Overbite/underbite

[miniaddiction]

Congratulations on your filly anyway Gem, i think she is lovely. I think in New Zealand you will find that not all Judges check your horses teeth. Especially at A&P shows. Ive only been showing three years but in the time Ive benn showing Ive had a pretty mixed bunch of judges. Some check some dont.

Good Luck with the Dentist.

Helen

 

[Frankie]

I think it is a good idea for judges to check, just to keep all honest.

When I showed Tango in A his bite was checked every single time he was in a class.

I have showed about 10 times the amount of shows in R and have never been checked.

We did not have a stallion in classes at Nationals so I watched almost all of the classes for colts, stallions, in all age groups and I did not see them check one horse. Not to say it wasn't done, but with watching almost every class, you would have thought I would have seen it. I don't know, maybe at Nationas they think all the horses have already been checked enough, not sure.

 

[HGFarm]

HAHAHAHAHA, OOPSIE!!! You are right Kaykay- half a TOOTH off, not half a BITE!!! Wow, what was I thinking? What I was typing was not what I was thinking, LOL!! :new_shocked:

 

[gem74]

Great news!! I am officially an idiot!!!

:

I just had the vet out to have a look at my fillies teeth and it appears that every horse will show an overbite if you lift its head to look at its teeth *LOL* :lol: The lower jaw drops back when the head is raised. If you look at her her teeth when in a relaxed position (normal head carriage) she is perfect!!! Well thank god for that!!! :aktion033: I have shown horses (big) all my life and have never known that!!!

 

[kaykay]

im laffin so hard!! i almost put that in one of my posts and then though "naw she knows that" yes if you hold a horses head straight up to check a bite it will always look off. you have to have the head in normal position and bend down and look. :bgrin

 

[nootka]

gem74, that is funny, yes, but it's a "trick" that some trainers/handlers use in halter classes to help mitigate a somewhat off bite (it can't fix one that is severely off, though).

I have also been to AMHR shows where bites were checked and I saw this happen at more than one Area National show, though not EVERY one, and even though it's a gimme on mares and stallions to check this, it still happens on geldings on occasion. I am always proud to show my horse's perfect (or near) bites, though I have also shown a filly that had a full tooth off bite (under).

We were not "dismissed" but placed at the bottom of the classes and while I wish there was a "gelding" class for mares, the sad fact is there was not, and we were just having fun w/her though we did ok in color sometimes, there was little else we could do w/her as a weanling/yearling, and since she was not to be bred, we gave her to a pet home.

I never ever intended to breed her, but there was no way I could say that, though they did check at both registries in various shows and we never were "dismissed" even though IMO, it was severe at a full tooth's depth off, we merely got last place or next to it.

I do consider it a serious flaw, probably even a half tooth off would take it out of MY program, as I have so few horses, I really don't have room to gamble. Also, when in conjunction with other faults, I consider it a warning sign of dwarfism (this filly was a "genetic dwarf" I feel as she had at least two other symptoms but not enough to keep her from being registered).

Liz M.

 

[wiccanz]

Hey gem, I'm really glad to hear that! :bgrin

I think you'll find that, because these horses are so small, we tend to lift their heads to OUR height so we can see their teeth!! Rather than getting down to THEIR height to check them. Just think how you would check a full size horse's teeth - their bite would be somewhat closer to our eye level! :bgrin

Minis teeth are generally checked at NZMHA Shows, not always at A & P Shows, just depends on the judge.