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Elite Veteran
Posts: 784
  
Location: USA | What causes one to grind their teeth?? Checked ulcers, teeth, saddle fit, gear is good, chiro work, not sore, not lame. He does have a little tude to him. Start to put him to work.. loping circles... he starts grinding. Thinks he's stood at the trailer long enough.. starts grinding. Went on a trail ride with a friend... she was in the lead... starts grinding. He is 6 so he is not a baby.. he has always been this way. I am asking for a friend trying to help her come up with some reasons why and what to look into? she at the point of wanting to give up. Any suggestions? |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
 
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | could still be hind gut ulcers. Those are hard to diagnose and can't be scoped. Other than that, some sort of pain/discomfort I would think. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1286
Location: Mississippi | I have one that does this - he has been vetted, dentisted, chiro'ed every inch of him and no cause has been found. He only does it when he seems to be bored with what we are doing or when he gets worked up (attitude). He has done it for years and I have come to accept that it is just one of his quirks. |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| Mine did it as a nervous thing. Then we had his teeth done by an equine dentist and he pretty much couldn't do it anymore because they were flat. He will still do it occasionally or at least try, but mostly has given it up. |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | My mare has had teeth done regularly, chiro work, treated for ulcers, is probably in the best shape of her life. But she grinds her teeth as well. She does it when she's wanting to go faster. Yesterday, we were out doing our loop out in the forest. She was feisty since the weather cooled down and it was breezy. She felt good and wanted to run. ots just something she does. |
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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| I have one that we raised that has done it since she was a baby. When she doesn't like something she grinds her teeth. When she's relaxed and happy her bottom lip hangs down. And she learned a new trick when she was at the track, she sucks in her lips and makes a strange noise. She has been on turnout just doing whatever she wants, and there is no grinding. I'm hoping she has forgotten it when she goes back to work! |
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 Hugs to You
Posts: 7551
Location: In The Land of Cotton | I have owned one since he was born that does it. When he is po'd he grinds his teeth. As in, I don't want to. He is now 13. And, yes, he has been checked for anything and everything. He is just an ass. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | My boy did it in order to produce saliva to calm his tummy when he was nervous. I say treat for hind gut ulcers (Scopes won't always see them and gastro guard or ulcer guard won't touch them.)
If he still grindss after the hind gut ulcer treatment get him a bit with a roller so he's not bored. |
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 Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | Jenbabe - 2017-04-04 3:46 PM I have one that we raised that has done it since she was a baby. When she doesn't like something she grinds her teeth. When she's relaxed and happy her bottom lip hangs down. And she learned a new trick when she was at the track, she sucks in her lips and makes a strange noise. She has been on turnout just doing whatever she wants, and there is no grinding. I'm hoping she has forgotten it when she goes back to work!
That lip sucking thing was a funny thing. God bless our big Ahdee!! |
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Location: South Dakota | Agree with those that suggest it may be Hindgut Ulcers; I am treating my mare that was diagnosed with both stomach and hindgut ulcers, with Gastrogard for the stomach, and Succeed for the hind, and Gastrix for the whole digestive system. $$$$ Spendy! Seeing huge improvements. IMO teeth grinding is either a stress or pain indicator. I recently lost my robust 9 yr old gelding who suddenly coliced, and spent several days at the vet, and he came out of the colic, but lost severe weight rapidly, and went downhill fast...something I noticed that whenever we either worked barrels, or did circles, etc, he would grind his teeth. Looking back, I wish I would have took those signals more seriously, instead of thinking that it wasn't a big deal. |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Had a gelding that did this a lot. Treated him for hind gut ulcers with THE GastroPlus. After that he would only do it if I was standing on the ground holding him and a strange horse came up. He would grind his teeth and flatten his ears. |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| I have an old broodie that grinds her teeth at feed time. She's the nervous-nelly type and has suffered a few light colics and been treated for ulcers over and over. But even just after going thru an ulcer treatment she grinds and paws at feed time. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 516
| My 6 year old does this as well and I had a TB mare that did it. Both checked over head to toe, treated for ulcers and on a great feed program. Chalked it up to being nervous or bored. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | The horses that I was ever around that grind their teeth had ****y attitudes when you asked them to work are if another horse come up to them.  |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 784
Location: USA | Southtxponygirl - 2017-04-05 10:23 PM The horses that I was ever around that grind their teeth had ****y attitudes when you asked them to work are if another horse come up to them.
This is what my friend is thinking.... but wanted to be sure to rule out any physical issues first. |
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Grinding teeth...