Are You Affraid of the Dentist?

I love going to the dentist. I love having my teeth cleaned. I love knowing that there are no cavities. I actually wake up every morning and check my teeth to make sure they are all still there. I have to confess, I worked as a Dental Assistant for over 6 years, which has contributed to my tooth obsession. I always look at peoples' teeth. It is the first thing I notice when I am talking to someone. Teeth can tell you a lot. In horses teeth can tell you how old your horse is. Also, if a horse has bad teeth it will not stay fat and in the wild those horses would be the first to be picked out when hunted. When we bought "Pretty Girl", the new horse, I looked at her teeth. They were short. That means she has been using them for a long time. The man who sold her to us said she was 16. I had my doubts on that age. So, I took her to the vet for her shots and a quick look at her teeth.

Our vet is the best! He is very good at what he does. We actually go see him about once or twice a week with War Pearl trying to get her bred. We loaded Pretty Girl (which got renamed Daisy Rose Pretty Girl by the six year old and two year old) into the shoot. After her shots and blood work the vet got out his tools to look at her teeth. This is so cool. I have never seen teeth be floated like this before!! Floated is when you take a file and file down the sharp points on the horses teeth. Those sharp points can give them sores on their cheeks and tongue. And that can make them uncomfortable when having a bit in their mouth or when eating. So, it's important to get their teeth floated. So, any way, here is the new horse with her Dentist Halter on.

This Dental Halter has a mouth peice that makes them hold their mouth open. Oh, she is really drugged here so she is off in la la land. Now the vet can take a look in her mouth. But it is a bit dark in there so he needed to shed some light on the subject. The Vet put a light on his head and took a peak at her top teeth. He said she had a lot of sharp points and that she really needed the work. Then he took a peak at the bottom teeth. He pulled the tongue over and checked out her bottom teeth. This is so cool! I was so excited. I have never been able to really look into a horses mouth before. And now look how clearly you can see everything. After getting a full look at the situation it was time to get out the big guns. The DEWALT!!! WOW!! Look at that drill!! Now tell me you wouldn't freak out if your Dentist came over to you with that! It has a long shoot and on the end is a round file that spins really fast. That file then smooths out all the sharp points on her teeth. The dust was flying!It got pretty loud. But very interesting. He drilled a bit more on the top then had Paw Paw hold her tongue for the bottom teeth. I just think this was amazing. Daisy Rose Pretty Girl now has nice smooth teeth. She will now be able to eat better, gain some more weight, and be happier with the bit in her mouth. It really was amazing to watch. If these two wild cowpokes could stop running around to stand still and watch this for 20 minutes, it must have been really cool. Oh, and about her age. The vet checked her front teeth and told us that she is defiantly "Drinking Age". Which makes her at least 21 years old. A far cry from 16. But that is okay. Big Cowpoke needed an older horse.