Saturday, June 11, 2011

Dentist Day!


Friday brought an activity I have been happily anticipating for a couple of weeks: A dentist visit!

I don't mean that I visited the dentist.  Believe me, I have done that a lot in the last few months, and, with apologies to any dentists among my readers, I just don’t happily anticipate any of those visits.

Sasha works on a sleepy Starlight.
This dentist was Sasha Kone, owner of Endless Mountain Equine Dentistry.  Sasha is a Certified Equine Dentist and is certified with the International Association of Equine Dentists.  

She has taken care of my horses’ teeth for about three years.  I initially contacted her on the recommendation of a friend, after I had experienced some unfortunate dental work from another provider.  My horses give Sasha's work a high rating of four hooves up (out of four).

As for me, I’m always glad to know, after she does her work, that their naughty behavior is not due to painful dental problems.  At least that’s one possibility I can rule out!

On Friday, Sasha work on the horses I have been riding the most, Hudson, Dee and Starlight, removing sharp areas from their molars, and correcting their incisors for proper jaw alignment.  While Hudson’s and Dee’s teeth showed normal wear and growth, Starlight’s were sharp and had caused ulcerations in her cheeks.  I had a suspicion this was a problem for her, and, since she had the same problem last year, I’ll be getting her teeth done more often.  The idea of asking a horse to respond to a bit when their teeth are cutting into their cheeks is horrifying to me.

Inside Starlight's mouth
Hey, is that Jonah I see down there?
The horses received a minor tranquilizer, which Sasha is allowed to administer under the indirect supervision of a vet.  I picked the shots up from my vet before her visit. 

Sasha said she is doing more dental work without tranquilizers, but since we don’t have a stall here yet and were working out in the open, it was better to dope them up a bit rather than risk them running off during the procedure, wearing the dental speculum that keeps the mouth open.  That would be dangerous for all concerned.

As it was, the mares were fairly well behaved, if a little fuzzy headed, and were soon happily testing their new and improved teeth on some of the hay we recently baled.
I kind of like Dee this way.

Anyone interested in contacting Sasha can track her down here: 570-265-2579; 607-351-6423; EndlessMtnEqD@gmail.com. You can also find her on facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sasha.kone.

No comments:

Post a Comment