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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
 
| So long story short I ended up rescuing two ponies out of the kill pen. I needed one to be a pasture buddy but my mom decided to raise her hand and say " we will take the little bay too" so I have two of them lol. Now the question one of them has a pretty nasty underbite. He seems to be gaining weight but it just takes him FOREVER to eat which is understandable. Is there anything I can do for him to help him eat better? Right now we are just making sure that nobody bothers him and he can just take his time and eat and he seems to be gaining weight very well. Now before anyone says why do all this extra for a pony that is not doing anything. I have gotten the advice to "put a bullet in him and get a new one" or "sell him off and get a new one" My thought process is that he deserves the same care . So does anybody have any helpful advice? |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
 
| Do some research on monkey mouth. The issues are pretty similar to those of parrot mouth. The horse will need yearly dental work and I am betting he probably already needs it.
If you are feeding grain, you can do a nose bag so he isn't losing all the grain into the dirt BUT if you do a nose bag, please be sure you stay with him so you don't forget to take it off or he tries to get a drink and dunks his nose in water filling the bag. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
| Yea we already have an appointment to have his teeth worked on. The bag is a good idea! |
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What Name?
Posts: 1994
| Im curious to see pictures of what an underbite looks like. I've never seen one. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | What type of feed are you feeding him? |
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 Special Somebody
Posts: 3951
Location: Finally horseback again.... | A good equine dentist can adjust his incisors to allow him to eat easier.
Prognathism ( under bite) is pretty common in ponies.
Just be aware that they can have a hard time as grazers simply because they have trouble nipping off grass with their teeth not coming in contact.
Yearly incisor work will greatly help him. |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Canchasr1 - 2015-04-15 4:21 PM A good equine dentist can adjust his incisors to allow him to eat easier.
Prognathism ( under bite) is pretty common in ponies.
Just be aware that they can have a hard time as grazers simply because they have trouble nipping off grass with their teeth not coming in contact.
Yearly incisor work will greatly help him.
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I'm a Cry Baby
Posts: 3781
Location: n.c. | I've got a micro mini with this same problem. She gets Triple Crown Senior because it's easier for her to eat than anything else.
She also gets some bagged forage since she has a problem with hay. Can throw her out on grass and not have to worry about
her getting too much to founder. She's fat and sassy. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | EmtRoper - 2015-04-15 1:10 PM
So long story short I ended up rescuing two ponies out of the kill pen. I needed one to be a pasture buddy but my mom decided to raise her hand and say " we will take the little bay too" so I have two of them lol. Now the question one of them has a pretty nasty underbite. He seems to be gaining weight but it just takes him FOREVER to eat which is understandable. Is there anything I can do for him to help him eat better? Right now we are just making sure that nobody bothers him and he can just take his time and eat and he seems to be gaining weight very well. Now before anyone says why do all this extra for a pony that is not doing anything. I have gotten the advice to "put a bullet in him and get a new one" or "sell him off and get a new one" My thought process is that he deserves the same care . So does anybody have any helpful advice?
I give you and your mom a big thumbs up!! Lucky ponies |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | It depends on how bad the malalignment is with the cheek teeth and the incisors.
the incisors can look bad but if the cheek teeth are pretty good, they won't have big issues. Horses have such strong lips, they can graze pretty well without incisors being in great shape. Bad cribbers who wear their incisors out can still grab grass and get it in their mouth, and let the cheek teeth do the work.
I would be willing to bet a good float is most what the pony needs. if not, you may supplement him with some moistened feed to make it easier to chew.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
| currently we just have him on a good quality hay, he was so thin that we didn't want to overwhelm his system with a grain as well. To show how bad he was we built a pen for him in our hay shed to keep him away from our other horses for awhile that he was so happy to just have the hay chafe on the ground while we were getting him water and such. Also they were so happy to have a dry place that after they ate they just stretched out in the fresh bedding and dry ground that they looked so happy that it made my heart smile. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
| If i can get this to attach this is what I am working with.
 (20150414_181640.jpg)
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 20150414_181640.jpg (33KB - 163 downloads)
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | EmtRoper - 2015-04-16 10:07 AM If i can get this to attach this is what I am working with.
Awww poor fella, The reason I asked what you were feeding him was I knew of one that came out of a sale and he had a bad underbite, super thin, they stared to feed him a senior moist feed I dont remember the brand and soaked/damp hay cubs and that little sucker got a shine and got to be a fat butter ball, I'm pretty sure they got his teeth worked on, but he did such a turn around in looks afther getting the feed he could eat.
You got a good heart helping these little guys out  |
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