BROODMARES are very often forgotten about when it comes to receiving dental care, with the general consensus believing that as they are not ridden, they do not require equine dentistry; this is a fallacy.

Dentistry for a broodmare should be implemented to maintain her body condition, therefore increasing her fertility, milk yield and health of both mare and foal. Nutrition management of broodmares is essential from before conception until successfully raising a healthy foal and on until weaning.

Broodmares have 24 pre-molars/molars and 12 incisors; some may have wolf teeth and female canine teeth, but the latter are not used for eating. Horses chew in a figure of eight motion, and left to their own devices they would chew for 18 hours a day. This may be different in domesticated environments, which leaves the horse more likely to develop dental abnormalities and problems.

Thrive

If a horse cannot chew properly and is in pain, it is difficult for them to thrive. Broodmares need to be getting the best out of their feed in order to get, and stay in foal.

A common problem I come across often in broodmares and horses in general is, periodontal disease. ‘Peri’ means around and ‘odontal’ means teeth, broken down it simply means teeth disease. This disease is known to be the most painful conditions to occur in the horse’s mouth, also it is the number one cause of tooth loss in the horse.

Domestic feeding practices, particularly feeds high in acid and sugar, can eat the outer layer of the teeth and recede the gums, causing spaces between the teeth, which are known as “diastemata”. When the horse eats food it gets trapped into these spaces.

The food material decays, which causes significant inflammation of the gums, surrounding the diastema. Over time, infection can damage the periodontal ligament (the ligament which attaches the tooth to the tooth socket). When the ligament eventually becomes weakened, this can lead to tooth loss or infection, which sometimes can lead to sinus infection.

Horses are predisposed not to show signs of dental discomfort as they are prey animals. Meaning sometimes they do not show signs until there is a severe issue.

Basic indications of dental discomfort are quidding (dropping/balling forage), bad breath, slow chewing, pouching food in the cheeks and weight loss. It sometimes can be difficult for an owner of broodmares to ascertain if they have any of these problems as often broodmares are kept in a herd environment and not handled as regularly as a ridden horse would be.

Routine

The easiest way to keep good dental health for your broodmares, is to routinely schedule an appointment with a qualified equine dental technician or an equine dental vet.

Routine rasping every six to 12 months helps alleviate a lot of problems in the mouth, unfortunately not all. Although by picking up problems early it is often a better outcome for the horse.