years now and have always had a bit seat done. It should be standard procedure..
Posts: 1419 Location: Where Governor's make the liscense plates
I had no idea what they were until about ten years ago when we had a actual equine dentist out instead of the vet hand floating. Once the dentist explained why they're important for performance horses I was sold on the idea and have had them done ever since!
My barrel horse is done yearly since he maintains a healthy mouth and always has his bit seat done.
It's common practice now and the reason why you should have an equine dentist out and not a vet (vets ususally only do a few weeks of practice in vet school and thats it)
in Ontario, it is illegal to practice equine dentistry unless you are a vet.
We have a very good friend that is an equine dentist and for the last 10 years (at least) has worked on horses in Canada. It was mainly standard breds and it was a bit of a undercover trip. He used to go 3x's a year now I think it gets up there only once a year with all the changes the industry has faced. He would work on hundreds of horses when he went.
FlyingJT - 2016-03-07 11:56 AM Maybe that's why so many horses have TMJ problems.... I don't like the idea of it
TMJ problems are caused from the over use of a speculum. The speculum should be released often but most using power tools don't. What causes problems with bit seats is when they are overdone and they get down into the pulp.
Bit seats
