TROUBLE IN HORSES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 20, 3 November 1938, Page 8

TROUBLE IN HORSES.

TEETHING DIFFICULTIES. VIOIL AN CE NEC ,‘ESS A IIY. Although foals arc not. liable to teething convulsions like other animals, owing to the fact that they are born with teeth, it does not mean that they escape the attention of the horse dentist. Trouble generally begins with the cutting of the permanent teeth and shedding of the temporary ones. It sometimes happens that the temporaiy incisors teeth are not shed but the permanent one is. cut behind A. wedging it in the .mouth, which keeps it fixed. At other times it gets in the way of the new tooth, preventing it coming in its pioper place find direction. As soon as this is noticed the milk tooth should be extracted. There is little difficulty in recognising which is the milk tooth, as it is much smaller and has no groove down its face. The difficulty, however, crops up when there, are no permanent teeth to compare it with, such as a full mouth of milk teeth at two years before the central incisors come up. But perhaps the most frequent disease of the teeth of horses and cattle begins in the inter-dental spaces, the intervals between the fangs or roots of thee, teeth. This applies to incisors as well as molars. It will be observed that

as animals grow old the teeth become narrower at the base or gum. The tooth is originally formed wedged-slmp-ed and grows up. with the result that the inter-dental spaces are greater than in the young. Naturally, increased liability to the lodgment of food follows. Having no means of removing substances thus retained, the patient must needs endure what acts as a foreign body and sets up irritation. The nutrition of the tooth or teeth is interfered with, and it finally becomes loose if its diseased condition has not attracted attention and led to its removal. Horse Collars. Often after a horse has put on a bit of flesh and then gets back into hard working condition again the collar is inclined to be too big. In that case one must be careful to keep the collar clean and free from any gritty material in the lining which comes in contact with the neck and shoulders. Nothing is more crippling to a horse than an illfitting collar, but one badly in need of cleaning is equally injurious. Wipe the fabric with a • soft cloth or rub it smooth with the palm of the hand and dry the collar in the sun or in an airy shed. S